On February 21, 1948, a visionary named Bill France founded the National Association of Stock Car Racing in Daytona Beach, Florida. The goal was to bring organization and professionalism to stock car racing. NASCAR eventually became the standout leader in stock car racing.

NASCAR’s first year of competition for strictly stock car racing was in 1949. The season had just six races. A driver named Red Bryon was crowned the champion. A driver from Randleman, North Carolina named Lee Petty, who carried the Mopar colors from day one on his #42 race cars, finished second in his Plymouth with one win.

The following year, Petty and his Plymouth finished third in point in a 17-race season but again with just one win. In 1951, he finished fourth in a 30-plus race season, but again just one win. In 1952, Petty and his Plymouth finished third in points but with three wins. In 1953, Petty switched to a Dodge, again finished third in points in a 30+ race season but had FIVE wins. What would 1954 bring?

When the 1954 racing season started Lee Petty was behind the wheel of a Petty Enterprises 1954 Dodge. The first race was held on February 7^th at Palm Beach Speedway in West Palm Beach, Florida where Petty finished third in a 200-lap race.

Two weeks later, on February 2^nd, NASCAR was at the Beach & Road Course at Daytona Beach for a 160-mile race with Petty driving a Chrysler. Before a crowd of 27,000 fans Petty finished the race second but the apparent winner was disqualified for an infraction of the rules and Petty was declared the winner. He took home a staggering $1,700. Most NASCAR races in 1954 paid $1,000 to win.

On March 7^th at Jacksonville, Petty was back in the Dodge and after starting 21^st, Petty led 28 laps and finished third. Two weeks later at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta he finished sixth but lost the NASCAR points lead by 11 points. Petty skipped the fifth NASCAR race of the season but was on hand at Oakland, California the following week finishing sixth still in the Dodge.

In North Carolina in April, Petty fifth at North Wilkesboro and a sixth at Hillsboro. Finishing out April, Petty finished ninth in Macon, Georgia and finished the month leading the NASCAR points by just eight.

On May 2^nd, the series was at the unique mile at Langhorne, Pennsylvania for a 150-mile event. Petty, back in the Chrysler set on the pole, but had to settle for ninth and lost the points lead back to Buck Baker.

The next two races saw Petty in the Dodge finish fourth at Wilson, North Carolina then second at Martinsville, Virginia in the Chrysler and that gave him the points lead by 74 over Baker. Finally, on May 23^th at Sharon, Pennsylvania Petty parked the Chrysler in victory lane in a rain-shortened event that was flagged after 160 laps with Petty leading the final 60 laps. Petty increased his points lead to 82.

On May 29^th, it was off to the paved mile in Raleigh, North Carolina in the Dodge for a 250-mile race that saw Petty run a consistent fourth. On May 30^th at the three-quarter mile track in Charlotte with Petty back in the Chrysler Petty ran a close second to Buck Baker. Following Charlotte, Petty notched a fifth in the Chrysler at Columbia, South Carolina, a tenth in the Dodge on the Road Course in Linden, New Jersey, a seventh in Pennsylvania and a second at Hickory, North Carolina back in the Chrysler.

Finally, on June 25^th still in the Chrysler running at the half mile fairgrounds in Rochester, New York, Petty led the last 60 laps of a 200 event to take the checkers and up his points lead to 198. Then Petty guided the Chrysler to a seventh at Spartanburg on July 3^rd. On July 4^th at Asheville-Weaverville, Petty’s Chrysler had a problem in practice, and he drove another brand to a 4^th place finish.

Following a fourth in the Chrysler at Santa Fe in Chicago on July 10^th, Petty steered the Chrysler to a 100 mile victory at Grand Rapids, Michigan on the following day which was his 15^th career win and extended his points lead to 286. After a break of nearly three weeks, Petty scored a sixth at Morristown, New Jersey.

On August 13^th, Petty cruised to a win driving the Chrysler in the 100-mile event at the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte. Petty’s formula for winning this race and others was merely to keep his brown and tan Chrysler turning the Fairgrounds at a smooth clip (32-seconds per lap on the half mile track) while letting the hot bloods knock each other out.

“My biggest problem was just keeping out of wrecks,” stated Petty in his Carolina drawl.

“The boys were bound to run into trouble on this narrow track. I figured if nobody framed me, I would make some money.” He did. Enough to pay for the Petty family’s regular post-race celebration: ice cream for everybody.

Then it was off to the West Coast and a 250-mile event at the Bay Meadows Speedway in San Mateo, California on August 22^nd that saw Petty and the Chrysler bring home a fifth-place finish.

On August 29^th at the Corbin Speedway in Corbin, Kentucky, Petty took a giant step in securing his first Grand National Championship when he won the 200-lap event in the Chrysler and extended his lead to 534.

Things turned sour when the series went to the series’ first Super Speedway at Darlington, South Carolina for the 500-mile Southern 500. Petty qualified 13^th but retired from the race after 173 laps because of a faulty coil.

As the season wound down Petty scored a third in the Chrysler at the Central City Speedway in Macon, Georgia on September 12^nd. Twelve days later he posted a second place back at the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte. The tricky mile at Langhorne, Pennsylvania is always a test, but Petty handled the test well, qualifying second, leading the race and bringing home a runner-up finish.

On October 10^th, the series visited the one and half mile dirt track at LeHi, Arkansas for the Mid-South 250. In a strange ending Petty qualified second, led the first 150 laps and had to make a long pit stop for a broken axle and still finished the race in third position.

The next weekend it was off to the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia for a 200-lap race that saw Petty clinch his first NASCAR Grand National Championship after qualifying on the pole, leading the race three different times including 94 laps to take home the win in the Chrysler.

A fatality marred the final race of the season at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina the following weekend and Petty’s race was short lived as he retired after just 12 laps with a broken hub.

All in all, Petty’s first championship was a testament to good solid finishes as he posted seven wins, 24 top five and 32 to tens in his 34 outings won the championship by 283 points and earned $21,101 in winnings.

In the early days of NASCAR many of the drivers were wild and woolly. Lee Petty was a refreshing out of the ordinary member of NASCAR’s Wild Bunch. Never a hard charger, Petty was calculating and applied the strategies of a chess player.

“I had to finish in the top three to make money.” said Petty in 1954. “I had to finish in the top five to break even. After that, I’m going in the red.” With his consistent driving style and his calculating mind and with the help of his two sons (Richard and Maurice) Lee Petty went on to build a NASCAR dynasty.,