Superbird PIT shot

[XS29J]

Page 23 of Hot Rod Shows Petty bird at the 1970 MOTOR TREND 500.

[maxwellwedge]

Ah - The good old days of no pit road speed limit and guys dressed like fans working on the cars.

[Aero426]

Just over the wing next to the #17 Pearson crewman, the guy in the suit with is back to the camera is Ford stock car boss Charlie Gray.  He is talking to Pearson's crew chief and former driver Dick Hutcherson in the white shirt.    The Ford execs always wore suits at the races.

Just over the right fender is Petty crewman and Pete Hamilton crew chief Richie Barsz.   Prior to working for Richard, Richie went to Lemans with the Ford GT40 program.  Maurice is changing the left front, and the guy in the sunglasses is Dale Inman. 

[69_500]

Nice looking shot there. I like the RR sticker on the underside of the hood.

The more I see photo's like this it makes me think that I was definitely born 15 years too late.

[Aero426]

Is this the current issue of Hot Rod?

[tan top]

good picture  thanks for posting

[XS29J]

May 2009 issue

[69bronzeT5]

Very cool picture!

[CornDogsCharger]

I just got my issue in yesterday.  I love that shot.  The only thing I don't like is when they split the pages with the picture.  You can't ever scan them to where they look good unless you take apart the magazine.  Oh well, still a great shot!

Justin
"CornDog"

[Foreman72]

wow...have pitstops changed...musta taken like 15 min 2 service that car

[XS29J]

Check out how the wing is adjusted for the high speeds

[Ghoste]

And the tread on the tire.

[Aero426]

Check out how the wing is adjusted for the high speeds

Actually it is adjusted for LOW speeds.   That is a pretty steep angle.   You'd never see it like that at Daytona or Talladega.    You do get cookin' pretty good down the back straight at Riverside, probably in the 170's, but the rest of the track was fairly slow.    It was a great track.   Shame it's gone for a shopping mall and housing tracts. 

[moparstuart]

love the look of the skinned hood , no structure what so ever .

awesome picture   

[hemi68charger]

Love the look of the pitcrew... Dude in the hat looks like he's ready to hit the pub after the race.... 

[69_500]

Weren't their pit times still pretty impressive even back then? I was thinking it was somewhere around 45 seconds or so for a 4 tire stop?

[Ghoste]

Yep, and I don't think they used the super trick ultra lightweight jacks and impact guns like today.  They had to hump the heavy stuff around.

[nitrometal]

Page 23 of Hot Rod Shows Petty bird at the 1970 MOTOR TREND 500.

Thanks XS29.  Just what I was looking for. Another shot for the collection!  What was the article about?  Is it worth picking up the magazine?

[XS29J]

Petty Ind. article

[CornDogsCharger]

Here are a couple other pictures of Petty at Riverside from the same race.  I found them somewhere on the net but can't remember where.  Does anyone have any idea why the driver side door glass was rolled up?  And no window net??

Justin
"CornDog"

[nitrometal]

Correct me if I'm wrong, the Riverside race had the fatality where the drivers head went through the side window and smacked the wall upon impact.  They started using window nets after that.  I don't know why the side window is rolled up.

[Ghoste]

Weren't side windows frequently rolled up before France mandated they be lowered in an effort to disturb some of the aero cars speed?

[learical1]

As I recall, Petty was the first to use the net, after he had the bad crash at Darlington in 1970.  Let me restate that, they weren't using nets before that, and a rule was passed to require some sort of retraint to keep a driver's arms inside the vehicle.  I believe Bobby Allison had a roll up metal mesh in place of glass for a while on the #22 Daytona.  Eventually, NASCAR settled on the net.

[Aero426]

Correct me if I'm wrong, the Riverside race had the fatality where the drivers head went through the side window and smacked the wall upon impact.  They started using window nets after that.  I don't know why the side window is rolled up.

Joe Weatherly suffered this in 1964 at turn 6 in Bud Moore's car (photo).  Weatherly's crash has always been attributed to his head hitting the barrier, but since photos show no marks on his helmet, it most likely was basular skull fracture.   Also Billy Foster in Rudy Hoerr's Dodge had brake failure and hit the turn nine wall about 1968.    But the window restraint thing really started after Petty's Darlington wreck.      Side glass was legal until just after Baker's 200 mph Talladega run.   The day after the 200 run,  Chrysler tested the 88 car without side glass knowing the rule change was coming. 

