Richard Petty reflects on legendary career ahead of NASCAR's return to North Wilkesboro
Posted May 19, 2023 5:45 p.m. EDT
Updated May 19, 2023 6:49 p.m. EDT
Randleman, N.C. — Ahead of this weekend’s NASCAR All-Star Race, a return to the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway, the man who won more there than any other reflected on a life in racing with WRAL Sports.
Richard Petty is alive and well at the age of 85.
The Level Cross native won at the North Wilkesboro Speedway – the site of this weekend’s festivities – 15 times, which is most of any NASCAR driver. Darrell Waltrip's 10 victories at North Wilkesboro stand as the second most.
“Wilkesboro was a big part of NASCAR getting started,” Petty said.
Petty credited some of his success to his crew chief Dale Inman and his brother, Maurice Petty.
“My brother built the engines and knew what kind of horsepower it took for that particular race track, and all the combinations just kind of came together,” Richard Petty said of North Wilkesboro.
This weekend will mark 9,731 days – dating back to 1996 – since the last time the Cup Series raced for cash at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. That’s the longest gap in history for an American sports venue to host a big league team or series, go silent and make a return.
The race set for 5 p.m. Sunday is 200 laps and the winner will take home $1 million.
“The King” remains the only person to win 200 NASCAR races. He also had 712 top-10 finishes and is NASCAR’s all-time poles leader with 123. Petty is a seven-time NASCAR champion.
Full video interview with "The King": Click or tap here
WRAL Sports caught up with Petty at his shop in Level Cross. Petty attributes his success to his family.
“We just looked at it as if it was just a family business,” Petty said. “We were probably the first organization that looked at it as a business.
“A lot of people just come and run.”
Specifically, he mentioned his father Lee Petty, who was one of NASCAR’s first stars.
“The nucleus was the family,” Petty said. “My mother kept the books.
“She told my daddy how much he could spend on a race car. Being it was a family affair, a family business, I think that’s what made it successful for so long.”
Richard Petty explained what he learned from his dad.
“He was my teacher,” Petty said of his dad. “I learned driving from watching him drive, watching Junior Johnson, “Fireball” Roberts [and] Tim Flock …
“Each one of them had a different way of driving, so I looked at this and I liked what he does. I like the way this guy does this and then I guess I developed my own driving style, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.”
Petty said he didn’t start racing until he was 21. He said he started winning races around the age of 22, taking him 20-30 races to learn the sport. He was active in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1958-1992.
In 1970, Petty was the last winner ever at Raleigh’s State Fairgrounds dirt track. It’s not the win that Petty remembered though.
“I come down the front stretch and something happened,” Petty said. “I went off the corner and went down in one of the barns down there where they had the cows and stuff. Of course, there [were] no cows there at that time.
“And, I remember that more than winning the races I guess because that was something I’d never done before. So, I had run races before, but never … went to the race track and been in a cow barn.”
The final and 200th win of Petty’s career came on July 4, 1984, at the Firecracker 400 at the Daytona International Speedway.
“Fate, whatever, circumstances beyond our control,” Petty said. “The race came down to the very last couple of laps.”
At the legendary race, Ronald Reagan became the first U.S. president to attend a NASCAR race. Reagan gave the "gentlemen, start your engines" command from the phone on Air Force One, which later landed at Daytona Beach International Airport. Reagan then was escorted to one of the main press boxes at the speedway.
“It just blew the president’s mind [going] 200 mph,” Petty said of the president watching the race.
Petty remembers a close finish against Cale Yarborough.
“It couldn’t have been a better script,” Petty said. “It was the 200th race in front of the president of the United States on July the Fourth.
“Being that the president was there, we got him on the sports page and he got us on the front page.”
Petty qualified for all 29 NASCAR races in 1992, which is the final year he drove.
The family tradition passed down to his son, Kyle Petty, who raced from 1979-2008 and now serves as a racing commentator.
Lee Petty founded Petty Enterprises, which operated from 1949-2008. The team operated the No. 43 and No. 45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
In 2009, Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motor Sports to form Richard Petty Motorsports.
The shop has had 268 race cars win races since NASCAR began.
The 2023 NASCAR season will be the first without a team bearing the Petty family name.
In January, Petty GMS Racing announced it is changing its team name to Legacy Motor Club.
It comes as seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson joined the team’s ownership group at the end of the 2022 season. Johnson will race the No. 84 car on a part-time basis.
Noah Gragson will race the No. 42 car and Erik Jones will be in the No. 43 car for the Legacy Motor Club.
“When I drove, it was one thing,” Petty said. “And then, when you become a car owner and you get involved, you look at it a little different, but yeah, you’re still interested in what’s going on and you want to be part of it, but … not driving, I’m not as much involved as I used to be.”
NASCAR and Petty’s roots are deep in North Carolina. Charlotte is the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Petty was inducted into the hall’s first class on May 23, 2010.
In 1984, the Petty Museum opened its doorsdooors to race fans in Randleman.
WRAL Sports asked Petty how he wants to be remembered.
“Everybody’s going to remember Richard Petty from a different angle, whether they like him or don’t like him, from what he’s done or what he didn’t do,” Petty said. “The big deal is that they just remember you, no matter what the memory is for them.
“If they remember you, or remember me, then that’s all you can ask for.”
