Classic YouTube: The 1964 Daytona 500 – Ford Versus Chrysler, Richard Petty


Classic YouTube: The 1964 Daytona 500 – Ford Versus Chrysler, Richard Petty

The 1964 Daytona 500 was the moment that Chrysler Corporation dropped the H-bomb on the world of Grand National racing: the 426 Race Hemi was unloaded in full force in retaliation for Ford’s dominating 1963 season, and driver Richard Petty began his meteoric rise in popularity and success. Cars still had to be driven to the tracks under their own power, safety was only just starting to be an issue for drivers, and fans were as feverish as ever as the drivers battled for wins at tracks.

The Race Hemi was, with no doubt, the star of the show. The first of the legendary 426ci engines to come out of Chrysler Corporation, they were factory ringers that went straight from the engineering rooms to the engine bays of racers. Junior Johnson later told his cousin that he had never, ever driven a car with the acceleration that the Hemi had possessed. As the drivers were qualifying for the race, teams were giving out orders to drivers, telling them to  sandbag their runs so that the surprise wouldn’t be blown when the green flag dropped. And was it ever a surprise: by the end of the race, Hemis had taken first, second, third, fifth, and ninth, and red flags had started popping up for Bill France. Cars were faster than ever, and 1964 proved to be a deadly season for the sport, with Fireball Roberts, Billy Wade and Joe Weatherly killed in accidents by years’ end. Ford immediately started testing an engine with new cylinder heads to go to war against the Hemi and threatened to pull out of the sport if NASCAR didn’t allow it…so for 1965 both the Race Hemi and Ford’s 427 Cammer motors were banned.

As for Petty, 1964 was the first of his Daytona victories and ended up being the first Grand National championship he won. No matter the title (Grand National, Winston Cup), Petty would be a dominating force throughout the Sixties and Seventies, giving Chrysler Corporation the racing spotlight that the public looked to when it came time for car-shopping. He was young, friendly and humble off of the track and related well, and that distinctive light blue color created by his brother Maurice just a few years prior was an accident that turned into a marketing gem.


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One thought on “Classic YouTube: The 1964 Daytona 500 – Ford Versus Chrysler, Richard Petty

  1. 69rrboy

    Hmmm….cars that looked like real cars running separate from each other and actually passing. What a concept!! Sure miss those days.

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