Richard Petty

Richard Petty is an American race car driver who competed in NASCAR from 1958 to 1992.http://www.nascar.com/drivers/hof/rpetty00/ He holds the record for most wins in NASCAR history with 200.http://www.nascar.com/news/features/50.greatest.richard.petty/ In addition, his seven series championships is tied for the most in history with Dale Earnhardt Sr.http://racingwin.com/will-jimmie-johnson-pass-dale-earnhardt-and-richard-petty/ Petty also won the Daytona 500 a record seven times, with his last victory coming in 1981.http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/motorracing/orl-spt-car-daytona500facts,0,5373234.htmlstory

After his retirement from driving, Petty continued to own the Petty Enterprises racing team, which ran cars for his son Kyle Petty and other drivers.http://www.racing-reference.info/owner?id=enterpe01 The team would merge with Boston Ventures in June 2008 before being folded into Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009.http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/01/12/kpetty.gem.petty.merger/index.html

Petty's father Lee was a noted stock car driver who won the NASCAR Grand National series three times.http://motorsportshalloffame.com/main/03_halloffame.htm Lee Petty 54 NASCAR victories stood as the series record until it was broken by his son.http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016403.html Lee Petty would win a race in 1958 after Richard Petty had been shown the checkered flag; Lee Petty successfully protested that the race had ended on the wrong lap.http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016403.html

Petty's son Kyle Petty won eight times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kpetty00/cup/index.html His grandson Adam Petty was a NASCAR driver who was killed during a practice crash in 2000 before a race at Loudon, New Hampshire.http://www.decadesofracing.net/Petty.htm

In 1996, Petty was the Republican Party nominee for Secretary of State in North Carolina.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E0DB1E3EF930A25753C1A960958260 Petty was beaten in the general election by Democratic Party candidate Elaine Marshall.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wukyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zwcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=7020,1022191&dq=richard+petty+secretary+of+state&hl=en During the campaign, was charged with a hit-and-run and reckless driving following a traffic accident in North Carolina.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TfhUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7DwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6676,4496424&dq=richard+petty+secretary+of+state&hl=en

Richard Petty was named NASCAR's Rookie of the Year in 1959 and finish second in the points championship in 1960.http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016403.html His first NASCAR title came in 1964, the same year that he won his first Daytona 500.http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016403.html Petty won the NASCAR title six other times, including the 1967 season, when he claimed a record 10 consecutive race wins.http://www.mshf.com/hof/petty_richard.htm

Petty's last NASCAR victory came in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984.http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016403.html Among the people in attendance was President Ronald Reagan.http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016403.html