In 1967, Richard Petty and his Petty Enterprises crew put together the most phenomenal season in NASCAR history. The driver from Level Cross, North Carolina, won 27 of 49 races, including 10 consecutively.
During the 1967 NASCAR Cup Series season, Petty wheeled a solid blue 1967 Plymouth with the famed No. 43 on its doors and roof. The single car he and crew chief Dale Inman campaigned that season proved to be the most competitive piece of machinery to come out of the Level Cross, North Carolina, stable in the team’s illustrious 43-year history.
With the help of his father, Lee Petty, and his brother, Maurice, building the engines, Petty began the year with a victory in Augusta, Georgia. It proved to be a warm-up for what would become an amazing season. All told, Petty won 27 times on a variety of tracks.
Petty and the No. 43 team were unstoppable from Aug. 12 to Oct. 1. The 10-race win streak began at the famed quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and ended at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The streak included one win on a superspeedway, at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina on Sept. 4. Petty’s only other superspeedway win came at Rockingham Speedway on June 18. With so many victories to his credit that year, there was little doubt as to which driver would be crowned champion by season’s end.
Petty’s closest rival in points was James Hylton, a former crewman for 1960 champion, Rex White, who wheeled the No. 48 Dodge for team owner Bud Hartje. Hylton was unable to score a victory, but finished consistently enough to take second-place prize money in the point standings
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RICHARD PETTY, driver of the No. 43 Petty Enterprises Plymouth, dominated the win column by putting his car in Victory Lane at 27 of 49 NASCAR Cup Series races. The team’s season proved so magical that Petty was just as surprised as his fans. Petty and his crew entered each race expecting to win and very few mechanical problems or crashes during the season often left them in position to best their closest competitors.
ON SEPT. 4, 1967, Petty started the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway from the pole position and led 345 of the race’s 367 laps on what was then a 1.375-mile track. Drivers such as David Pearson, Buddy Baker and Donnie Allison held the lead briefly throughout the race but could not match Petty’s strength. His performance was indicative of how he managed the entire season, going into each event as the favorite.
RICHARD PETTY’S blue 1967 Plymouth Belvedere posted 27 victories, 38 top-five finishes and claimed 19 pole positions. James Hylton, who wheeled a 1965 Dodge for Bud Hartje, recorded 26 top-five finishes and 39 top-10 results during the season.
DATE | LOCATION | WINNER
November 13 | Augusta Raceway | Richard Petty
January 29 | Riverside International Raceway | Parnelli Jones
February 24 | Daytona International Speedway | LeeRoy Yarbrough
February 24 | Daytona International Speedway | Fred Lorenzen
February 26 | Daytona International Speedway | Mario Andretti
March 5 | Asheville-Weaverville Speedway | Richard Petty
March 19 | Bristol Motor Speedway | David Pearson
March 25 | Greenville-Pickens Speedway | David Pearson
March 27 | Bowman Gray Stadium | Bobby Allison
April 2 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Cale Yarborough
April 6 | Columbia Speedway | Richard Petty
April 9 | Hickory Motor Speedway | Richard Petty
April 16 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Darel Dieringer
April 23 | Martinsville Speedway | Richard Petty
April 28 | Savannah Raceway | Bobby Allison
April 30 | Richmond Raceway | Richard Petty
May 13 | Darlington Raceway | Richard Petty
May 19 | Beltsville Speedway | Jim Paschal
May 20 | Langley Speedway | Richard Petty
May 28 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Jim Paschal
June 2 | Asheville Speedway | Jim Paschal
June 6 | Middle Georgia Raceway | Richard Petty
June 8 | Smoky Mountain Raceway | Richard Petty
June 10 | Birmingham International Speedway | Bobby Allison
June 18 | Rockingham Speedway | Richard Petty
June 24 | Greenville-Pickens Speedway | Richard Petty
June 27 | Montgomery Speedway | Jim Paschal
July 4 | Daytona International Speedway | Cale Yarborough
July 9 | Trenton Speedway | Richard Petty
July 11 | Oxford Plains Speedway | Bobby Allison
July 13 | Fonda Speedway | Richard Petty
July 15 | Islip Speedway | Richard Petty
July 23 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Richard Petty
July 27 | Smoky Mountain Raceway | Dick Hutcherson
July 29 | Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville | Richard Petty
August 6 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Dick Hutcherson
August 12 | Bowman Gray Stadium | Richard Petty
August 17 | Columbia Speedway | Richard Petty
August 25 | Savannah Speedway | Richard Petty
September 4 | Darlington Raceway | Richard Petty
September 8 | Hickory Motor Speedway | Richard Petty
September 10 | Richmond Raceway | Richard Petty
September 15 | Beltsville Speedway | Richard Petty
September 17 | Orange Speedway | Richard Petty
September 24 | Martinsville Speedway | Richard Petty
October 1 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Richard Petty
October 15 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Buddy Baker
October 29 | Rockingham Speedway | Bobby Allison
November 5 | Asheville-Weaverville Speedway | Bobby Allison
