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[16] NASCAR 42
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[16] NASCAR 42 When Marty applied for his NASCAR license in 1970, he chose number fortytwo from a list of available car numbers. Lee Petty had used that number from NASCAR’sbeginningin1946untilheretiredfromracingin1962.RichardPetty writes in his autobiography, “Daddy picked it by looking around the garage until his eyes stopped on the license plate of his passenger car. Four and two were the first two numbers, so that was it. Somehow there should have been a more exciting reason for picking the number that someday would become one of the most famous in NASCAR history.”1 He doesn’t mention Marty’s role in making the number famous. 142 In a letter dated September 23, 1970, Marty wrote to his fan club, “I intend to start racing in the month of October. Since Godhas seen fit to healmybody, I see no reason for not enjoying life. I firmly believe if God did not want me to race again he would not have made me physically fit to do so.” He went on to say, “I do not appreciate letters condemning me for enjoying this sport. . . . If some of you have dreams or visions about my racing, try not to tell me about them. Instead, if you think I should not race, although you know I’m going to, pray for me.” He assured his fans, “Bobby Allison is seeing that my car is in perfect shape. Bobby is a Grand National driver and in my estimate is one of the greatest drivers in the business today.”2 Marty chose the major NASCAR Grand National circuit over the smaller Grand Touring circuit he’d planned to run before his heart attack. He sold his brand-new 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger to a driver in another racing circuit. “I ended up buying a Dodge Daytona from James Hylton and I ran at Charlotte in the October race in 1970,” Marty said. “He bought his first Grand National race car from me,” Hylton agrees. “The first time I met Marty, I’d been out on an errand and came back to my race shop at Inman, South Carolina, and heard this music—acoustic guitar playing and Marty singing, sitting on one of my workbenches, singing. I’m one of his biggest fans, or maybe the biggest fan of Marty Robbins. I think he’s probably the greatest songwriter, performer, of all times.”3 With “42” and “Marty Robbins” emblazoned on the freshly painted purple and yellow and green Dodge Charger Daytona, Marty drove in his second National500atCharlotteMotorSpeedwaytwoyearsafterhispreviousrun .Engine failure knocked him out after 105 laps. He later told an interviewer, “I guess I was a little discouraged after that. Besides, my wife was upset with my racing so I sold the car and went back to running an occasional modified race.”4 Although Marty returned to racing his 777 sportsman at the Fairgrounds Speedway,the1971seasondrewhimagaintoNASCAR.“Wemadeatradedeal in which he ended up with my ’71 Dodge Charger,” Bobby Allison says, “and I ended up with his ’67 Dodge, which I went ahead and sold somebody for a sportsman car.” Allison also provided a trailer to transport the car and a van for hauling race equipment. To complete the trade, Marty tossed in a Lincoln Continental and a Black Angus bull.5 MartycompetedinfiveracesintherenamedWinstonCupGrandNational Series in 1971. While in Charlotte for the World 600 in May, he visited record [54.225.35.224] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 12:20 GMT) 143 [ CH 16 ] NASCAR 42 shopstosignautographs.Beforetheraceheappearedinfrontofthegrandstand andsangseveralsongs.Hefinishedtheraceinfifteenthplaceandwithoutproblems . Next came the Dixie 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August. There, after several spin-outs, he finished thirteenth. DuringpreraceactivitiesattheSouthern500inDarlington,SouthCarolina, onLaborDay,MartyservedasajudgetoselectMissSouthern500andherode inthe parade. Towardthe endof the race itself, he got so tiredhis heavyhelmet pulled his head sideways, and he felt unsafe to stay on the track. He pulled into thepitsandturnedhiscarovertoareliefdriverforafewlaps.“Alife-savingcrew immediately descended on Marty and offered him oxygen as he slumped over a tire,” reported a fan. “Marty took a few whiffs and jumped to his feet, shadow boxing and saying, ‘Let me at ’em.’” The more experienced Richard Petty has described the feeling by saying, “My neck gets tired from holding my head up straight with that heavy helmet on, when the G-forces are trying to pull it to the right. The pain goes all the way down your shoulders and back.” Marty finished seventh, his highest place to date, and he won the Fireball Roberts memorial trophy for rookie of the race.6 A steering problem knocked him out of...