Petty "A Racing Dynasty"

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Lee Petty was single-minded when it came to stock car racing as both driver and owner. It would be his business and he would make it a successful one.

Petty, born in 1914, grew up dirt poor in rural North Carolina. He sold biscuits and operated a trucking company, but Petty's overriding passion was automobiles. Gifted as a mechanic, Petty would create a racing dynasty from the humblest of beginnings. With sons Richard and Maurice, the engine building whiz, he founded Petty Enterprises, which became NASCAR's most successful racing team. They would be joined later by grandson Kyle and great grandson Adam, who died in a racing accident during a NASCAR Busch Series practice session at New Hampshire International Speedway. Petty Enterprises fielded more than 2,800 entries over a 60-year period, ending in 2008 winning 268 races and 10 championships.
The Petty Dynasty
March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000

Lee Petty

(Photo; en.wikipedia.org)
He is the father of NASCAR legend, Richard "The King" Petty, who would become NASCAR's all-time race winner. With sons Richard and Maurice Petty, he founded Petty Enterprises, which became NASCAR's most successful racing team. He was the grandfather of Kyle Petty, and great grandfather of Adam Petty who died in a racing accident during a NASCAR Busch Series practice session at New Hampshire International Speedway. He is also the grandfather of Ritchie Petty who ran a few races in NASCAR. His nephew Dale Inman worked for Petty Enterprises as Richard's crew chief from the early 1960s until 1981 and during the 1990s.

(Photo: The Pettys at Bristol via photopin (license)
He was one of the pioneers of NASCAR, and one of its first superstars. He was thirty-five years old before he began racing. He began his NASCAR career at NASCAR's first race at the three-quarter mile long dirt track, Charlotte Speedway. He finished in the Top 5 in season points for NASCAR's first eleven seasons. He won the NASCAR Championship on three occasions and the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959.

Lee Petty died on April 5, 2000 at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the age of 86. Lee died just three days after his great-grandson Adam made his Winston Cup Series debut.

In 1990, Lee Petty was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996. He was elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. He was selected as one of Nascar's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 along with his son, Richard Petty. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 23, 2011.

Richard "The King" Petty

    (Photo: jerbec via photopin cc)
Nicknamed The King, Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He is most well known for winning the NASCAR Championship seven times, Dale Earnhardt is the only other driver to accomplish this feat, winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races, 10 of them consecutively, in the 1967 season alone. Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. He also collected a record number of poles (127) and over 700 Top 10 finishes in his 1,184 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971–1989. Petty was the only driver to ever win in his 500th race start, until Matt Kenseth joined him in 2013. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

Petty is a second generation driver. His father, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a three-time NASCAR champion. His son Kyle is also a well-known NASCAR driver. His grandson, Adam, was killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire International Speedway on May 12, 2000, five weeks after the death of his father. Adam's brother Austin works on day-to-day operations of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a Hole in the Wall Gang Camp established by the Pettys after Adam's death. Petty married Lynda Owens in 1958. Petty resides in Level Cross, North Carolina and operates Richard Petty Motorsports.

Maurice Petty

(Photo;alchetron.com)

Born in Randleman, North Carolina, USA.

He is the son of Lee Petty, the brother of Richard Petty. He is a former NASCAR crew chief and engine builder for Petty Enterprises, of which he was part owner. In 2011, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama, in recognition of his career as a team owner, engine builder, crew chief, and driver. In 2013, Petty was nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Kyle Petty

Now retired, he formerly competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as both a driver and team owner. He is currently a television analyst for NBC's pre- and post-race shows. He formerly was a color commentator for TNT's NASCAR coverage from 2006 through 2014. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of Adam Petty.

