PHOTOS
Scott Walsh
FRED DAGAVAR
Philadelphia
Drove in only one NASCAR race - he finished 17th at Langhorne in September 1950. ... However, Dagavar was a race promoter and one of the founding members of NASCAR. He attended the organizational meetings in 1947 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
MARK DONOHUE
Newtown Square
Winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500, Donohue made six career NASCAR starts and earned one win, in 1973 at Riverside, Calif., driving for Roger Penske. ... Also was a sports car champion and competed on the Formula One circuit. ... Died Aug. 19, 1975, from a brain hemmorhage suffered during a practice crash at the Austrian Grand Prix. He was 38 years old.
DICK LINDER
Pittsburgh
Drove midget cars, sprint cars and modifieds throughout the state, but made 28 career NASCAR starts. ... Ran three of the eight races during NASCAR's inaugural season. His best finish was a second behind Lee Petty at Heidelberg Speedway outside Pittsburgh. ... Won three races during the 1950 season: Dayton, Ohio; Hamburg, N.Y.; Vernon, N.Y. ... Had dream of driving in the Indianapolis 500, so he moved on to the United States Auto Club (USAC) in the mid-1950s. ... In 1958, he was killed in a crash at Trenton, N.J., at age 36.
KIRK SHELMERDINE
Philadelphia
Best known for being Dale Earnhardt's crew chief during four of his seven championship seasons (1986, 1987, 1990, 1991). ... Has moved behind the wheel and made 26 career Nextel Cup starts. Best finish was a 20th place in the 2006 Daytona 500.
JOHN ANDRETTI
Bethlehem
After starting his career driving Indy cars, moved over to NASCAR in 1994. ... That season, he became the first driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day. ... Scored his first career win in 1997 in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. ... Also has a victory at Martinsville in 1999. ... Has been relegated to part-time status in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series, although he made 15 Cup starts last year and has made three so far this season. ... Also competed in the National Hot Rod Association in 1993.
JIMMY SPENCER
Berwick
Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement". ... Worked his way up from the Modified ranks to Nextel Cup. ... Has made 478 career Cup starts with three poles, two wins, 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. ... Both wins came during the 1994 season. The first one came July 2 at Daytona. The second came 22 days later at Talladega. ... Also has 12 Busch Series victories and one Craftsman Truck Series win. ... Currently works as a television analyst for the SPEED Channel.
TIGHE SCOTT
Pen Argyl
Most people remember the 1979 Daytona 500 for being the first to be broadcast live on national TV. That was also the race in which Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison crashed on the final lap, then got out of their cars and brawled. But many forget that the race was almost won by the little-known Scott, who was leading late when a pit road mishap cost him his shot at victory. He wound up finishing sixth. ... Competed in 89 career races between 1976-82 with three top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. ... His best finish was a fourth at Rockingham in March 1979.
MARIO ANDRETTI
Nazareth
Although he made his mark driving Indy cars, Andretti did make 14 career NASCAR starts, winning the 1967 Daytona 500. ... He is one of only two drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500; A.J. Foyt is the other. ... He is the only driver to win Daytona, Indy and a Formula One world championship. ... In 2000, he was named "Driver of the Century" by the Associated Press and RACER Magazine.
TRACKS
Pocono Raceway
Built on a former spinach farm in the late 1960s and owned by Dr. Joseph Mattioli, the track nearly went bankrupt in its early years and Mattioli considered selling. But at the urging of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., Mattioli held on and it turned out to be solid advice. Today, the 2.5-mile tri-oval track in Long Pond is one of the most challenging on the Nextel Cup Series. Pocono's first NASCAR race was held in August 1974 and won by Richard Petty. The series visited the track once a year through 1981. Then beginning in 1982, a second Pocono date was added to the schedule. In all, there have been 60 NASCAR races held at Pocono.
Bloomsburg Fairgrounds
On Oct. 3, 1953, NASCAR held a race at the half-mile dirt track at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds. Herb Thomas won the race ahead of Dick Rathmann, who 13 days earlier won the race held at Langhorne Speedway. The victory was Thomas' 11th of the season. After, he drove more than 400 miles to Wilson, N.C., and got win No. 12 the next day. Thomas wound up winning the championship that season by 646 points over Lee Petty.
Heidelberg Raceway
Located near Pittsburgh, this quarter-mile dirt track hosted four NASCAR races, including the seventh race in the series' inaugural eight-race season on Oct. 2, 1949. Lee Petty won by five laps over Dick Linder. It was the first of Petty's 54 career NASCAR victories.
Finishing fifth that day was Sara Christian of Atlanta, the first female driver in NASCAR. Her effort remains the best finish by a woman driver in series history. Heidelberg also hosted a NASCAR race July 15, 1951. Herb Thomas led 179 of 200 laps for one of his seven wins that season on his way to the series championship.
