Guin’s Springfest to feature Petty car

By Kathryn “Chazz” Hirschfeld
Staff writer
GUIN — One of the most famous NASCAR cars of all time will appear at Springfest this weekend in Guin on Saturday, May 11.
(Festivities will kick off Friday night with KGB Band at 6 p.m., followed by the Cooter Brown Band and then Grammy-nominated artist and Country Music Hall of Fame’s T. Graham Brown will close out the evening.)
Driven by “The King” Richard Petty, who won more than 200 races in his career, the 1974 Dodge Charger Stock Car will participate in the car show courtesy of the Alabama International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Petty won seven NASCAR Grand National Championships. His 1974 Charger was credited by Mopar magazine writer Randy Holden as “the machine he won more races with than anything else in his arsenal.”
Petty began driving Chargers in 1972. His 1974 cars (he had three, at least), though, became a legend, along with Petty.
Out of 30 races in 1974, he won 10 races, had 22 top five finishes and 23 top tens. He also earned another national championship.
Holden noted in his Vol. 36, No. 12, article, “that one team with one driver could win every third race that season was absolute dominance.”
Petty drove his 1974 Chargers until 1977 when the car was deemed too outdated by NASCAR.
Racing fans will enjoy having their photos made with the famous car, on display with dozens and dozens more amazing vehicles on Saturday from 8 a.m. until mid-afternoon at the Springfest Car & Bike Show.
Registration is from 8 a.m to noon, and the fee to enter a vehicle is $20. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., $50 cash will be given away every 15 minutes to entrants. A 50/50 drawing, door prizes, gift bags and more will also be part of the fun for entrants…