Richard Petty

Richard Petty (born July 2, 1937 in Level Cross, North Carolina along U.S. Highway 220) is a renowned former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and is now a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series owner. Driving his famous No.43, Petty won the NASCAR Championship 7 times; Dale Earnhardt was the only other driver to accomplish this feat. Petty also won an unprecedented 200 races during his career and in the 1967 season alone won a record 27 races, including ten races in a row. His 200th win came in the Firecracker 400 on July 4, 1984 at Daytona International Speedway. President Ronald Reagan was in attendance, and celebrated the milestone with Petty and his family in victory lane. He also collected a record number of poles (127) and over 700 top-ten finishes in his 1,185 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971-1989. He Won 7 Daytona 500s and 9 Most Popular Driver Awards.

The 1970's

On February 14,1971 Richard Petty bags his third Daytona 500 beating Buddy Baker by 1 lap enroute to another historic year for The King, he won 21 races, became the first driver to earn over 1 million dollars in career earnings, and won his third Grand National Championship. In 1972, now driving in a RED AND BLUE STP car, Petty won his 4th Winston Cup Championship thanks to his 28 top 10 finishes, including 25 top 5 finishes and 8 victories. On February 18,1973 in a drivers dual Richard Petty outlast Buddy Baker to win his Fourth Daytona 500 after Baker's engine gave out with 6 laps to go. One year later, Petty won the shortned Daytona 500 (due to energy crisis) for the 5th time en route to his 5th Winston Cup Championship. 1975 was another historic year for Petty, he won the World 600 for the only time in his career, one of 13 victories en route to his 6th Winston Cup Championship.

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