With 200 wins and 7 Championships, Richard Petty remains the undisputed “King” of stock car racing. He earned that nickname through incredible performances on the race track, and we have compiled 5 moments where “The King” shone the brightest.
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Richard Petty grabbed NASCAR’s modern era by the horns in the early 1970s, winning 3 Championships in 4 years between 1972 and 1975. His most impressive season came in 1975, where he won a modern-era record 13 races in a single season. This included a 4-month stretch between the Memorial Day World 600 at Charlotte and the September race at North Wilkesboro where Petty never finished worse than 2nd.
While Jeff Gordon tied this mark in a 33-race schedule in 1998, Petty did this in a 30-race season, and win number 13 for Petty came in race 28 at Bristol. It took Gordon all the way until race 33 at Atlanta to tie Petty. It can be debated which one was more impressive, but, Petty did it first.
Richard Petty was determined to squeeze out win number 200 when the Cup Series headed to Daytona for the traditional 4th of July race. With President Ronald Reagan in attendance, Petty fought with Cale Yarborough for the win, with Petty just edging Yarborough. Petty was interviewed alongside President Reagan, and the garage enjoyed a fried chicken feast after the race.
Petty’s 200-win mark is and forever will be unbeatable. This was his last win as a race car driver, but what a win it was.
In 1979, a young hotshot named Darrell Waltrip burst onto the NASCAR scene, but, Richard Petty showed Waltrip that Petty was still “The King”. Petty trailed Waltrip for most of the season, but the two were only two points apart heading into the season finale at Ontario Motor Speedway. Petty finished 5th to take home the title.
It was Petty’s 7th Championship, and no one has been able to top that. Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson have tied that mark, but, Petty still did it first. He also did this coming off of his first winless season since 1959.
In 1964, at the tender age of 26, Richard Petty had perhaps the most dominant performance in Daytona 500 history. He led 184 of 200 laps on that day including the final 149 laps consecutively. He won the race by a full lap over Jimmy Pardue.
This was Petty’s breakout moment. He went on to win the 1964 Championship, his first of 7, and this Daytona 500 win was his first of 7. While plenty of incredible moments came after, no more dominant win came on a bigger stage.
The greatest single season in NASCAR history will forever be Richard Petty’s 1967 effort. He won an astounding 27 races with 38 top-5s, 40 top-10s, an average start of 2.4, and an average finish of 5.0. Those numbers are absurd, and the record of 27 race wins has never been touched.
Petty took home over half of the 49 races in 1967. This led him to his second Championship, and he established himself as the most dominant driver of all time.
What was your favorite Richard Petty moment? What best defined “The King”?
Two NASCAR Cup Series crew members for Ross Chastain’s No. 1 team were suspended following the race at Circuit of the Americas
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On February 17, Ubisoft released a trailer that confirmed that NASCAR would be included in The Crew Motorfest’s next season update. Details were limited at the time, but in a press release issued today, Ubisoft revealed the full details of the update ahead of its March 4 launch.
Ubisoft says drafting will affect car speed and help save fuel, implying that drafting will be a huge factor in the game, at least with these cars. You can check out this and much more on Ubisoft’s official post linked below
Earlier this Tuesday, the official The Crew Motorfest account clarified confusion around the NASCAR bundles. The Crew Credit (CC) bundles only include cosmetic team liveries, not additional cars. The 3 base Next Gen cars (Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Toyota Camry XSE, and Chevrolet ZL1) are part of the free Season 9 update and can be purchased separately.
Mitch Rasmussen, NASCAR’s Senior Director of Interactive, said in the press release:
We’re excited to bring our iconic brand to life in The Crew Motorfest. This collaboration represents another important step in our strategy to bring NASCAR into the digital spaces and places where next generation fans spend their time, giving players new ways to interact with the culture and communities they love.
The content arrives as part of Year 3 Season 9 and is officially licensed by NASCAR. You can watch the first trailer and learn more in the article linked below
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Four road courses on the schedule, and somehow that’s enough to spark one of the biggest debates in the garage. After recent comments from Brad Keselowski questioning the business value of road racing, the conversation has picked up serious steam. Is NASCAR leaning too far into it, or is the current balance about right?
There are valid points on both sides, from sponsorship realities to fan traditions to competitive diversity. Some tracks have gained traction. Others have struggled. The question isn’t just whether road courses belong, but how many make sense within a 36-race season. It’s less about extremes and more about direction. And with future schedule changes always looming, this debate probably isn’t settled anytime soon.
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