Seldom, if ever, has a racing engine debuted as dominantly as Chrysler's second-generation Hemi did in the 1964 Daytona 500. Twenty-six-year-old Richard Petty's first big win snapped FoMoCo's two-season, 10-race unbeaten streak in races of 500 miles or more. Plymouths, which hadn't visited victory lane for 14 years, finished 1-2-3. The winner led 460 miles—183 of the 200 laps. The first dozen of those were affected by a freak litter storm along the main straight. Petty's second-lap pass of Paul Goldsmith's pole-sitting Plymouth (174.910 mph) proved critical because all 45 cars trailing Number 43 inhaled debris into their grilles and radiators, overheating engines and forcing unscheduled pit stops until NASCAR halted the action to clean up. Among those affected was the favored Goldsmith, who fell two laps behind. Ray Brock's May '64 HRM event coverage traced the excess litter to thousands of Sunday newspapers read and discarded that morning by spectators reportedly numbering 82,262—the largest ever to attend any sporting event in the South, according to Motor Trend.