Full Throttle

Richard Petty may have earned his legend driving blue Plymouths in the ’60s, but the car he drove the longest in competition was actually the 1971 to 1974 Dodge Charger.

Starting in 1972 and running through the 1977 racing year, Petty’s blue-and-red STP Charger was an indelible part of NASCAR. Not only did he take two of his seven Daytona 500 victories (1973 and 1974) in the third-generation Charger, but also finished second to David Pearson in the 1976 race after a last lap crash had them both spinning at the base of the tri-oval.

If that’s not enough, Petty also took three of his seven Winston Cup championships driving the Charger—1972, 1974 and 1975.

The Charger became so important to Petty that NASCAR took the unprecedented step of extending the car’s eligibility a year (through the 1977 race season) so as not to lose its greatest star. No fan, after all, wanted to see Petty drive anything except a Chrysler product.

But finally, the clock ran out even for this Charger.

Petty made a valiant effort to make the 1978 Dodge Magnum competitive, but that bulky beast was hopeless. By the middle of the 1978 race season, Petty was driving GM products and he would continue to do so until he retired in 1992.