Lee Petty Edges Rex White in Thrilling Wilkesboro Finish
Veteran Scores Third Straight Victory Before Overflow Crowd of 9,200
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C., March 27 — Lee Petty, the 43‑year‑old master from Randleman, proved again that experience and steady nerves can still outduel youth and horsepower, capturing the 100‑mile Grand National race at North Wilkesboro Speedway Sunday afternoon by less than a car length over Rex White.
A sun‑splashed crowd of 9,200, the largest of the young season, watched Petty wheel his 1960 Plymouth to his third straight victory on the Wilkes County track. But the triumph came amid controversy, as many in the partisan crowd claimed Petty had bumped local favorite Junior Johnson out of the lead on the 148th lap.
Johnson, who had dominated most of the race in his 1959 Chevrolet, spun in the south turn while holding a comfortable advantage. Petty, running second and several lengths back, swept past into the lead. The crowd responded with a mixture of cheers and jeers, and debris littered the track as Petty took the checkered flag.
Afterward, Petty dismissed the accusations with a calm shake of the head. “I haven’t touched Junior yet,” he said.
White Pressures Petty to the Finish
Rex White, driving a 1960 Chevrolet, made repeated attempts to overtake Petty in the final 10 laps, running almost glued to the Plymouth’s rear bumper. But Petty held his line flawlessly, beating White to the stripe by a matter of inches.
White’s runner‑up finish capped a spirited afternoon in which he and Glen Wood traded positions repeatedly behind Johnson.
Wood, of Stuart, Va., brought his 1959 Ford home in third. Ned Jarrett of Newton finished fourth in a ’60 Ford, and Johnson, recovering from his late spin, salvaged fifth.
Richard Petty’s Engine Fails
Richard Petty, Lee’s son and the early leader in the hardtop point standings, ran strongly in the top four through 125 laps before his Plymouth engine let go. He was forced out and classified 18th.
Rough Track, Rough Afternoon
The race was slowed by six caution flags and several spectacular mishaps. The rough dirt surface and tight turns claimed multiple cars:
- Homer “Burrhead” Nantz spun twice in his ’59 Oldsmobile, once sliding down the north‑turn embankment.
- Dave Pearson, a promising newcomer from the sportsman ranks, crashed into the first‑turn fence.
- Banjo Matthews struck the same spot later in the race.
- In time trials, Fred Harb of High Point broke through the north‑turn fence in his ’57 Ford and was unable to start.
Johnson, who began the day on the pole, led from the second lap onward after passing Wood on the backstretch. He held command until his fateful spin, which opened the door for Petty’s late charge.
Petty Still the Man to Beat
The victory earned Lee Petty $800 plus a $100 bonus as defending Grand National champion. It also reaffirmed his status as one of the sport’s most durable and determined competitors.
White shadowed him to the finish, but on this warm March afternoon, the veteran from Randleman once again proved that he remains the man to beat on the short dirt tracks of the Carolinas.
Courtesy of The Greensboro News and Record March 28, 1960 via Newspapers.com