Richard Petty
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Richard Petty's first race was in Toronto, Canada on July 18, 1958. He placed 17th and took home $115. In 1959, he had nine "Top Ten" finishes and won NASCAR Rookie of the Year.
The next year, in 1960, Petty finished second in the NASCAR Grand National Points Race. 1964 was the year when Petty began building his legacy. He won his first Daytona 500, leading 184 of the 200 laps. He won nine races that year and his first NASCAR Grand National Championship. He finished the season 5,302 points ahead of runner-up Ned Jarrett. Petty's winnings for the year was $114,000.The next year, in 1965, Petty was involved in a dispute with NASCAR. He tried drag racing, but his career in that sport was cut short when he was involved in an accident that killed an eight year old boy and injured seven more fans.
Returning to NASCAR in 1966, he won his second Daytona 500. At one point in the race he was two laps behind. This race was noteworthy for two reasons: it was stopped on two laps short, and Petty became the first driver to win the Dayton 500 twice.
1967 was another great year for Petty. He entered forty-eight races and won twenty-seven of them. Ten of the wins were consecutive. That year he won his second Grand National Championship and picked up the nickname "King Richard."
Petty won his third Daytona 500 in 1971. He won twenty races that year and became the first driver to exceed $1 million in career earnings. He also won his third NASCAR Grand National Championship. The next year, in 1972, he won his fourth Winston Cup Championship.
By this time, winning the Daytona 500 had become a habit for Petty. He won the 1973 and the 1974 races. The 1974 race is known as the "Daytona 450." The race was shortened twenty laps because of the energy crises.
In 1975, Petty won thirteen races, including his first World 600. That year he won his sixth Winston Cup.
In 1975, Petty broke a 45 race losing streak when he won his sixth Daytona 500. This race was historic because it was the first live national televised broadcast of a NASCAR race. Fans who tuned in were treated to a fistfight between Cale Yarborough and Donnie and Bobby Allison. This race has been credited for turning a lot of people who had never watched a race into NASCAR fans. Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough had been fighting each other for the lead. One bumped the other one time too many times. Petty and David Pearson moved ahead of both of them on the last lap and Petty won the race, moving ahead of Pearson on the last turn. Petty also won his seventh and final Winston Cup that year.
Richard Petty won his seventh and final Daytona 500 in 1981.
He won his 200th race on July 4, 1984 at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway. President Reagan in attendance, the first sitting president to attend a NASCAR race.
Richard Petty's last race was the 1992 season ending Hooter's 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, The race drew a record-breaking 160,000 fans.
Few people in the word have signed more autographs than Richard Petty. Some in the autograph industry believe he holds the record.
Richard Petty has always signed for anybody who asked. He wold sign for hours after a heated race. Retirement didn't stop the deluge of autograph requests. He never looks like he doesn't enjoy signing. He sets aside one day each week to sign autographs, much of it through the mail.
As his son Kyle says, "All those years of sitting on the pit wall and signing autographs, all those years of making appearances and doing things when NASCAR and the tracks asked, you didn’t realize what you were doing was basically planting a seed. Then it grew into a tree, and now it’s grown into an orchard."
Petty caught on early that what he did off the track, in the long-run mattered as much as what he did on the track. he even took a penmanship course so he could give a more attractive autograph.
Even though Richard Petty still signs free through the mail, a Richard Petty signature is worth about $20. A signed photo or card is worth about $30. A signed die-cast car retails for about $100.
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