Richard Petty's "Special" Textured Roof - 1968 Daytona 500

as a european used to F1, WRC and WEC, the mix of low and high tech in Nascar is weird and fascinating

I remember reading about the dimpled roof in a book about Daytona cheaters. It said The roof was misdirection from all the illegal things they did to the rest of the car.

Roger Penske said the vinyl roof on their 1969 Trans Am Camaro was for an aerodynamic reason ,comparing it to a golf ball , but it's said that the real reason was to stiffen up the acid dipped roof . Having seen how imaginative the Penske team had been in gaining any advantage they could ,the vinyl roof was probably to benefit them for both reasons.

NASCAR rules for all touring series now ban textured paints (and textured vinyl wraps). The rule is typically worded in part as “[t]he type of paint used, whether it be flat, satin or high gloss finish, must provide a smooth surface. The paint or vinyl must not be textured.”

I saw this race live over a black and white closed circuit TV feed in Greenville, SC. I believe there was live commentary. We were all under the belief that Petty’s car had a vinyl roof, a belief I held until watching this video. My dad was a Mercury dealer and this was the beginning of the short span 68-69 when Mercury Cyclones held some dominance in NASCAR. Naturally, being in that camp with Cale Yarborough and the Wood Brothers, we were LOAO at Petty’s dilemma that day thinking who would be so dumb to run a vinyl roof. Interesting video in busting the myth. Still glad the Mercury won. RIP Plymouth and Mercury.

Hey, if there isn't anything in the rules then it's not cheating.. it's innovation 😂

I remember that Mythbusters episode and Jamie said something like "can't wait to see all the NASCARs do this"

I worked with a guy who was at that race. I remember talking with him about it around the mid to late 70's and he said the car whistled but after the roof damage it whistled even louder. Everybody cheated somehow back then and you can't help but wonder about all the other stuff going on. The Pettys cheated just like everyone else. Boy, those cars sure had a rake on them. Personally, I think the black roof was more visually appealing and the white car even more so.

As Richard Petty said recently, "When you cheated, you had to cheat neat. Maurice was very good at that because otherwise you would not even qualify half the time."

Richard hopping on top of his car fixing it his damn self!! That’s why he’s the king 😂💯

The white and blue petty car from july is insane and I love it

The '87 America's Cup yacht race, Dennis Conner's boat Stars and Stripes was covered in a shark skin like film that was said to reduce drag, and he won going away.

When Petty hammered on the roof, it looked like a waterbed. I bought a used car in the 70s that had a textured painted roof to mimic vinyl (and hide body work)..

Petty switched to Ford in 69…… but in 70 Plymouth had the Superbird and Petty was back and everything was right in the world again 😂

Very interesting. Surprised I haven’t heard more about this before now.

I think the Team got the idea for the Textured Roof from Lee Petty myself, Lee was an avid golfer in addition to being a former NASCAR champion and would've understood the role aerodynamics played in both these sports.

Ford used the texture paint on their 'Dentside' pickup trucks in the early to mid 1970s. Its intent was to mimic a vinyl roof covering, and it worked. It was a not-often-seen option even when those trucks were new.

I was there for that race and I remember when the roof detached. At the time we all thought it was a vinyl roof that came loose at the front.

It's stories like this, teams flirting the line between the intent of regulations and the actual wording of them. It's why stories like this or the Brabham Fan Car from F1 makes me fascinated by the technical aspect of motorsport :)

Years ago I talked to a guy who ported heads for several different types of race teams and vehicles. He was telling me how they were studying how some sharks go thru the water faster than others and the study turned to the surface texture of their skin. They were trying different surface treatments & textures in the ports & runners to see how it affected air-flow & velocity.