Richard Petty to be honored at Dover

Dover International Speedway's 40th anniversary celebration will include a tribute to the first driver to win a race at the Monster Mile, Richard Petty.

He took the first checkered flag on the high-banked racetrack on July 6, 1969, driving Petty Enterprises' No. 43 Ford. He led 150 of 300 laps in the inaugural race, then called the Mason-Dixon 300.


Forty years and seven Dover wins later, Petty will be honored with a marquee plaque on the Monster Monument at Victory Plaza. The four-foot high granite plaque, which will include Petty's career and Dover highlights and an engraved image of the Hall of Famer, will be added to the monument Sept. 20.

Petty joins Bobby Allison as the only drivers with plaques on the monument.

The king of stock-car racing, with 200 career NASCAR Cup Series wins, notched the 199th win of his career at Dover on May 20, 1984.

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BACK AT THE WHEEL: Rookie Jay Howard, the 2006 IndyPro Series champion, will rejoin Roth Racing this week for the IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen.

Howard ran the first four races of the season, then was replaced by veteran John Andretti for the next five events.

Howard, whose best IndyCar finishes were 13th at Motegi, Japan, and Kansas Speedway, can hardly wait to get back in the team's No. 24 Dallara-Honda.

"I am over the moon to be back in the car for Watkins Glen," said the Englishman Howard. "It's been agonizing not being behind the wheel these past five races, but now it's my turn again."

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JUNE WINNER: Donny Schatz has had a lot of big months during his World of Outlaws sprint car career, but he had never won more than five A-Feature events during a single month -- until now.

The two-time defending series champion picked up his third consecutive win and sixth in the month of June last Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.

The win was Schatz's first World of Outlaws victory at the high-banked 3/8-mile track. He now has 79 career A-Feature victories, including a series-best nine this season, and is just two wins out of the fifth spot on the all-time win list.

Schatz, in first year driving for Tony Stewart Racing, pocketed $10,000 Sunday as he extended his streak of being the only driver to finish in the top-10 in all 24 events this season.

"It was a good last week and a very good month," Schatz said. "We have things rolling. ... The hard part is trying to continue that."