Richard Petty

[Formerjackman]

Ah, nope.

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I think the stat that Ole Smokie was referring to was that in races where Pearson and Petty finished 1-2 in, Pearson won more of those races by a small margin. It's totally subjective, but if you held a gun to my head, I'd say Pearson was better. That doesn't mean Petty isn't the King though.

 

[BobbyFord]

Not in a sport where you have to sell yourself to sponsors and fans. Several drivers have built an entire career on it.

Others have simply let their skills behind the wheel determine the direction of their career.

 

[BobbyFord]

David Pearson (18.293 percent, 105 wins in 574 starts)
Richard Petty (16.892 percent, 200 wins in 1,184 starts).

 

[Formerjackman]

Others have simply let their skills behind the wheel determine the direction of their career.

That might work for the upper 1-3%. It doesn't work for too many others. It works even less in the current business climate and the state of the sport. Jimmie Johnson might have never even gotten a seat in his first stock car if Heb Fishel hadn't been so impressed with him as a person.....

 

[Bowtie3]

15 championships wasn't it ?

All in one year.

 

[Robert J Sublett]

This is coming from a guy that still considers him one of my idols. But...

1, Set the standard for fan treatment, everybody else follows his example.
2 7 Daytona 500s --That is by far his most impressive achievement, yes he lucked into a couple but he also lost a couple he shouldn't have.
3, 7 titles and 5 seconds. Plus let's be real Dale should only have 5 titles NASCAR screwed Martin in 1990 and Irvan was on his way to the title in 1994 before the injury.
4. 200 CUP wins, sorry KB. Not touching it

No race car is more identifiable than that 1974 STP Charger for those of us who can actually remember it. Good for an avg of 8 victories per year. Plus he has been around since it started.

 

[Robert J Sublett]

Oh, I think it would.
Bill France was the only one that if weren’t born this sport wouldn’t exist.

The France family wouldn't have their empire w/o the drivers. No driver did more to advance the sport from point A to B than RP.

 

[Robert J Sublett]

Petty was also one of the first two car teams in NASCAR and kickstarted owners having multiple teams like we see today.

It was never constant though at least in the modern era '72 forward.

 

[Robert J Sublett]

King Richard sounds more imperial than a
King Dale
King Junior
King Jeff
King Jimmie
King Cooter Johnson Juniors the IIIs
or King Dingleberry.

I have been told (here say warning) that Elizabeth Petty corrected the press in the early days for calling him Dick Petty. Said she would have named him that, if that would have been the desired name.

It was Tom Higgins and his contemporaries in the print media that hung the moniker on him after win 100 in '69 I believe is how the story went.

 

[BobbyFord]

The France family wouldn't have their empire w/o the drivers. No driver did more to advance the sport from point A to B than RP.

Pure speculation

 

[Jorge De Guzman]

This is coming from a guy that still considers him one of my idols. But...

1, Set the standard for fan treatment, everybody else follows his example.
2 7 Daytona 500s --That is by far his most impressive achievement, yes he lucked into a couple but he also lost a couple he shouldn't have.
3, 7 titles and 5 seconds. Plus let's be real Dale should only have 5 titles NASCAR screwed Martin in 1990 and Irvan was on his way to the title in 1994 before the injury.
4. 200 CUP wins, sorry KB. Not touching it

No race car is more identifiable than that 1974 STP Charger for those of us who can actually remember it. Good for an avg of 8 victories per year. Plus he has been around since it started.

I agree with this, Richard Petty is the GOAT IMO. I find those that say it was the Era he raced in, that argument is amusing because many of those same people that say JJ is the GOAT won’t listen to an argument that Him and Chad mastered The Chase in their cup run of 5 in a row. To each his own, but era’s matter in terms of it’s really hard to compare now because of the points systems, cars, rules package and schedule. But a lot of what Richard did paved the way for what we have now and to me that makes him the Greatest.

 

[Robert J Sublett]

It's as simple as this, he is the Babe Ruth of NASCAR. The was NASCAR before and there was NASCAR after his driving days and they were two totally different sports.

 

[Yogisd1]

Seven championships, AND seven Daytona 500 wins. Something that will probably never be matched. That and the way he treated the fans. As far as I know he has always made time for every fan he meets.

 

[jaqua19]

I lit the fuse...

