[b] A contributing factor to King Richard's 200 wins was before NASCAR entered the modern era in 1972
they raced an amazing number of races each year. The following photos were taken at
Islip Speedway in 1964, this was the 39th race of 62 that year.
Islip a 2/10 of a mile track was the shortest track ever used in NASCAR's Grand National history.
The Grand National cars ran there '64 - '68 and in '71.
When NASCAR entered the modern era with only 31 races and Winston as the major sponsor,
Winston demanded all races under 250 miles be dropped.
1963 Rookie of the Year, Billy Wade won this year. He only won 4 races in his career, but they were
4 consecutive wins between July 10th and 19th. Unfortunately Billy died in early '65 during a
tire test at Daytona.
Petty won here twice, in '67 & '71. His '67 season was the most dominant season ever with
27 wins in 49 races!
To see all these big new cars run here when you were used to seeing the much smaller jalopies race
was like watching 100 cars line up for an Enduro Race. I'll never forget watching Petty thread
the needle through all the cars to take the win in '67! You thought he would wreck any second,
but I think he finished without a dent on the car. He was an amazing driver!
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A young Richard before he was King
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Not sure who this is - Ned Jarrett??
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A couple shots from '65
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