Since 1972, only two races held on Easter weekend

Since the advent of the modern era schedule in 1972, NASCAR officials have taken great pains to avoid scheduling a Cup race on Easter weekend. But on two occasions, weather postponements forced NASCAR to change its plans, and in both instances, a seven-time champion was a major part of the storyline.

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Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and Bill France Sr. will be enshrined in May 2010.

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There were several instances of races taking place on Easter weekend before the Cup schedule was reduced to eliminate dirt tracks and those shorter than a half-mile in length following the 1971 campaign. The first of Buck Baker's 46 Cup victories came on Holy Saturday in 1952 at Columbia, S.C.

One year later, Dick Passwater scored his only Cup victory on Easter Sunday before a crowd of 8,500 at the old Charlotte Speedway. That also was the first time Tim Flock carried a Rhesus monkey nicknamed Jocko Flocko inside his car. That experiment came to an abrupt end eight races later when Jocko literally went ape inside the car at Raleigh, scratching and clawing at Flock before he managed to pull into the pits and have the crew pull Jocko off his neck.

The Thomas brothers -- Herb and Donald -- finished 1-2 in an Easter Sunday event at Hillsboro in 1954. The only Good Friday race in NASCAR's history books was run three years later at Charlotte's Southern States Fairgrounds, with Fireball Roberts taking the checkered flag.

In 1959 and '60, Wilson's fairgrounds track hosted a pair of Easter Sunday races, with Junior Johnson and Joe Weatherly winning. The following year, Emanuel Zervakis won at Greenville on Holy Saturday and Cotton Owens followed with an Easter Sunday victory at Hillsboro.

During the '60s, Greenville hosted a number of races on Easter weekend, usually on Saturdays with a companion race being run on the Monday after Easter. In 1965, Dick Hutcherson won at Greenville and Junior Johnson followed two days later with a victory at North Wilkesboro.

In 1966, David Pearson completed the Easter weekend sweep, winning at Greenville on Saturday and Winston-Salem on Monday. Pearson successfully defended his Greenville victory in '67, but Bobby Allison captured the flag at Winston-Salem that season. (Continued)