Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed The King, is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He is most well known for winning the NASCAR Championship seven times (Dale Earnhardt is the only other driver to accomplish this feat), winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races (ten of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone. (A 1972 rule change eliminated races under 250 miles (400 km) in length, reducing the schedule to 30 [now 36] races.) Statistically he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. He also collected a record number of poles (127) and over 700 top-ten finishes in his 1,184 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971–1989. Petty was the only driver to ever win in his 500th race start, until Matt Kenseth joined him in 2013. Petty is a member of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Hall in 2010.

Petty is a second generation driver. His father, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a 3 time NASCAR champion. Richard's son Kyle was also a well-known NASCAR driver. Richard's grandson, Adam, was killed in an accident at New Hampshire International Speedway on May 12, 2000, five weeks after the death of Lee Petty. Adam's brother Austin works on day-to-day operations of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a Hole in the Wall Gang Camp established by the Pettys after Adam's death. Petty married Lynda Owens (who died on March 25, 2014 at her home in Level Cross, North Carolina at age 72, after a long battle with cancer) in 1958. They had four children—Kyle Petty, Sharon Petty-Farlow, Lisa Petty-Luck, and Rebecca Petty-Moffit. The family resides in Petty's home town of Level Cross, North Carolina and operates Richard Petty Motorsports. The Richard Petty Museum was formerly in nearby Randleman, North Carolina but moved back to its original location in March 2014.