Richard Petty is "the King" of NASCAR. During his career he amassed a record 200 wins and a slew of fans. A class-act both inside and outside of the racecar, Richard is still a constant presence each weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup series travels nationwide.
Richard Lee Petty was born in Level Cross, North Carolina on July 2, 1937 to his father the legendary Lee Arnold Petty and mother Elizabeth. Lee is best known for winning the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and by his three Cup championships of 1954, '58 and '59. Richard is a second generation NASCAR driver and the grandfather to the late fourth generation driver Adam Petty. Adam died at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on May 12, 2000. His other grandson, Austin Petty, works on the day-to-day operations of his late brother's vision, the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a camp for terminally ill children. Richard married his wife Lynda in 1958 and had four children: Kyle Petty (8 time Cup race winner), Sharon Petty Farlow, Lisa Petty Luck and Rebecca Petty Moffit. From these children he was given 12 grandchildren.
Richard finished 17th in his first race on July 18, 1958 at the Canadian Exposition Stadium in Toronto, Canada; he was 21 years old. The following season he earned 6 top-5, and 9 top-10 finishes resulting in the NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award. In his third season of competition he finished second in the final point standings to Rex White. His legacy started the moment he jumped into the powerful Plymouth Superbird synonymous with his name. In 1964 he got behind the wheel of his first Superbird and led 184 of the 200 laps of the Daytona 500 resulting in his first of nine wins that season, and his first Grand National Championship. The next year he spent primarily as a drag racer. His drag racing career ended after he crashed his racecar and dangerous debris injured several spectators and killed a young boy. Two years after his 1964 championship, he rebounded from being two laps down and won his second Daytona 500. 1967 saw one of Richard's most impressive accomplishments as he won over half of the races that season, 27 of 48, and logged 10 consecutive wins resulting in his second championship. He earned his nickname "the King" during this season because of his 56% win percentage. In 1969, Richard, upset with the Superbird's superspeedway capabilities and Chrysler's reluctance to let him drive a Dodge Daytona, switched to a '69 Ford Torino which resulted in a total of 10 wins and a second-place point finish. When the new Superbird debuted in 1970, Richard became a Plymouth driver once more. This is usually the model he is best known for and this "Petty Blue" colored #43 Superbird has become a timeless symbol in NASCAR racing.
In 1971, Petty won Daytona 500 #3 edging out his teammate Buddy Baker by a mere 10 seconds, a short margin of victory for that era. He won 20 additional races in the '71 season, claimed his third Grand National championship and became the first driver to make $1 million in earnings. In 1972, Petty gained his famed STP sponsorship and did not let his new sponsor down. He gained 8 wins, 25 top-5s, and 28 top-10s. In 1973, Petty won his fourth Daytona 500 again beating out Buddy Baker who finished sixth after his engine expired with six laps left. The margin of victory was two laps over the #15 Ford Torino of Bobby Isaac. 1974 saw Petty win yet another Daytona 500 (actually the Daytona 450 due to the energy crisis) and another championship. In 1975 he won his first World 600 (the longest annually-run NASCAR race), 13 total victories (a modern-era record tied only by Jeff Gordon), and his second consecutive championship title. The 1976 Daytona 500 saw Petty lose a well-deserved win after a crash between him and his biggest rival, David Pearson, took him out of contention. As the two raced side-by-side on the final turn of the last lap, Petty's right rear bumper made contact with Pearson's front left corner sending both cars spinning. Both hit the frontstretch wall, and Pearson clipped a second car. While Petty struggled to restart his Dodge, Pearson's #21 Mercury, still running, passed Petty on his way to the checkered flag. Though Petty was never able to restart his car, he still finished second. 1977 saw Petty finish second in the point standings to Cale Yarborough, the second of Cale's three consecutive championships. Though a solid year, Petty only notched five wins, a fairly uneventful year by the King's standards. 1978 was odd and a winless season for the #43 resulting in a sixth place points finish. During the season, Petty, aggravated with his results, switched 21 races into the season to an older model Chevrolet Monte Carlo to the surprise of many of his fans. Petty had broken an eight and a half year streak of racing pure Mopar power. The change made little difference. Though he had seemingly more consistent finishes with the Monte Carlo, his average finish was one position higher with the Dodge. He would never race another Mopar vehicle in official competition. In 1979, again with a Monte Carlo, Petty won his sixth Daytona 500, and seventh and final Winston Cup championship. The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first NASCAR event to be televised live in its entirety and ended in the infamous fight which resulted from the two leaders crashing on the final turn of the last lap. As the leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough fought fist-to-fist near their wrecked cars, the #43 passed the start/finish line for the win.
In 1981, Petty was ready to return to Mopar and built an '81 Dodge Mirada. During Daytona 500 testing, the new Mirada was about 8 mph slower than its GM competitors. Petty gave up on Mopar and bought a new Buick Regal. His decision proved wise and he grabbed his seventh and final 500 trophy. He grabbed two more wins in '81 and moved to Pontiac in '82. Over the next three seasons (1982-'84) he grabbed four wins. On July 4, 1984, Richard Lee Petty made history with his 200th and final Winston Cup Series win by a fender over Cale Yarborough. President Ronald Reagan was attending that race and congratulated Petty on his win in Victory Lane. His final top-10 occurred at Watkins Glen International on August 11, 1991, the same race that took the life of J.D. McDuffie. The King retired after the 1992 Winston Cup Series season with a grand total of 1184 starts, 200 wins, 555 top-5s, 712 top-10s, 126 pole positions, 52,194 laps led, $8,541,210 in earnings, an average start of 9.5, and an average finish of 11.3. His record number of consecutive starts, 513, earned him the title "Iron Man". His record was broken by Terry Labonte and later by Ricky Rudd.
Richard is owner of Petty Enterprises, a racing organization incorporated in 1949 by his father. It was known as Lee Petty Engineering from 1949 to 1969. In total, Petty Enterprises holds 10 Cup championships (3 with Lee, 7 with Richard), and 268 wins. As tradition, Petty Enterprises has typically had at least one Petty driving for them throughout their history. Many drivers drove out of the Petty Enterprises stable, but a few notables are of course, Lee Petty (#42), Richard Petty (#42, #43), Kyle Petty (#7, #42, #44, #45), and Bobby Labonte (#43). Richard has been succeeded in his #43 racecar by Wally Dallenbach Jr., John Andretti, Bobby Hamilton, Christian Fittipaldi, Jeff Green, and its current driver, 2000 Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte. Kyle Petty followed in tradition and like his ancestors, drove for the family's race team. While Lee Petty drove the #42 for most of his career, and his father the #43, Kyle drove the #44. When his son Adam perished at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000, Kyle moved over to the #45 in tribute to his late son.
Richard Petty is no doubt the greatest driver in NASCAR history. Throughout his career he signed countless amounts of autographs and stayed close to his fan base. Very few drivers could be put in the same category as the King. He was inducted into the North Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973, International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997, was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers of All-time in 1998, and was awarded the Medal of Freedom (the highest honor for a civilian) by George H.W. Bush in 1992. He was winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award nine times, and the NMPA's Myers Brothers Award four times, for contributions to the sport.