Hall of Fame Addition

The winningest car in NASCAR Cup history will be on display at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame - without the scuff marks.

Seven-time points champion Richard Petty unveiled his blue No. 43 Plymouth in which he won 36 races in 1966-67, including a record 10 straight on the way to his 1967 championship. Petty agreed to lend the car from his own museum to the Hall of Fame, set to open in 2010 in downtown Charlotte.

"Really that was when we really built our career," Petty said Friday as he pointed to the car outside the Charlotte Convention Center. "Even though we had done pretty good, I think that pretty much cemented us in and we were able to go from there."

But Bobby Allison, a longtime rival of Petty, joked that the car was missing something.
"I'm so pleased to see this thing as one of the first things going in, but it's not really authentic," Allison said. "I put lots of wheel marks (on it), and they're not there. Maybe I can get them on there later today."

The Hall of Fame also announced a program where fans will able to buy commemorative bricks with their names that will be on the outside of the main entrance to the facility. Petty, Allison, Donnie Allison and Ned Jarrett were among the old drivers on hand Friday to receive their bricks.

The ceremony allowed the old-timers to swap stories of their days racing - and scuffling.

"I didn't know if Bobby and Richard were going to get in a fight before I got down here," joked Donnie Allison.

Photo courtesy CRVA