[Aero426]

I wonder if this is a practice shot compared the race.   Note that the car has a full front spoiler, where in the pit stop photo, the center of the spoiler has been trimmed away and removed.    Both photos are definitely from the January race. 

[hemi68charger]

I wonder if this is a practice shot compared the race.   Note that the car has a full front spoiler, where in the pit stop photo, the center of the spoiler has been trimmed away and removed.    Both photos are definitely from the January race. 

The sponsor decals on the front driver's side black-n-white photo don't match the same fender on the colored Riverside photos. Notice there's a diamond-shaped decal (Goodyear?) between the UNION76 directly above the wheel-well opening/below the fender scoop and the rectangular PRESTONE decal.. Are my eyes deceiving me?

Troy

[Aero426]

The sponsor decals on the front driver's side black-n-white photo don't match the same fender on the colored Riverside photos. Notice there's a diamond-shaped decal (Goodyear?) between the UNION76 directly above the wheel-well opening/below the fender scoop and the rectangular PRESTONE decal.. Are my eyes deceiving me?

Troy

I noticed that also.   To my eyes, the shadow outline of the Goodyear decal is there on the pit stop pic.   I think it's just the photo.   The thing is, neither photo can be from the June race because the headlight opening configuration on the nose was completely different.

[RTDaddy]

Window nets were not required in Jan 70.  They came in after Richard's Darlington crash.  I think the 2nd Michgan race was the debut of the window net.  I also think the rear quarter widow is down for air ducted to the rear brakes.

"IF YOU'RE UNDER CONTROL, YOU AIN'T GOING FAST ENOUGH."

[Aero426]

This is the June Riverside race and shows a window net.   This was the first big race after the first Michigan race and Richard's first race back after the Darlington wreck.

Is it me or does the rear wing look a little too far forward on the quarters?

[CornDogsCharger]

Nice photo.  The decals on the fender are completely different from the earlier race. 

Justin
"CornDog"

[nitrometal]

Nice photo.  The decals on the fender are completely different from the earlier race. 

Justin
"CornDog"

I worked on a very, very low budget ARCA  race team about 15 years ago  and I didn't realize it before then but each race required that we place the contingency decals on the front fenders at a different location at every race.  An official would always have a drawing where they wanted them that weekend.  I guess they bid on where they would be placed to give them more exposure from race to race.  It was a pain in the ass to change those decals every race and if you didn't have them in the proper spot they wouldn't pay off at the end of the race.  I don't know if they did that back in the 70's or even today but it sure took up a lot of my time.

[rustafarian]

"I wonder if this is a practice shot compared the race.   Note that the car has a full front spoiler, where in the pit stop photo, the center of the spoiler has been trimmed away and removed.    Both photos are definitely from the January race.  "



That's not a practice lap,  Pearson is right behind him!

[CornDogsCharger]

In the pitstop photo you can see the edge of the "P" of "Plymouth".  I wonder if it was ripped off during the race.  Would that happen to be some of it hanging below the car??

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

Here are a couple videos of Petty at Riverside.  First video is where the window net was in place.  The second video is from the same race where the pit photo was taken.  He must have broke something in this race.....  Sorry, no sound.

Justin
"CornDog"
June Race Footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH07ELHkQHc

Motor Trend 500 Footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6RqXrQh4l0

[Aero426]

"I wonder if this is a practice shot compared the race.   Note that the car has a full front spoiler, where in the pit stop photo, the center of the spoiler has been trimmed away and removed.    Both photos are definitely from the January race.  "



That's not a practice lap,  Pearson is right behind him!

Actually it is Parnelli Jones in the Wood Brothers #21.  Pearson was still driving the #17 Torino.   Jones put the 1970 Cyclone on the pole.   Due to a controversy regarding tires, he had to start in the back and came through the field like a hot knife through butter.     

[nascarxx29]

I saw this neat pit shot there using a hammer on a superbird to repair fender

http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2673634060018226069HLeoVe

http://rides.webshots.com/album/557577068BmZJbC