Richard Petty: Same Hat, Same Glasses, Still the Man
by Scott Adamson 26 2008 www.g3pub.com Feature Story I t all began a half century ago when a son, determined to follow in his father's footsteps, crawled into the cockpit of a stock car and decided to go racing. And race he did, winning 200 events, capturing 127 poles and fi nishing in the top 10 more than 700 times. Perhaps the most memorable victory came on July 4, 1984. On lap 198 of the Firecracker 400 at Day-tona International Speedway, Doug Heveron crashed, bringing out the caution fl ag and creating a sprint to the fi nish. Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough battled it out on what was basically the fi nal lap to be contested at full speed, with Petty winning in what was close to a photo fi nish. President Ronald Reagan was in atten-dance, the fi rst sitting president to attend a NASCAR race. Reagan joined Petty in victory lane for the celebration. Petty's statistics were kingly, and now when a race fan refers to The King, no further explanation is needed. I ain't never been nothing else, Petty says. And what was fortunate from my standpoint, the time I came along, the personalities I was around, the people that helped me and stuff, it was a gradual deal. 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. Petty is now 71 years old but still sports the ever-present sunglasses and Charlie 1 Horse cowboy hat. Today he is a mostly behind-the-scenes owner of Petty Enter-prises, but any time he appears in the garage area fans still gravitate toward him even those who know him only from video clips and stories told by dads and granddads. FeatureStory_G31208.indd 26 11/20/08 3:50:10 PM