History Richard Petty's Drag Barracuda

Wow, revisionist history on the HAMB. It might pay to a little research on the facts.

Roo

 

For the sake of accuracy Petty went drag racing after NASCAR banned the Hemi for the '65 season. After the crash that killed one person a second drag race car was built which he raced until NASCAR lifted the Hemi ban in June and Petty raced Plymouths in NASCAR for the rest of the '65, '66, '67, and '68 seasons. He drove a Ford in '69 only because Plymouth would not build a car to compete with the Daytona and would not let him switch to Dodge. The Superbird was built for the '70 NASCAR season to get him back in the Plymouth camp.

 

Actually Petty raced the Barracuda drag car in 65 and gave up drag racing when Nascar allowed thw hemi to return. In 1969 he wanted to run a Daytona in NASCAR but Chrysler wouldn't let him go from Plymouth to Dodge so he went to Ford for the 69 season to run a Talladega He returned to Plymouth in 1970 to run the Superbird.

 

that is something i never knew as i would have been 4 years old. thank you for the history lesson.

 

I wasn't even born yet but I've always been into MoPars and even though I don't care for Nascar I always liked Petty. Like the NHRA much better

 

i'm not into nascar either, as the puppet says their making a left turn. i did like nascar before when they used a factory body. i do love the small round tracks that the locals run, but other wise it is drag racing all the way.

 

Yep, I forgot what year the Cuda was.

 

Wow, just watched a show on Petty and his current hot rod garage.....built at his old dad's house. Anyway......they had a version of this car in the shop being restored.....dunno' if it is a rebody, or the aforementioned double 'Cuda...though. Looked pretty damn solid.

 

I just thought I would put this out there that there was 2 Barracuda's that Petty used. The 1st was called 43 jr."Outlawed" that crashed and was buried. And the 2nd that they are restoring right now at the Petty Facility with the big 43 Jr. on the doors.

The one "Outlawed" that was buried and given to a friend, I found this past summer. Sitting in much the same shape as it had when sitting in Petty's own junkyard.







Just thought you would like to know.

Ryan

 

saw the car or a blue barracuda in stacy davids gears show being worked on this weekend.......in Richard petty's garage

 

Yes, that is the 2nd "43 jr" without the "Outlawed" on the car. The one I posted was the first car, the one that wrecked into the stands and killed a kid.

 

So every time they show this car there will be a note saying of a previous car that crashed and killed a kid? Probably not...

 

That wrecked one would be cool yard art!!!

 

The restored 43 Jr. was displayed at NHRA's 2015 "Thunder Valley Nationals" in Bristol, TN:

Some vintage drag racing machines are on hand to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Bristol Dragway, including the original 43 Jr. Barracuda of stock-car great Richard Petty.
Petty tried his hand at drag racing for a short time in 1965, including running the NHRA
Springnationals in Bristol, while Chrysler was in a dispute with NASCAR over the HEMI.


A special Father’s Day SealMaster Track Walk was a fabulous success, with coffee and
donuts available to all before touring the legendary Bristol Dragway track, led by a number
of famous Pro and Sportsman racers and their fathers. Richard Petty's famed 43 Jr. drag race
cars served as the turnaround point and a star of the track's 50th anniversary celebration.​

 

You could probably get Jim Sibley on this, he'll have it done in a week! or that Italian guy that built the '32 could have a crack at it...

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/43jr/352124888304196?sk=photos_stream

 

This car will be at the Chryslers at Carlisle show this weekend. It will be on display in the vendors midway.

 

Photo taken at Bristol by my friend, Hugh Greeson.

 

Idk, the wrecked one has a bad vibe about it, knowing it killed a kid an all. I understand why maybe it was buried due to the tragic history. Any one who was either there or old enough to remember the accident wouldn't want to look at the car, even if it was fully restored (good luck on that job!) it would evoke memories every time they see it. Just bad juju in my book. It would be like restoring the Porsche 550 spyder that James Dean was killed in. Most people that were around at the time of that accident wouldn't want to look at the car, and people that weren't around (like myself) wouldn't want to see it either because of the macabre past, and the history of it's curse. Just me rambling on...

 

Petty was racin my ole buddy Arnie The Farmer Beswick on that fateful day!!!!

 

I remember when the accident happened at the drag strip at Dallas GA. The drag strip is closed now, but it is about 30 minutes from my house.