Project Description

Richard Petty

“The King” of NASCAR

Petty came from a racing family; his father, Lee Petty, also raced stock cars. The elder Petty was a three-time winner of the Grand National Cup and founder of Petty Enterprises racing team. Richard joined NASCAR as a driver in 1958, and in 1959 he accumulated nine top-10 finishes and was named Rookie of the Year. In February 1960 he earned his first victory in Charlotte, North Carolina. He won his first Daytona 500 (NASCAR’s most prestigious event) in 1964 and claimed his first Grand National Cup. Driving his familiar number 43 blue-and-red car with the STP logo, Petty continued to collect victories in the 1970s, taking Winston Cup titles in 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1979.

Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports. During his 35-year career, Petty collected a record number of poles and over 700 top 10 finishes in a record 1,184 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971 to 1989. Petty was the first driver to win in his 500th race start in 2013. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010. Today, he is as busy as ever and spends much of his time overseeing the operations of Petty GMS, a race team competing at NASCAR’s highest level, as well as Petty’s Garage high performance speed shop.

Richard Petty’s popularity extends to all generations. He appeared in the Disney movie Cars (as well as Cars 3) as The King, a character partially based on himself, where in the movie, the character is looking forward to winning his last race before retirement.