Petty began racing at a young age and made his major-league stock car debut at the age of 18. He won the very first race he entered: the 1979 Daytona ARCA 200, in one of his father's mothballed 1978 Dodge Magnum race cars; at the time becoming the youngest driver to win a major-league stock car race. Later in the season, he made his Winston Cup Series debut; again driving a passed down STP Dodge Magnum numbered #42 for his family's team. He ran five races and had a ninth-place finish in his first series race at Talladega.

Kyle had a NASCAR Cup Series career consisting of 829 races run over 31 years. He finished with 8 wins, 173 top tens and 8 poles.

Kyle Petty co-drove the No. 45 Porsche/Fabcar Daytona Prototype in the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race along with Paul Newman, Gunnar Jeannette, and Mike Brockman.

(Photo;commons.wikimedia.org)
Petty's 2004 - 24 Hours of Daytona Porsche

Any time he appears on television on Speed he wears a hat with a number 45 with a black line across the number in memory of his son Adam. He appears on NASCAR Trackside, NASCAR Victory Lane and NASCAR RaceDay as a television personality.

Petty is active in many charitable causes, such as the Victory Junction Gang Camp for terminally-ill children, which he established to honor his late son, as well as an annual charity motorcycle ride across the country called the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America.

(Photo;sportingnews.com)

July 10, 1980 – May 12, 2000

Adam Petty

(Photo; www.findagrave.com)

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, USA.

Petty was raised in High Point, North Carolina into stock car racing "royalty". The son of Kyle Petty, he was widely expected to become the next great Petty, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather Richard, and great-grandfather Lee. He was the first known fourth-generation athlete in all of modern American motor sports to participate in the chosen profession of his generations.

Petty began his career in 1998, shortly after he turned 18, in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Like his father Kyle, he won his first ARCA race, driving the #45 Sprint/Spree sponsored Pontiac at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Petty moved to NASCAR Busch Series full-time in 1999, driving the #45 Sprint-sponsored Chevrolet. Petty finished sixth in his first Busch Series race at Daytona and had a best finish of fourth place, though he also failed to qualify for three of the Busch races. Petty finished the 1999 season 20th overall in points.

Petty Enterprises planned to have Petty run a second Busch season in 2000, while giving him seven starts in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup series, in preparation for a full Winston Cup campaign in 2001. He struggled early in the Busch season, but managed to qualify in his first attempt at Winston Cup during the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2. He qualified 33rd and ran in the middle of the pack most of the day before his engine expired, forcing him to finish 40th. Adam never got to race alongside his father. Kyle failed to qualify and eventually relieved an ill Elliott Sadler, but Adam was already out of the race. Lee Petty, Adam's great-grandfather, and 3-time NASCAR Champion, lived to see his Winston debut, but died just three days later.

In a practice session for the Busch series Busch 200 race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Petty's throttle stuck wide open at turn three, causing the car to hit the outside wall virtually head on. Petty was killed instantly due to a basilar skull fracture. He was 19 years old.

Kyle Petty, Adam's father, who drove the #44 car at the time of the crash, drove Adam's #45 car in the Busch Series for the remainder of 2000. He then used the #45 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series throughout the rest of his driving career.

In October 2000 five months after Petty's death, his family partnered with Paul Newman and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp to begin the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, North Carolina, as a memorial to Petty. The camp has received support from many NASCAR drivers, teams, and sponsors, including Cup Series sponsor Sprint, which has placed a replica of Petty's 1998 car in the camp. The Victory Junction Gang camp began operation in 2004, and is an official charity of NASCAR. Petty also appears as a special guest driver in the video games NASCAR 2000, NASCAR Rumble, NASCAR 2001 and NASCAR Arcade.

In December 2013, his brother Austin named his newborn son after Adam in tribute.

(Photot "George W. Bush at Victory Junction Gang Camp - Randleman, N.C. with NASCAR drivers" by Paul Morse)

President George W. Bush is joined at Adam's Race Shop on the grounds of Victory Junction Gang Camp, Inc., in Randleman, N.C., by NASCAR drivers Kyle Petty, Richard Petty, Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson.