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.
Racing comes naturally to Richard Petty - his father Lee Petty won the very fist Daytona 500 race in 1959 (Lee Petty is also a three time NASCAR Championship winner). It seems to run in the family; his son Kyle is a NASCAR star in his own right. Tragically, his grandson Adam passed away in an accident at the New Hampshire International Speedway, right after he had lost his famous father.
Petty Enterprises is operated by the Petty family and in 2008 they moved the race team into a vacated Yates Racing facility that was 115,000 square feet. Richard Petty still signs autographs for people, even though he is in his 70's now.
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 especially 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.
In 1980, at Pocono, he broke his neck and kept the injury hidden for the next few races. In 1988 at the Daytona 500, his crash sent parts everywhere after numerous flips and he sustained temporary vision loss from the g-forces, but otherwise walked away uninjured.
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.
Richard Petty has spent nearly his entire adult life in the world of racing and he is still active in NASCAR (though no longer behind the wheel) even now. - 23802
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.
Racing comes naturally to Richard Petty - his father Lee Petty won the very fist Daytona 500 race in 1959 (Lee Petty is also a three time NASCAR Championship winner). It seems to run in the family; his son Kyle is a NASCAR star in his own right. Tragically, his grandson Adam passed away in an accident at the New Hampshire International Speedway, right after he had lost his famous father.
Petty Enterprises is operated by the Petty family and in 2008 they moved the race team into a vacated Yates Racing facility that was 115,000 square feet. Richard Petty still signs autographs for people, even though he is in his 70's now.
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 especially 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.
In 1980, at Pocono, he broke his neck and kept the injury hidden for the next few races. In 1988 at the Daytona 500, his crash sent parts everywhere after numerous flips and he sustained temporary vision loss from the g-forces, but otherwise walked away uninjured.
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.
Richard Petty has spent nearly his entire adult life in the world of racing and he is still active in NASCAR (though no longer behind the wheel) even now. - 23802
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