Countdown to Coke Zero 400 at Daytona: Pearson and Petty battle for win at 1974 Firecracker 400
Newspaper Section
YouTube downloads: 1st video (by NascarAllOut): Highlights of the 1974 Firecracker 400 on the highbanks of Daytona International Speedway. 2nd video (by nascargavin8): Focus on the last two laps and the battle to the checkered flag by Richard Petty and David Pearson.
DAYTONA BEACH -- It wasn't unusual for Indy racers like AJ Foyt and Johnny Rutherford to rub fenders at Daytona International Speedway in the 1970s, before the advent of restrictor-plate racing with speeds exceeding 200 mph and plenty of wrecks.
The 1974 Firecracker 400, the big July 4th weekend event at DIS in front of 60,000 spectators in the stands and infield run on a Thursday afternoon, was no different, won by David Pearson in a last lap duel with Richard Petty, by pulling the slingshot pass.
In fact, Rutherford, who won the first of his three Indianapolis 500 cham,pionships, was among the early drivers to crash on the high banks of Daytona. Rutherford won the Indy 500 again in 1976 and in 1980.
Photo for Headline Surfer® / Rich Gailey, candidate for County Council District 5 seat representing DeBary, Deltona and Enterprise, is shown here at the recent Memorial Day tribute at Memorial Gardens in Deltona, with his wife, Lisa; their son, Ricky, and daughter, Jackie. Among the fallen the Gailey family paid respect to were Gailey's father-in-law, Nate Feldman, who enlisted in the Army and served in Korea. He died two years ago.
PALATKA -- It was President Truman who said, "I'll stand by [you] but if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." Palatka City Commissioner Allegra Kitchens can relate to the pressure of politics; her last name befitting of the controversy stirred up earlier this year.
DELTONA -- Of the many Americans being held by foreign powers, Why Bowe Bergdahl?