The 1978 season was cool, it was the first time I went to all three So Cal Winston Cup races, two at Riverside and the finale at OntarioThey actually ran out of Charger parts. Before Dodge got out of financially backing Nascar teams Petty stockpiled a ton of Charger parts and that's why they ran them all the way up to 1978. Petty wanted to stick with Dodge so they slapped the Magnum body on one of the Charger chassis they had but the body was absolutely horrible aerodynamically and that's why Petty started driving Monte Carlo's. I think I read in a book that they had Kyle use the Magnum in some races though.
...as I recall it, Cale Yarborough won the January race at Riverside, Petty was still driving the Dodge Charger, his last time in that storied car, I think they had to pull that car out of the King's hands he loved it so much.
I think Benny Parsons won in June at Riverside, I remember that Petty was in the Magnum, I thought the car was ugly...
Then in the last race of the season at Ontario, Petty was in the Chevy, people were just heartsick over that. My brother Bobby was so happy because he was a big Bobby Allison fan and Allison won that day. I was rooting for Pearson who dropped out early, I spent most of the rest of the race trying to decide who I was gonna cheer for! I think Petty was out early too...