Historic Petty Race Cars to be Part of PPB Motorsports 2015 Show
Historic Petty Race Cars to be Part of PPB Motorsports 2015 Show
OAKS, PA December 15, 2014 . . . Two of the most famous race cars that were part of Richard Petty’s outstanding NASCAR racing career will be part of the Pioneer Pole Buildings Motorsports 2015 Presented by Sunoco Racing Fuels and Distributed by Insinger Performance Race Car and Trade Show set for January 23rd through January 25th at the huge Greater Philadelphia Expo Center conveniently located in Oaks, PA.
A 1970 Plymouth Superbird, a winged car, was produced only during the model year, 1970. The car was built specifically to lure Richard Petty back to Plymouth after having spent a couple of seasons with Ford. And Petty did well against the Ford competition in 1970 as he won eight Cup races and placed very well in many others. It was an impressive run for the Superbird. NASCAR concerned with their high speeds, huge wing and nose cone banned them.
To this day, the Superbird is the most recognizable race car in Petty’s entire career, which included seven Cup titles and 200 victories. The car was also featured in the Disney Pixar movie “Cars” as the character “The King”.
And going back to 1957, Oldsmobile called on Lee Petty, Richard’s father, to drive their Olds powered by their new J-2 model V8 engine. Lee took the J-2 Olds down the Daytona, Florida beach in the 1957 speed contests at 144.9 MPH. Impressive to say the least for a strictly stock car.
“Big” Bill France, the founder of NASCAR, decided that the engine was far too fast and banned it putting Oldsmobile’s active participation in Lee Petty’s racing activities in sort of a standstill.
Lee did manage to compete in 1957 using two Oldsmobile cars that consisted of a 2-door hard top and a convertible. He raced in both divisions that year, the steel roofed division and the convertible division.
In 1958 Richard Petty kicked off his career by driving a tired, but true 1957 Olds convertible, given to him by his dad, at a dirt track in Columbia, SC. He survived his first race, earned $200 for his sixth place finish and the rest is history. Lee drove in 51 NASCAR races that year winning his second Grand National Championship (now Sprint Cup title) in the 1957 steel roofed Olds.
Both cars will be available for show attendees to have a very close look during the PPB Motorsports 2015 show, the 30th anniversary edition of the highly successful event.
The three day show attracts thousands of people to see what is new in motorsports and obtain the latest race schedule information from a variety of speedways and sanctioning organizations.
Close to 250,000 square feet of show space is dedicated to just about everything imaginable in motorsports including more than 250 motorsports vehicles along classic cars, show and historic cars. Many popular racers and personalities in the sport will be seen at the show along with an autograph session at the Pioneer Pole Building’s display area that will feature Philadelphia Eagle’s start Brian Westbrook.
Attendees will also be able to attend a number of FREE seminars that cover subjects related to the business of motorsports.
Additional information on the show is available at www.aarn.com. Businesses interested in exhibiting at the show, limited space remains available, are invited to call 609.888.3618 and ask for Tim Hogue or Danny Sammons.
