Richard Petty in a one-off for US Racing’s #6 (1986)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
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| Diecast, courtesy Pyramid Racing Collectables |
Why? Believe it or not, teams didn’t used to bring backup cars with them to races. As such, when Richard Petty was in a serious crash practicing for the 1986 Coca-Cola 600, his 433 consecutive start streak was in jeopardy. So, in order to make the race, Petty bought the lime-green #6 car of US Racing, slapped some STP logos on it, and went racing.
How successful were they? They weren’t. RP suffered a blown engine on lap 124.
What was the aftermath? Richard Petty went on to finish 14th in points (just behind Neil Bonnett, who missed a race), while D.K. Ulrich’s US Racing team continued as an also-ran (eventually morphing into Jasper Motorsports).
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 4 cowboy boots out of 10—as bizarre as this must have looked (especially to any fans who didn’t know the reason why), it was only for a single race.
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