Frozen out of NASCAR competition in 1965 by the Chrysler factory boycott, Richard Petty went drag racing. Here, Richard and family tell the unfortunate story.

The story of Richard Petty’s brief drag racing career actually begins in 1964 when Chrysler’s new 426 Hemi V8 totally dominated the NASCAR ranks, with Richard Petty running away with both the Daytona 500 and the Grand National season championship. In an effort to level the playing field, in November of ’64 NASCAR boss Bill France imposed tougher rules on the Dodge and Plymouth packages, which the Mopar factory bosses interpreted as unfair and unacceptable, launching what was in effect a boycott of the series.

To keep its most bankable star in the limelight during the brief NASCAR vacation, Plymouth sent Richard and Petty Enterprises into drag racing, and the team prepared a Hemi-powered Barracuda in familiar Petty Blue (there were two Barracudas, actually). Across the South in those days, drag racing with stock-bodied production cars was almost as popular as NASCAR, but unfortunately many of the tracks were primitive at best, with little or no thought to safety. In Dallas, Georgia on February 18, tragedy struck. Here are Richard Petty, Richard’s late wife Lynda Petty, Maurice Petty, and Dale Inman to tell the story . Video below.