Petty Milestone: Lee Petty, 1954 NASCAR champ

When Lee Petty came to Florida in 1954, he entered the season as a driver on the way up. Petty had finished in the top four in each of the first five seasons of NASCAR's top-level Grand National series, earning the nickname of "Mr. Consistency" in the process.

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After finishing fourth in 1951, third in 1952 and second in 1953, it was only natural to assume that Petty would be able to make the jump to his first title -- especially since he had earned enough points to take the title in 1950, only to lose see the crown slip away when he lost over 800 points for running in a non-sanctioned race during the season.

But Petty faced a formidable obstacle to his first title in current champion Herb Thomas. Thomas was a former truck driver who adapted quickly to driving a variety of stock car makes for several different owners, and entered the 1954 season having won two of the last three titles. He was also the first winner of the Southern 500, at that time the only 500-mile race on the circuit.

The schedule that Petty, Thomas and the other competitors would run bore little resemblance to today's 36-race, 10-month marathon. The 1954 Grand National schedule included 33 races, many on dirt tracks that would stay on the schedule well into the '60s. And while the itinerary included familiar stops at Darlington and Martinsville, the Grand National drivers also ran at such exotic racing hot spots as Sharon, Penn., Linden, N.J., and LeHi, Ark.

The season-long showdown between Petty and Thomas began at the 1/2-mile Palm Beach Speedway that Thomas won, with Petty finishing third.

Once they hit Daytona, though, Petty showed some of the speed that would be the cornerstone of his championship run. Taking to the track in his light, maneuverable No. 42 Plymouth coupe, Petty set a record on a measured mile for the so-called "Strictly Stock" passenger cars, flying through the course at 118.37 miles per hour. He then went on to win the race on the 4.1-mile beach course race, setting the stage for his battle with Thomas.

After the drivers left Florida, Petty began to demonstrate the weekly excellence that was his trademark. From February through Labor Day, his lowest finish would be a single 10th-place run at Linden, and during that stretch he would post six of his seven wins.

The numbers in Petty's extended run show the difference between excellence in the '50s and consistency in the modern era. Today, drivers pile up top-five and top-10 finishes, but back then the field size for races varied considerably, with occasional races featuring a lineup of just a dozen cars. Petty finished in the top three in 17 of the 33 races in the series, an astounding feat that virtually guaranteed his first title.

But Thomas kept things close by winning races, taking his car to Victory Lane 10 times while trying to defend his crown. Petty's consistency ultimately carried the day in the championship battle, but Thomas's winning ways led to the first split championship in NASCAR history -- as Petty won the driver's title while Thomas was first in owner's points.

	Credit: Daytona International Speedway archives

Petty's streak of top ten runs finally ended when he finished 38th in the Southern 500 on Labor Day, but Petty rebounded with five straight top-three finishes, ballooning his lead to over 400 points at one point in the final two months. He matched Thomas's lone win down the stretch with a victory at Martinsville in the next to last race of the season.

The championship was the crown jewel in Petty's storied racing career, and it also signaled a subtle shift in the dynamic of NASCAR's best drivers. Thomas was a quiet, unassuming man who had a close relationship with the manufacturers who supplied his cars, but Petty's panache was undeniable.

After winning the title, he was named "Most Popular Driver" in 1954, his third in a row. Petty had also been named the circuit's Most Popular Mechanic in 1950, and many fans admired him as much for his expertise in engineering and setting up the cars as they did for his ability to drive them.

Petty's title validated him as a champion, and in combination with his popularity as a driver, it made his name synonymous with NASCAR and stock car racing.

Lee Petty would win another title, and five years later he would take the inaugural Daytona 500 at the world's first superspeedway in a car worked on by his son Richard, an up-and-coming driver who would follow in Lee's footsteps as a NASCAR champion.

The building blocks of the Petty dynasty were falling into place, and it was Lee's 1954 title that was the foundation for the amazing success that both NASCAR and the Pettys would experience in the coming decades.