Celebrating A Golden Anniversary

[DebWilliams-GFN]

By Deb Williams

CONCORD, N.C. (July 8, 2008) -- Fifty years ago when Richard Petty stepped behind the wheel of an Oldsmobile convertible for his inaugural NASCAR race in Columbia, S.C., there was no fanfare, TV cameras, throng of reporters, or entourage. There simply was a lanky 21-year-old North Carolinian, who wanted to drive a race car to see if he liked it.

And like it Petty did, as he went on to become “The King” of stock car racing and the sport's unofficial ambassador in a driving career that spanned more than three decades.

“I just think I was a lucky son-of-a-gun to be born at the right place at the right time under the right circumstances with a little bit of talent and a lot of talented people around me to put me in a position to be where I'm at today,” Petty, who recently celebrated his 71st birthday, said Tuesday when asked what he thought of his career during a teleconference.

Through the years, Petty has often said he would rather be lucky as good any day, and in many respects, he has lived a charmed life. His all-time record of 200 victories, seven NASCAR Cup championships and seven trips to victory lane in the Daytona 500 are legendary. But those accomplishments are only the beginning.

His records include:
Most Cup starts – 1,185.
Most poles -- 126
Most victories in a single season – 27 – in 1967, including 10 straight.
Most victories from the pole – 61.
Most wins from the pole in a single season – 15 – in 1967.
Most consecutive victories from the pole – four – in 1967 and tied by Darrell Waltrip in 1981.
Most years with a victory from the pole – 16.
Most consecutive years with a win from the pole – 13 – 1960-72.
Most victories at a single track – 15 -- Martinsville and North Wilkesboro.
Most consecutive wins at one track – 7 – Martinsville, 1970-73, and tied by Waltrip at Bristol, 1981-84.

Petty also was the first race car driver named to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and served for many years as a Randolph County commissioner. He portrayed himself in the movie “43: The Richard Petty Story”, which was released in June 1974. In 2006, he provided the voice for his familiar No. 43 Plymouth Superbird in the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars”, which has given him many young fans as he approaches the golden anniversary of his first NASCAR start.

“Little kids will come up and say, 'Hey, Mr. The King,' so it makes you feel good that you've done something that they enjoyed,” Petty commented with a laugh.
During Petty's reign as stock car racing's “King”, he's traveled to the White House, met with presidents, and attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. When NASCAR first moved its annual awards banquet to New York, Petty initially could enjoy the city with his family, but no more. A few years ago, when walking through the lobby at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, he appeared to be racing's Pied Piper. Yet, he's never turned away a fan.

“Without the fans, we wouldn't be sitting here talking,” Petty noted.

Even though Petty didn't qualify for his first NASCAR race until July 12, 1958, and he didn't make his Cup debut until July 18, 1958 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he was around the sport from its beginning and he grew as NASCAR grew.

“I started in NASCAR when I was 10 years old and I went to the first Cup race they had in 1949 in Charlotte with my father when I was 11 years old,” Petty said. “So I've been there ever since NASCAR started, basically, and I just come along at the right time to grow up with NASCAR.”

At his father's request, Petty waited until age 21 to begin his driving career. He finished 17th in the 19-car field after his dad “knocked me into the wall.” In 1959, Petty claimed rookie honors, but he also had his first Grand National [Cup] victory protested by his father. On June 14, 1959, Petty was flagged the winner in the 150-mile Sweepstakes race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta. However, his father disagreed and when the score cards were checked, Lee Petty was declared the winner.

The younger Petty didn't acquire his first Grand National [now Sprint Cup] victory until Feb. 28, 1960, in a 100-mile race on the now defunct half-mile dirt track at the old Charlotte Fairgrounds; just five months before the birth of son Kyle.

“What was fortunate from my standpoint -- the times I came along, the personalities I was around, the people that helped me and stuff -- it was a gradual deal,” the father of four said. “It wasn't a deal where you didn't do anything one year and you come out and win 10 or 12 races next year or a championship or something like that.

“It grew and I grew up with NASCAR ... it just kept adding on day after day after day and it just built into what it is now. I never sat there and said, 'Look what you've done or look what you've been able to accomplish,' because it was a deal that was just moving all the time. That one year we won 10 races in a row, we won one, won two, done that before, won three or four, and by the time you won the fifth or sixth race, you wasn't trying to add any more, because as quick as that race was over, you're saying, 'Where are we going to run next and what do we need to do to win that race?' You didn't really get involved in it until it was all over with and then you look back on it.”

The name Petty has always been equated with racing success. Yet, the internationally famous, but modest man admits he remembers the races he lost more than the ones in which he visited victory lane.

Throughout the last 50 years, racing has been both good and cruel to Petty. It nearly claimed his father in February 1961 at Daytona; it did take his brother-in-law at Talladega in May 1975 and his first-born grandchild at New Hampshire in May 2000. Petty's injuries have been numerous. They've included a broken neck at Pocono in July 1980, and a dislocated shoulder at Darlington in May 1970. He's barrel rolled his race car at Darlington, flipped it and flown out of the track at Daytona. He's also had 40 percent of his stomach removed because of ulcers.

Yes, racing has taken an emotional and physical toll on the Petty family, but still they soldier on with the business in their attempt to return it to the peak it once enjoyed. In the last year, Petty has made probably the most difficult decisions of his life – to move Petty Enterprises from its long-time home in Level Cross, N.C., to Mooresville, N.C., and to bring in a financial investor, Boston Ventures.
“That was the hardest move that I've probably ever made as a company operation,” Petty said about the decision to relocate Petty Enterprises.

"And then when it came to talking to Boston Ventures about bringing in a new partner, then that was a lot easier decision to make, because we had already made commitments to go forward and the investment was our next forward move.”

The Boston Ventures' announcement occurred last month in conjunction with Bobby Labonte's decision to extend his contract with the operation.

“We have to get our arms around who does what, how do we get our sponsorships in, how do we get our sponsors all lined up and how do we get the crews all lined up,” Petty said in addressing how things were progressing with Boston Ventures. “So, I don't see us having a major impact on anything outside right now, as far as seeing the car doing better or any of that kind of stuff. It's just going to take a little while for Boston Ventures to sort of learn the racing business. They are in the financial business. They work on that end of it. But when it comes to how we operate business in racing, it operates a little bit different than what your regular businesses operate.

“There's a lot of give-and-take in racing than if you was just keeping a set of books and looking at the numbers. Our numbers are how we finish at the race track.”

Petty will be at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, just as he is each week when Petty Enterprises is racing. So how would he like people to remember him?

“I've been asked that question a lot of times and the main deal is that they remember you, whether you was good, bad or whatever,” Petty said. “If you were remembered, then that's about all you can expect.”

If you like this editorial then read more by Deb Williams (click here). If you like the pictures please (click here) to see more pictures of the Petty Family of racing legends!