On July 21, 1959, Jim Reed bested Rex White and Lee Petty for the sixth of his seven career victories.
The final NASCAR race at Heidelberg was held July 10, 1960. A thunderstorm caused the event to be halted 12 laps shy of its scheduled 200. Just as he had done 11 years earlier, Lee Petty dominated, winning by three laps over Richard Petty. It was the second time in series history that father and son finished 1-2 in a race. It has happened only one other time: the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby and Davey Allison. In 1973, Heidelberg was sold for development. Today, the site is occupied by a shopping center called Raceway Plaza.
Langhorne Speedway
One of the most famous - and treacherous - tracks in the East during its day, Langhorne hosted 17 NASCAR races, including the fourth race of the series' inaugural eight-race season in 1949.
On Sept. 11, Red Byron sat on the pole, but Curtis Turner won the race. Finishing sixth was Sara Christian. So impressed with Christian's performance was Turner that, according to the Web site www.americanstock.us, he invited her to join him in Victory Lane. Every year from1950-57, NASCAR competed at the dirt mile, making two - sometimes three - visits in a season. Turner also won the second race in 1950. Other winners through the years included Herb Thomas and Dick Rathmann, who each won three times; Buck Baker, who won twice; Fireball Roberts; and Tim Flock, who swept both races there in 1955, two of his 18 wins that season on his way to the championship.
While Langhorne had a reputation for being fast, it also was dangerous. Over the years, several drivers were killed there, including Larry Mann, who died from injuries in a crash during the NASCAR race on Sept. 14, 1952. Another driver who perished at Langhorne was Jimmy Bryan, winner of the 1958 Indianapolis 500. Bryan was killed in a crash June 19, 1960.
Besides NASCAR, Langhorne also hosted Modified races and USAC events featuring drivers such as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Gordon Johncock and Al Unser Sr.
In October 1971, the track ran its final race. Today, a Kmart, Sam's Club, Levitz Furniture and a Chinese restaurant occupy the spot where Langhorne once stood.
Lincoln Speedway
Located in New Oxford, between Gettysburg and York, this half-mile dirt track hosted seven NASCAR races between 1955 and 1965.
Junior Johnson won the inaugural race there June 10, 1955. Johnson started on the pole, led 102 of 200 laps and beat Tim Flock by two laps.
Buck Baker won the next two races at Lincoln in 1956 and May 1957.Other winners included Marvin Pauch (August 1957), Lee Petty (1958), David Pearson (1964) and Dick Hutcherson (1965).
Following the 1965 race, NASCAR did not hold an event again in Pennsylvania until the first race at Pocono in August 1974. Lincoln Speedway still exists today, hosting primarily sprint cars.
New Bradford Speedway
Junior Johnson beat Lee Petty to the checkered flag to win the 150-lap race on June 12, 1958 - the only one NASCAR held at this half-mile dirt track in Bradford. He pocketed $550 for the victory, which was part of a hot streak that saw Johnson win four times in a five-race span.
Pine Grove Speedway
Tim Flock won the only race held on the dirt half-mile track in Shippenville on October 14, 1951, beating Pennsylvania native John McGinley. It was the sixth of seven wins during the 1951 season for Flock, who finished third in the final point standings that season behind Herb Thomas and his brother Fonty Flock.
Reading Fairgrounds
Junior Johnson swept both of the races held at this half-mile dirt track. On June 15, 1958, Johnson arrived in Reading on a roll. It started with a win at North Wilkesboro on May 18. Then after placing second in Trenton, N.J., on May 30, Johnson won at Columbia, S.C., on June 5, then won again seven days later at New Bradford.
Johnson made it three straight victories-and four in five races - by leading 90 of 200 laps to beat Eddie Pagan. The following year, on April 26, 1959, NASCAR returned to Reading for its only other race there. Johnson won that one, too, albeit with a little luck. Lee Petty dominated the event, leading the first 188 laps. However, an axle problem on Petty's car ended his shot at victory. Johnson led the final 12 laps and won by four laps over Speedy Thompson.
Sharon Speedway
During the 1954 season, Lee Petty won seven times on his way to the first of his three points championships. The second of those seven victories came May 23 at this half-mile dirt track. Scheduled for 200 laps, the race was shortened to 160 due to rain. Petty led 60 of those laps and finished one lap ahead of Buck Baker.
Williams Grove Speedway
Although Petty won the 1954 points championship, Herb Thomas recorded the most wins that season with 12. One came at this half-mile dirt track in Mechanicsburg on June 27. Thomas led 150 of 200 laps to defeat Dick Rathmann, who led the race's other 50 laps, by four car-lengths.
Although that was the only NASCAR race at the track, Williams Grove has a rich racing history and still operates today. Sprint car racing is its forte now; in fact, the track is a stop on the World of Outlaws Series.