64 Facts About Richard Petty

Richard Petty is a member of the Petty racing family.

Richard Petty was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times, while winning a record 200 races during his career.

Richard Petty earns broad respect in motorsport as, statistically, the most accomplished driver in the history of NASCAR, where he remains very active as both a team owner in the Cup Series and owner of Petty's Garage in Level Cross, North Carolina.

Richard Petty was the first driver to win in his 500th race start, being joined by Matt Kenseth in 2013.

Richard Petty was inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Richard Petty Museum was formerly in nearby Randleman, North Carolina, but moved back to its original location in Level Cross in March 2014.

Richard Petty has voiced a role in Disney's animated films Cars and Cars 3, playing The King, a character partially based on himself.

Richard Petty's father, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was a three-time NASCAR champion.

In 1958, Richard Petty married Lynda Owens, who would die of cancer on March 25,2014, at her home in Level Cross, North Carolina at age 72.

Richard Petty was educated in Randleman, North Carolina and attended Randleman High School, where he was an All-Conference guard on the football team.

Richard Petty began his NASCAR career on July 18,1958,16 days after his 21st birthday.

In Lakewood, Georgia in 1959, Richard Petty won his first race, but his father Lee protested, complaining of a scoring error on the officials' part.

In 1964, driving a potent Plymouth with a new Hemi engine, Richard Petty led 184 of the 200 laps to capture his first Daytona 500, en route to 9 victories, earning over $114,000 and his first Grand National championship.

Richard Petty Enterprises installed the Hemi in the new compact Barracuda and lettered "OUTLAWED" on the door.

Richard Petty crashed this car at Southeastern Dragway, in Dallas, Georgia, on February 28,1965, killing an eight-year-old boy and injuring seven others.

Richard Petty broke the half-mile NASCAR record for half-mile tracks with an average speed of 82.023 miles per hour during the 100-mile event.

In that year, Richard Petty won 27 of the 48 races he entered, including a record 10 wins in a row.

Richard Petty had previously been known as "the Randleman Rocket".

In 1968, Richard Petty won 16 races including the last ever race at Occoneechee Speedway.

Richard Petty switched brands to Ford, due to his belief the Plymouth was not competitive on super-speedways; he wanted a slippery Dodge Daytona but Chrysler executives insisted he stay with Plymouth.

On February 14,1971, Richard Petty won his third Daytona 500, driving a brand-new Plymouth Road Runner and beating Buddy Baker, by little more than a car length en route to another historic year, making him the first driver to win the race 3 times.

Richard Petty won 20 more races and claimed his 3rd Grand National Championship.

In 1972, STP began what would turn into a successful 28-year sponsorship arrangement with Richard Petty it marked the end of his famous all "Richard Petty Blue" paint job.

Thanks to his 28 Top 10 finishes, Richard Petty went on to win his 4th NASCAR Cup Series championship.

In 1976, Richard Petty was involved in one of the most famous finishes in NASCAR history.

Pearson and Richard Petty both spun and hit the front stretch wall.

Richard Petty's car came to rest just yards from the finish line, but his engine stalled.

Oddly 1978 will stand out as the one year during his prime that Richard Petty did not visit the winner's circle.

Unhappy with the seven top-five and eleven top-ten finishes, Richard Petty decided that his longtime relationship with Chrysler could not continue and he instead began racing a secondhand 1974 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the fall race at Michigan.

Richard Petty would go on to even better results in 1979.

Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 in an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme in the "Famous Finish" and ran most of the remaining races in a Chevrolet, winning four additional races and taking the NASCAR championship for the seventh, and last, time by 11 points which was the closest points margin in NASCAR history until 1992.

Richard Petty won the race as the first and second place cars of Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the last lap.

Richard Petty was able to hold off Waltrip to win the title in 1979.

In 1980, Richard Petty won two races early in the year at North Wilkesboro and Nashville but a violent crash at Pocono in July ended his championship hopes.

Richard Petty's fans were in a large part fans of his Dodges, so when word got out about the Mirada testing, 15,000 or so showed up on January 17,1981, at Daytona Speedway to watch Richard Petty put the Dodge through its paces.

Richard Petty gave up on returning to Dodge knowing that for the superspeedways the Mirada would not be competitive, and bought a Buick Regal for the Daytona race.

Richard Petty spent '84 and '85 driving for Mike Curb before returning to Petty Enterprises in 1986.

NASCAR did not credit Richard Petty with a class win, which was a dispute that affected two other drivers, Elmo Langley and Charlie Glotzbach, both of whom drove in combination races that season, finishing second to Grand American cars.

Under modern NASCAR combination race rules for various series, Richard Petty would be credited with that would be recognized as his 135th win.

On May 20,1984, Richard Petty won what under modern regulations would be recognized as his 200th Cup class win, the Budweiser 500 at Dover International Speedway, when the Winston-Salem class win is recognized.

On July 4,1984, Richard Petty won his officially-recognized 200th race at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Also, under current combination race rules, Richard Petty would be recognized for his 201st win.

In early 1988, Richard Petty traveled to Australia to help promote a NASCAR exhibition race at the then new Calder Park Thunderdome, the first NASCAR race outside of North America.

On October 1,1991, Richard Petty announced he would retire after the 1992 season.

Richard Petty chose to run the entire 1992 season, not just selected events as other drivers have done before retirement.

Richard Petty pulled the car off the track, and climbed out of the burning machine uninjured.

Richard Petty took his final checkered flag, finishing in 35th position.

Richard Petty drove several laps around the track, and then donated his car to the Speedway's museum.

In 2009 at the Coke Zero 400 in Daytona, for the 25th anniversary of his final, 200th victory in 1984, Richard Petty drove one of his 1980s Pontiac racecars during the pace laps, leading the field for the first one.

Finally, at the 2017 Southern 500 at Darlington, Richard Petty led the field through several pace laps in his Plymouth Belvedere.

Richard Petty apparently stayed out a lap longer than expected and was humorously black flagged by the starter.

Richard Petty followed the pace car down pit road at the start of the race.

Richard Petty remained as operating owner until his son Kyle Richard Petty took over day-to-day operations a decade later.

In 1995, Richard Petty moved to the television broadcast booth, joining CBS as a color commentator.

In 1978, Richard Petty was elected to the Randolph County Commission as a Republican.

In 1993, Richard Petty formed a political action committee to support Republican candidates.

Richard Petty was mistakenly seen as a shoo-in, and his campaigning was sporadic.

Richard Petty is currently a spokesman for Liberty Medical, Cheerios and the GlaxoSmithKline products Nicorette and Goody's Headache Powder.

Richard Petty's portrait was featured on Brawny paper towels during a limited time when the company replaced their image with several "real Brawny men".

General Mills created a Richard Petty-themed packaged cereal, "43's," its boxes featuring his image and story.

Richard Petty played himself in the 2008 film Swing Vote, where he commends the film's protagonist by allowing him to briefly drive his famous "43" Plymouth.

Richard Petty has recorded public service announcements for Civitan International, a nonprofit organization of which he is a former member.

Richard Petty has established a summer camp known as "Victory Junction", which is intended to give seriously ill children an outdoors, summer-camp experience and has medical staff on hand around the clock in case of emergencies.

In May 2011, Richard Petty was chosen to be the Grand Marshal for the 2011 STP 400 of the Sprint Cup Series.