| By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
February 7, 2006
06:25 AM EST (11:25 GMT)
The Keystone State has been key to some of America's most important events.  | 
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Philadelphia was the location of the constitutional convention -- the home of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Some ninety years later, the battle that may have turned the tide in the War Between the States was fought at Gettysburg, the site of Abraham Lincoln's famous address. Gettysburg was also the address of Dwight D. Eisenhower and baseball pitcher Eddie Plank. Edwin L. Drake struck oil with the world's first drilled well in 1859 near Titusville. Plants in places like Bethlehem, Johnstown and Pittsburgh switched from iron to steel in the 1870s, with as many as 350 factories in operation during its heyday. But Pennsylvania industry is also Crayola crayons from Easton, Hershey's chocolate, Heinz ketchup, and Pennsylvania Dutch pretzels and potato chips. Entertainers Bill Cosby, W.C. Fields, Jimmy Stewart and Gene Kelly considered the Keystone State their home, as did president James Buchanan, auto executive Lee Iacocca and explorer Robert Peary. Pennsylvania's premier driver appeared during NASCAR's formative years, but racing's connection with the state continues on a triangular track in the Pocono mountains. Best behind the wheel • Dick Linder, Pittsburgh Dick Linder's three NASCAR victories came more than a half-century ago and his last race in the series was in 1956, but old-timers in the Pittsburgh area still rave about his talent. Born in 1923, Linder raced stock cars, midgets, sprints and modifieds all over Pennsylvania, but made his mark at the dirt quarter-mile known as Heidelberg Speedway. Driving a Kaiser, Linder finished second to Lee Petty in 1949 at Heidelberg. He also competed at Langhore and North Wilkesboro that season. In 1950, Linder teamed up with Don Rogalla in the No. 25 Oldsmobile -- and finished eighth in the standings despite running just 13 of the 19 races. |
| Inside the Numbers |
| Dick Linder's Cup career |
| Year |
Starts |
W |
T5 |
T10 |
| 1949 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 1950 |
13 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
| 1951 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 1953 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 1956 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
28 |
3 |
6 |
11 |
|
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Linder won poles at Hillsboro, Hamburg, Vernon and Winchester -- and visited Victory Lane at Dayton, Hamburg and Vernon. In all, he posted seven top-10s in his 11 starts with Rogalla. In addition, Linder was almost unstoppable on his home track, winning 10 features as younger brother Gus made it a 1-2 Linder finish. By the mid-'50s, Linder had teamed up with Don Dahle, running Modifieds in the Pittsburgh Racing Association and sharing driving duties in Ed Lowther's midget. Lowther also owned a sprint car, which Linder drove under the USAC banner. In 1958, Linder moved up to USAC's big car division with the dream of competing in the Indianapolis 500. He ran three races with a best finish of 14th. The next season, he was fatally injured when his car flipped over the fence after contact with Don Branson at Trenton. He had just celebrated his 36th birthday earlier that month. Linder, who was credited with more than 100 feature wins in his short career, was inducted into the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Hall of Fame in 1984. Other noteworthy drivers from Pennsylvania • John Andretti, Bethlehem: First driver to accomplish the Indy-Charlotte double, has wins at Daytona and Martinsville during a 13-year stock-car career • Mario Andretti, Nazareth: Accomplished open-wheel and Formula 1 star scored his lone NASCAR victory in the 1967 Daytona 500 • Mark Donohue, Newtown Square: 1972 Indy 500 winner drove Roger Penske's AMC Matador to victory at Riverside in 1973 • Bob Duell, Warren: Three top-five finishes and a pole in 1958 • Tommy Gale, McKeesport: Made 245 starts with a best of seventh at Talladega in 1979 • Tony Hirschman, Northampton: Added a fifth NASCAR Modified championship to his resume in 2005 • Al Holbert, Warrington: Sports car ace scored three top-10s for James Hylton in 1978 • Joe Mihalic, Pittsburgh: In 38 career starts, best was a seventh at Bristol in 1974 • Tighe Scott, Pen Argyl: Made 89 starts across six-year stretch, including 18 top-10s • Jimmy Spencer, Berwick: "Mr. Excitement" scored both his Cup wins (Daytona, Talladega) in 1994 • Dave Terrell, Newton: Scored 18 top-10s while running full-time in 1954 and 1955 • Blackie Watt, New Alexandria: Three sixth-place finishes highlighted his 1966 season We wish ... Golfing great Arnold Palmer had become a NASCAR driver. With 60 Tour wins, including four Masters, two British Opens and one U.S. Open, the Latrobe native was the leader of "Arnie's Army." After his playing days were through, Palmer was an even better pitchman for Cadillac (Red Byron drove one to third place in the inaugural Southern 500) and Quaker State. Keeping it on track • Pocono Raceway | | ARCHIVE | |
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One of the most unusual tracks on the Nextel Cup circuit, the three-cornered 2.5-mile oval started out as farmland, when a group of businessmen decided to turn the spinach fields into something more profitable. The track hosted its first race in 1971, then immediately was hit by Hurricane Agnes, followed by the energy crisis. Richard Petty won the first NASCAR race in 1974 -- and a second Cup date was added in 1982. Gone but not forgotten • Langhorne Speedway, Langhorne One of the most dangerous tracks ever, the dirt mile opened in 1926 and was known for developing deep ruts before it was paved in 1965. NASCAR's first appearance in 1949 included Sara Christian, who finished sixth out of the 45 cars that started. Lee Petty was the only driver to start all 17 races, winning once. The site of the track is now a shopping center. • Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth Ron Hornaday was the only Busch Series driver to tame the tricky 1-mile oval twice in 17 races held there from 1988 until 2004. Racing had been held on the site since 1920, with the famous dirt track paved in 1986. Mario Andretti won the last national championship dirt car race held there -- and his daughter was born that evening. Other tracks which have hosted NASCAR races • Bloomsburg Fairgrounds, Bloomsburg: Herb Thomas won on the dirt half-mile in 1953 • Heidelberg Raceway , Pittsburgh: Dirt quarter-mile hosted four races between 1949 and 1960, with Lee Petty winning the first and last • Lincoln Speedway, New Oxford: Buck Baker beat Jim Paschal by a car-length to win on the dirt half-mile in 1956 • New Bradford Speedway, Bradford: Junior Johnson won $550 in a 150-lapper at the dirt third-mile in 1958 • Pine Grove Speedway, Shippenville: Tim Flock bested a field of 20 in 1951 to win the only race at this dirt half-mile • Reading Fairgrounds, Reading: Junior Johnson swept both races on the famous dirt half-mile • Sharon Speedway, Sharon: Lee Petty lapped the field to take home the $1,000 check in 1954 • Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg: Herb Thomas edged Dick Rathmann by four car-lengths for the victory in 1954 A word from our sponsor • Sunoco, Philadelphia The official fuel supplier of NASCAR is a leading manufacturer and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products, operating five domestic refineries with 890,000 barrels per day of crude oil processing capacity; marketing gasoline under the Sunoco brand through approximately 4,528 retail outlets primarily in 25 states from Maine to Florida, including the District of Columbia, and west to Indiana; and with over 4,500 miles of crude oil and refined product owned and operated pipelines; and 34 product terminals. | 