I initially thought that's why this thread was made lol. To passively draw parallels between the two drivers.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

Can someone please explain to me why is he the (KING)? I know he won a billion races. But the dude car was 5x better than everybody else's at the time.. dude was lapping the second place car by laps and 3rd place car by even more than that..I just got into this sport not even 2 years ago. it's so different the way talent is considered in this sport lol compared to others.. in other sports like basketball , football , baseball ,soccer it's the human that's the talent not a machine.. Don't get me wrong I love the excitement I get from NASCAR but the talent in NASCAR is the car and it starts at the shop.. I watched on racehub today how petty was kicking everyone but with a HEMI engine than it was banned for a year.. then came back.. so for that year how was he so great instead of the engine ?? I'm just trying to understand how a guy is so glorified when it's clear as day it was always his cars.

It's a nickname. Get over it.

 

[BobbyFord]

I initially thought that's why this thread was made lol. To passively draw parallels between the two drivers.

Yup

 

[Ashstrodamus]

Don't talk about King Richard. I was buying Ertl diecasts of Bobby Allison and Richard Petty in the early 80's. Everybody loved Richard Petty, I just liked Allison a little more, lol.

 

[BradBlaney]

Petty’s last win came in 1984, last year of racing was ‘92 he went 8 years without a win has the competition became even and drivers were more talented

 

[Snowman]

Petty’s last win came in 1984, last year of racing was ‘92 he went 8 years without a win has the competition became even and drivers were more talented

Or just maybe he was gettin a little old? He raced till he was 54. Darrell Waltrip didn't win a race for the last 8 years of his career either, retiring at 53.

 

[Formerjackman]

Petty’s last win came in 1984, last year of racing was ‘92 he went 8 years without a win has the competition became even and drivers were more talented

The number of competitive teams certainly did grow in the 80's and Petty Enterprises clearly DID get behind. I don't know that the drivers were more talented, but after about 1983, Petty was clearly past his prime, as most drivers his age would be, especially when you consider the health issues he had and the physical beating be took over the years. Remember drivers back then were not tri-athletes like some are now, and even at that, I'm not sure how many of them would go through what Petty did and still climb into a race car in their 40's. The guy has half a stomach and had his back broken at least twice for cripes sake!

 

[Ashstrodamus]

I know a state-trooper who pulled over a Dodge pickup going over 100mph on a backroad. He pulled over the truck and it was Richard Petty. He let him go with a warning. No kidding. He told him, "I've seen you go a lot faster, but slow it down", lol! True story brah!

 

[Robert J Sublett]

I would say it was more like '88-92 he wasn't competitive. Finished top 10 in points in 1987. Last top-five finish was 1988 Richmond. A race he might have if he had logged a protest due to a scoring snafu, but in true King fashion, he didn't want to win that way.

 

[gone]

I know a state-trooper who pulled over a Dodge pickup going over 100mph on a backroad. He pulled over the truck and it was Richard Petty. He let him go with a warning. No kidding. He told him, "I've seen you go a lot faster, but slow it down", lol! True story brah!

Ol' Richard did have problems containing his racing habits to the race tracks. Remember when, in 1996, he ran for Secretary of State in NC? Part of why he lost was because he got a reckless driving citation for bump-drafting / hit-and-run on Interstate 85 near Charlotte. The timing was bad for him because it was just before Election Day. He had been involved in local politics up until then, but I think he pretty much quit politics after that.

 

[Greg]

Petty’s last win came in 1984, last year of racing was ‘92 he went 8 years without a win has the competition became even and drivers were more talented

1984
-1937
47 years old at last win.
There are just a few Cup winners past that age.
1985 to 1992 was was more about his age.

 

[Hotrod]

A handshake with the King is one you will never forget. Big boney fingers that have
grabbed many a steering wheel wrapped in electrical tape. There is
a reason he is in the first class of the HOF, just a legend.

 

[Ashstrodamus]

A handshake with the King is one you will never forget. Big boney fingers that have
grabbed many a steering wheel wrapped in electrical tape. There is
a reason he is in the first class of the HOF, just a legend.

I got to shake his hand at Martinsville when Bobby Hamilton drove for him. I got both their autographs on my race program, but my old man has so much junk around his house, I don't know if it will ever be found.

 

[Ford Racing]

I met him when I was at their museum in 2014. Was totally unexpected. My dad and I were getting ready to leave when he came in with the trophy they just won at Daytona (2014). I could tell he was under the weather, so we didn't bother him too much. Next thing you know Dale Inman comes in and we had a good chat. Eventually he had to leave because he was a driving instructor and a kid was just dropped off for a lesson. It was a day I'll never forget!