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The race was marred by a horrifying crash involving Richard Petty. Petty's No. 43 turned sideways coming out of Turn 4, lifted off the ground, spun wildly on its nose while airborne, tore down a section of the catch fence, then barrel-rolled several times down the front straight before coming to a stop. At that point, the car was hit broadside by the cars of A.J. Foyt and Brett Bodine and sheared nearly in half.

Amazingly, Petty escaped without serious injury.

"I closed my eyes, held my breath and then everything went black," Petty said. "I guess I blacked out. Then they tried to tell me my leg was broken. I told 'em it wasn't. If it was broken, I think I would know."

The 40-minute caution needed to repair the fence after Petty's wild ride brought the average speed of the race down to 137.531 mph.