Richard Petty

Overview

The King of stock car racing, Richard Petty retired from NASCAR competition after the 1992 season. During his storied career, he won 200 Winston Cup race (a feat that will never be equaled), seven Winston Cup championships (tied by Dale Earnhardt in 1994), and seven Daytona 500's. His 200th win came in the July 4th, 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona, when he beat Cale Yarborough by mere inches with President Ronald Reagan in attendance. Petty remains a fixture on the Winston Cup circuit. He still owns the familiar number 43 STP Pontiac team, and you can still find him signing autographs for his legion of fans. His son, Kyle Petty, is currently a NASCAR Winston Cup series driver.
- IMDb mini biography by: Pat Campbell <pscampbe@hiwaay.net>

Grandson Adam Petty was killed in a practice run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000. Earlier that season Adam qualified and ran in the Winston Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, making the Pettys the first and only four-generation family to run in Winston/Nextel Cup racing history.
Was the winner in the first-ever NASCAR event televised flag-to-flag, the 1979 Daytona 500. Petty was a lap down in third place on the final lap when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough, the first- and second-place drivers, collided on the backstretch. Shortly after Petty crossed the finish line, CBS' cameras shot over to the infield where Yarborough and Allison (along with his brother, Bobby Allison) had climbed out of their wrecked cars and were fighting. This telecast and its events are credited with introducing stock-car racing to the mainstream American public.
He drove a Ford in 1969 (scored nine wins and came in second in the points to David Pearson, who also drove a Ford) because Chrysler wouldn't give him a Dodge Charger Daytona as he was a "Plymouth Man!" Embarrassed by this, Plymouth built the Road Runner Superbird to get him back for 1970.
Lost 40% of his stomach due to ulcer surgery in December 1978.
Not only holds the record for for most wins in NASCAR (200), but holds the record for most wins per season, 27, 10 in a row in 1967.