(This is the fourth in a series of memorable moments in the 62-year history of Martinsville Speedway. This TUMS moment focuses on Richard Petty’s success at the track).
Richard Petty Is Martinsville's All-Time Winner With 15 Victories
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it appeared that Richard Petty possessed the deed to Martinsville Speedway.
From 1967-1973, Petty won 10 of the 14 races conducted on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series shortest track. However, it wasn't until April 22, 1979 that he claimed his 15th victory. It's a track record that remains today, making Petty the all-time winner at Martinsville Speedway.
NOTE: TUMS is the sponsor of the TUMS Fast Relief 500, the sixth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, at Martinsville Speedway on October 25.
Darrell Waltrip is second on the all-time win list with 11 victories. Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace are tied for third with seven each. A three-way tie for fifth exists between the late Dale Earnhardt, Fred Lorenzen and Cale Yarborough with six victories each.
Petty acquired his first victory on the tough, paper clip-shaped Martinsville track in 1960. By that time his father, Lee, had totaled three victories at the speedway – 1953, 1954 and 1959.
After the younger Petty's initial victory, he didn't win again at Martinsville until the spring of 1962. He successfully defended his race title the following year. However, it would be three more years before Petty would win again at the track. His sweep of the 1967 events started his seven-year Martinsville dominance.
Ironically, Petty's 187th career victory and his 15th Martinsville win was his first short-track trip to victory lane since Nov. 2, 1975 at Bristol, Tenn. The season's ninth race also moved him into fourth in the point standings en route to a showdown with Waltrip for his seventh series championship in 1979.
Petty led the final 130 laps in the 1979 Virginia 500, eventually taking a 4-second victory over runner-up Buddy Baker. Waltrip finished third and retained his point lead. Bobby Allison took fourth and then Petty protégé Joe Millikan came home fifth. Rounding out the top 10, respectively, were Bill Elliott, Tommy Gale, Frank Warren, Terry Labonte and Coo Coo Marlin.
James Hylton provided the biggest surprise of the race, running second for most of the event and leading seven laps before his Chevrolet's engine expired before the crowd of 35,500. Hylton was third at the time and finished seventh in the 30-car field.
Petty ran his final race at Martinsville on Sept. 28, 1992 at age 55. He finished 18th in the 31-car field, five laps off the pace.
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