Richard Petty
This week’s NC Notable is NASCAR’s king, Richard Petty. If racing had a face, it would look like Petty’s – southern fried, weather beaten and miles of dirt track and motor oil memories embedded in its creases.
Petty is the second generation of what has become a four-generation racing dynasty. He was born in July 1937 in Level Cross, NC. His father Lee was one of stock-car racing’s early pioneers, winning three Grand National championships in the 1950s.
Petty became his father’s crew chief at the age of 12 and finally took the wheel a day after his 21st birthday in 1958.
Driving the #43 car, Petty tallied a record seven Daytona 500 wins, seven Winston Cup championships and 200 NASCAR races. He was inducted in the NC Sports Hall of Fame, the Motorcross Hall of Fame and is a nine-time winner of the Most Popular Winston Cup Driver award.
Petty retired from racing in 1992, but his trademark cowboy hat and sunglasses loom large.
He founded Petty Enterprises and has a museum in his hometown. He ran unsuccessfully in 1996 against Elaine Marshall for Secretary of State. His son Kyle and grandson Adam, who died in 2000, continued in the family business. Petty used his name to convince fans to stop smoking and buckle up. He is a regular at Victory Junction Gang, a camp for critically ill children in Randleman, NC. There are many heroes in the history of NASCAR but this week’s NC Notable is the only “King.”
Previous NC Notables
11.17.2005 Annabelle Lundy Fetterman
11.10.2005 James Baxter Hunt
11.03.2005 Maya Angelou
10.27.2005 Mike Krzyzewski
10.20.2005 Jim Broyhill
10.13.2005 Reynolds Price
10.06.2005 Kay Yow
09.29.2005 Van Eure
09.22.2005 Mary Semans
09.15.2005 John Dornan
09.08.2005 Eva Clayton
09.01.2005 Lois Britt
08.25.2005 Fred Barber
08.18.2005 Julius Chambers
08.11.2005 Martha Guy
08.04.2005 Nido Qubein
07.28.2005 Jeanette Hyde
07.21.2005 Billy Graham
07.14.2005 Lee Smith
07.07.2005 Ralph Ketner
06.30.2005 Thomas Hearn
06.23.2005 John Allison
06.16.2005 Jim Martin
06.02.2005 Darleen Johns
05.26.2005 Hugh Morton
05.19.2005 Bernie Mann
05.12.2005 Orrin H. Pilkey
05.05.2005 William Friday
04.28.2005 Annie Louise Wilkerson
04.21.2005 Martin Lancaster
04.14.2005 Shirley Caesar
04.07.2005 Carl Fox
03.31.2005 Bob Jordan
03.24.2005 Ann T. Denlinger
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