Richard Lee Petty will turn 81 July 2.
(Fox News) – Living racing legend Richard Petty (above) is auctioning off
a trove of trophies, memorabilia and even some of the cars from his 60-
year NASCAR career.
They include a 1974 Dodge Charger that he won 31 races with, including
the 1974 Daytona 500 (below).
The event is being organized by Julien’s Auctions and will take place at
the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on May 12.
JOHN BELMONT
Mark Twain’s "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was
published in the United States for the first time on
this day in 1885.
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
(November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910)
In Montgomery, AL, on this day in 1861, Jefferson Davis was
inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States.
Jefferson Davis was sworn in as Provisional President
of the Confederate States of America on the steps of
the Alabama State Capitol (above/below).
On this day in 1970, The Chicago Seven defendants were found
innocent of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic
national convention.
Police arrest protesters outside of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
John Joseph Travolta is 64 years old today. Born in Englewood, NJ.
John Travolta starred in the 1970s hit films Saturday Night Fever and
Grease. He later went on to play Vincent Vega in the critically acclaimed
1994 film Pulp Fiction.
On this day in 2001, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was
killed in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500 race. He
died instantly from blunt force trauma to the skull.
Bob Glidden (August 18, 1944 – December 17, 2017)
Ten-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden passed away on Sunday
after being hospitalized earlier in the month for an undisclosed illness.
Glidden was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005
and in 2001, a panel ranked him fourth in the National Hot Rod Association
Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inducted
Glidden in 1994. He came out of retirement to drive occasionally through the
2010 season, and although never won again, he left a championship legacy.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was born in Kannapolis, NC.
NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the Busch Series Championship in
1998 and 1999 and the Daytona 500 in 2004 and 2014. He went into his
first race with a car he co-owned with his half brother Kerry. Junior, as he
is called by many, won his 12th consecutive Sprint Cup Series Most Popular
Driver Award in 2014. He is the son of NASCAR Hall of Fame member Dale
Earnhardt Sr.
Junior (left) with father Dale Sr. who was killed on February 18, 2001
on the final lap of the Daytona 500.
Robert Yates (April 19, 1943 – October 2, 2017)
(AP ) – NASCAR team owner and engine builder Robert Yates died Monday night
at age 74. No cause of death was given, but Yates had been battling liver cancer.
His son Doug Yates, who today runs Robert Yates Engines, posted the news on
Twitter, calling his dad his "hero."
