Richard Petty Racing
by: Denise I Smithson on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 at: 11:39 AM Go to: Previous Article Next Article
Richard Petty is a racing legend, winning a record 200 races during his career and winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times. Besides Dale Earnhardt, he is the only other driver to win the NASCAR Championship seven times, and is the record he is most known for.
In his 35 year career, he raced an astounding 1184 Sprint Cup races. His record includes not just 200 wins, but also 712 top ten finishes - an impressive achievement. Between 1971 and 1989, Petty had 513 consecutive starts; it is not for nothing that many believe him to be the greatest racer ever to get behind the wheel.
Richard Petty is actually a second generation racecar driver. Lee Petty, his father, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was a 3 time NASCAR Champion. Richard Petty's son, Kyle is also well-known in the NASCAR circuit. His grandson, Adam was killed in a racing accident at New Hampshire International Speedway just five weeks after the death of Lee.
The Petty family owns and operates Petty Enterprises, his family's racing team. Based out of an enormous 100,000+ square foot former Yates Racing facility, he is still active in the organization and is as always popular with the fans and is to this day usually asked to sign autographs.
He started his racing career a few days after his 21st birthday, and in 1959 was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year, after 9 top 10 finishes that included six Top 5 finishes. In late 1991, Richard Petty announced that he would retire after the 1992 season and his final top ten finish came at the 1991 Budweiser at the Glen.
Other than his winning record, Petty is well known for surviving numerous crashes, including three which were particularly dramatic. In 1970's Rebel 400, his car (a Plymouth Road Runner) slammed into the wall after losing a tire and flipped several times. Petty walked away from the incident with a shoulder injury; but NASCAR began to require safety netting over the driver's side window in events after this.
After a 1980 race in Pocono, Petty hid a broken neck, running a few more races afterwards. Most recently, Petty walked away with only minor temporary vision damage from a crash which sent parts of his car flying in all directions - this was in 1988's Daytona 500.
In 1997, Petty was accorded some long due recognition, becoming an International Motorsports Hall of Famer. The following year saw him being named among the 50 greatest drivers in NASCAR and in 1992, he received the nation's highest honor awarded to civilians, the Medal of Freedom.
Always known as a fan favorite, Petty would take hours after races to sign autographs for fans and acted as an effective ambassador for NASCAR racing. He has appeared in several films (as himself), including Stroker Ace, Speed Zone and Swing Vote.
A man with racing seemingly in his blood, Richard Petty has dedicated his life to racing and he remains active in the field even today.
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