Richard Petty
Richard Petty
NASCAR's "The King"
Note: This is the front and back of a signed 5.25" x 7" card.
Known to many simply as "The King," NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty is the most decorated driver in the history of NASCAR racing, winning a record number 200 career races and seven NASCAR Cup championships during his illustrious career. One would think that after 1,184 races that spanned three decades, "The King" would bow out and retire quietly. Petty, however, had other things on his mind. Today Petty is as busy as ever, and spends much of his time overseeing the operations of Richard Petty Motorsports, a three-car team competing in NASCAR's highest levels.
In honor of his grandson Adam Petty, who was killed in a racing accident in May of 2000, Richard donated 84 acres of his own land for the formation of Victory Junction Gang Camp. Founded in 2004, Petty is still extremely active at the camp, which gives chronically ill children the chance to experience life-changing camping experiences in a safe and medically-sound environment.
Petty Enterprises has continued to collect numerous top-five and top-10 finishes continuing to field cars in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series. Racing families such as Andretti, Grissom, Green, Fittipaldi and Labonte all raced for "The King".
Petty now leads a two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup team and a Nationwide Series team with drivers Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola and Michael Annett. Over the past two seasons, the team has earned two wins, 34 top-10 and 10 top-five finishes. The team has also earned three poles. Petty has continued to lead the way for success for his race team.
Off the track, Petty's legacy continues to be that of an American icon. There is no other driver in NASCAR's history to have made more of an impact on the sport than the Level Cross, N.C.-native Petty. He has been elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, International Motorsports Hall of Fame, North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame, and also the North Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. He also serves as Chairman of the North Carolina Motorsports Association.
In 2011, Richard Petty was featured in the show MODERN HOTRODZ. Petty's Garage now builds Custom cars for the general public, most of which are Limited Edition.
He appeared as himself in the movie SWING VOTE driving in his famous blue #43 car. He voiced Strip Weathers, also known as The King in the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated movie CARS. His car, the Road Runner Superbird with distinctive "Petty" blue tint and number #43, is also the model for the car used in the movie. He's also in the 1990 Tom Cruise movie DAYS OF THUNDER and in the 1983 Burt Reynolds movie STROKER ACE.
He appeared as himself in the 1972 movie 43: THE RICHARD PETTY STORY (a Victory Lane Production, released by Video Gems, distributed by United American Video in 1986) and in the 1989 movie SPEED ZONE! once more driving his famous blue #43 car.
Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty at the Internet Movie Database