• Richard Petty wins the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside in his first start in a Ford. It is Petty's first victory on a road course in Grand National competition since 1963.

• Ford unveils the new Torino Talladega, an aerodynamically enhanced model designed especially for NASCAR racing. The Talladega model makes its first appearance at Daytona.

• Dodge responds with its new Daytona model, which makes its debut at the new Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega.

• Track operators in Rockingham, N.C.; Bristol and Nashville, Tenn.; and Darlington, S.C., redesign and/or upgrade their track surfaces.

• NASCAR introduces a uniform procedure of measuring all speedways that host Grand National events.

• Richard Petty scores his 100th career Grand National victory at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Aug. 22.

• The new 2.66-mile speedway in Talladega, Ala., opens in September. Sophomore driver Richard Brickhouse disregards a Professional Drivers Association boycott and wins the inaugural 500-miler in a winged Dodge Daytona.

• Inaugural Grand National events are held at tracks in Michigan, Dover and Bryan, Texas.

• LeeRoy Yarbrough sets a record of seven superspeedway wins, including stock car racing's "Triple Crown." Yarbrough wins the Daytona 500, Charlotte's World 600 and Darlington's Southern 500.

• David Pearson wins his third Grand National title in the last four years.

• Bobby Isaac establishes a record, winning 20 poles in a single season.