Richard Petty is a certifiable NASCAR legend. He has won 200 races in his career, just one of the records he holds. He is also a seven time Daytona 500 winner, the only racer other than Dale Earnhardt to do so. There is no doubt that Petty is an all-time great when it comes to competitive racing.
Born in 1937, Richard Petty ran 1184 NASCAR Sprint Cup races over 35 years. While he has won 200 races, he has 712 top ten finishes in his career. Richard Petty is considered the greatest NASCAR driver of all time with 513 consecutive starts from 1971 to 1989.
Petty comes from a racing family; his father Lee was the winner of 1959's Daytona 500 (the first year that the event was held) and himself a NASCAR Championship winner three times over. His son Kyle is of course well known to NASCAR fans - and tragically, Petty lost his grandson Adam in a New Hampshire Interational Speedway accident only a little over a month after his father passed away.
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 commonly 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.
Richard Petty is remembered for three of the many crashes he survived. In 1970, at the Rebel 400, he was injured when his Plymouth Road Runner cut a tire and slammed into a wall, flipped several times, injured his shoulder and bounced his head off the pavement several times. This accident caused NASCAR to require the safety netting over the driver's window.
Petty somehow managed to keep a broken neck a secret from the world, even competing in a few more races after being injured in a race at Pocono in 1980. His other incredible crash came in 1988 in the Daytona 500, when he was in a crash which sent pieces of his car flying - Petty himself though was able to walk away unhurt save for some temporary visual impairment.
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.
Petty was always close to his fans, staying hours after races had concluded to sign autographs. He has also appeared in several films portraying himself. These films include Speed Zone, Stroker Ace 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. - 16887
Born in 1937, Richard Petty ran 1184 NASCAR Sprint Cup races over 35 years. While he has won 200 races, he has 712 top ten finishes in his career. Richard Petty is considered the greatest NASCAR driver of all time with 513 consecutive starts from 1971 to 1989.
Petty comes from a racing family; his father Lee was the winner of 1959's Daytona 500 (the first year that the event was held) and himself a NASCAR Championship winner three times over. His son Kyle is of course well known to NASCAR fans - and tragically, Petty lost his grandson Adam in a New Hampshire Interational Speedway accident only a little over a month after his father passed away.
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 commonly 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.
Richard Petty is remembered for three of the many crashes he survived. In 1970, at the Rebel 400, he was injured when his Plymouth Road Runner cut a tire and slammed into a wall, flipped several times, injured his shoulder and bounced his head off the pavement several times. This accident caused NASCAR to require the safety netting over the driver's window.
Petty somehow managed to keep a broken neck a secret from the world, even competing in a few more races after being injured in a race at Pocono in 1980. His other incredible crash came in 1988 in the Daytona 500, when he was in a crash which sent pieces of his car flying - Petty himself though was able to walk away unhurt save for some temporary visual impairment.
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.
Petty was always close to his fans, staying hours after races had concluded to sign autographs. He has also appeared in several films portraying himself. These films include Speed Zone, Stroker Ace 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. - 16887
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