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With a fourth-generation Petty racing driver announcing his awesome Petty’s Garage throwback for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington this spring, we here at the Daily Downforce thought it would be cool to take a look at some of the most important wins in Richard Petty’s illustrious career. Richard Petty is the undisputed King of NASCAR. I don’t think very many fans will dispute that. With a smashing total of 200 race victories, 7 Daytona 500 wins, and 49,920 laps led, it would be hard to argue anything of the contrary.
Though Richard Petty is long retired as a driver, his legacy lives on. He is the spokesperson of Legacy Motor Club, and the former owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, and Petty Enterprises. His son, Kyle Petty, has been an outspoken spokesman for the sport and even added to his father’s legacy. Adam Petty, Kyle’s son and Richard’s grandson, showed immense promise before tragically losing his life in an Xfinity Series practice crash in 2000. Now Thad Moffit looks to add to his grandfather’s legacy.
So, with no further ado, here are the Top-5 Most Important Richard Petty Victories.
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Long before the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, NASCAR raced at a similarly short bullring built around a football field. Bowman Gray Stadium still stands today, football field, track, and all. The track is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and, after being built in 1937, has played host to a total of 29 NASCAR Cup Series Races.
The track significance in Petty’s career is that it is the sight of his record-setting 100th victory. Taking place in 1969, Richard Petty dominated the race en route to the win and had already established himself as the King of NASCAR. In the video below, you can watch the three Petty brothers talk about and discuss their family’s history with the historic quarter-mile short track. Check it out:
The 1979 Daytona 500 is often credited for being the race that put NASCAR on the map. For the first time in series history, the Great American Race was being televised live, fully flag-to-flag on CBS. For the most part, it was a good race. But what really got people talking was everything that went down in the final lap. Everybody knows what happened: battling for the coveted Daytona 500 victory, leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough wrecked each other on the last lap of the race in the last corner.
Allion’s and Yarborough’s aggression cost them the race handing the win over to, you guessed, third-place runner at the time, Richard Petty. After getting out of their cars, Allison and Yarborough infamously got into a fight in the infield of turns 3 and 4. This put NASCAR on the map and the win went on to put Petty’s name in the public consciousness as the King of NASCAR.
You can relive this historic final lap in the video below:
Darlington Raceway is a name that is synonymous with NASCAR. It’s the sight of one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races, that being the Southern 500. But how many of you would be shocked to learn that in Richard Petty’s long career, he only won the Southern 500 once? I knew I was before looking up some stats for this article. That’s right, the 1967 Southern 500 is Richard Petty’s only win in that monumental race. In this race, Petty lead a total of 345 of the scheduled 364 laps. It was a dominating showing for Petty and one of his most important victories.
One of the toughest races to win for any driver is the Daytona 500. Just ask one of Petty’s fellow 7-time champions Dale Earnhardt. It took him 20 years to capture his first and only win in the Great American Race. But here is where Petty truly is the King of NASCAR: he didn’t win the Daytona 500 once. He didn’t win it only twice. Or three times. Or four. Nope. Richard Petty, to match his number of points-winning championships, is a 7-time champion of the Daytona 500. That’s a staggering statistic.
Richard Petty won his seventh and final 500 on Sunday, February 15, 1981. Unlike many other races on this list, Petty didn’t dominate this one. He was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was ultimately a late-race decision by crew chief Dale Inman to take fuel only in the final pit stop of the race that nudged Petty across the line. This would not only be Petty’s final Daytona 500 win but also the final race win for the dynamic duo, Petty and Inman.
Thanks to NASCAR Classics, you can relive this race in full by watching the video below. Enjoy!
From Petty’s final victory in the Dayton 500 to Petty’s final win ever, the #1 spot on this list goes to the 1984 Firecracker 400. This race was huge on scale as the U.S. President at the time, Ronald Reagan gave the command from aboard Air Force One. He would also be in attendance for the latter half of the race and did a post-race interview with race winner, the King Richard Petty.
Like his final win in the 500, Richard Petty didn’t dominate this race by any means. But he hung around to the end and the race would ultimately come down to a race for the checkered. As an incident would bring out the final caution of the race, effectively ending the race, Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough beat and banged to the line. Petty would beat Yarborough by one of the thinnest margins in Cup Series history to win his final race under caution. This was Richard Petty’s epic 200th career victory.
One of my favorite channels growing up was the SPEED Channel. They did a show titled The Day that only ran for two episodes. This was one of them.
That’s our list, NASCAR fans and Daily Downforce readers. What’s yours? What are your favorite moments in Richard Petty’s long and celebrated career? Let us know by commenting on all our social media accounts. In the meantime, keep it right here for all the latest breaking news, stories, and fan discussion posts in the world of NASCAR!
