'I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for family' - When Richard Petty set condition for NASCAR Hall of Fame exhibit

NASCAR legend Richard Petty's limited-time exhibit was displayed at the NASCAR Hall of Fame Great Hall for a limited time in July 2017. The exhibit included over 100 artifacts from the Petty Racing family. 'The King' came out and revealed how he set a condition before the organization for the Hall of Fame exhibit.

The Petty family is arguably one of the most well-respected and well-known family names in NASCAR. It all started with Lee Petty in 1949, and the legacy was continued by Richard Petty. The seven-time NASCAR title winner revealed how he put the condition to induce the whole Petty family’s exhibits to be featured in the Great Hall.

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Richard Petty sat down with Charlotte Magazine for an interview and the question about the condition was put in front of the NASCAR legend, who replied,

“Well, that’s what it’s all about. I wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for family. Know what I mean? And my family wouldn’t have been here if it wasn't for me," Petty answered.

“So it’s really hard to keep a family together for 60 or 70 years. And racing helped keep the family together, I think. Because all of us were after the same thing, and that was to go win races. And you see a lot of families arguing about stuff, split up; our family stayed together and is still together.”

Richard Petty was the second-generation driver from the Petty Racing family and was the first NASCAR driver to accomplish the feat of winning seven titles. He was inducted into the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010 as part of its inaugural class. He is arguably the greatest NASCAR driver with records like the most wins, most pole positions, and most championships to his name.

NASCAR Hall of Fame celebrated the Petty family's 75th Racing Anniversary in 2024 by unveiling a special Richard Petty hat

The Petty family completed 75 years of racing, i.e. diamond anniversary in 2024 and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina celebrated it by putting up a six-foot-tall Richard Petty's hat. Petty hailed NASCAR for the gesture as he said,

"It's a great honor to be able to be here for that long and being able to put something in the Hall of Fame that we know is going to stay forever. It just shows what NASCAR's done all these years, and the Petty family's been there since it all started," Petty was quoted as saying by XWXII12.

Kyle Petty uploaded a tweet about the same, thanked the NASCAR Hall of Fame for the special gesture, and shared pictures of the Petty family members around the hat. The King's Hat featured the most memorable moments from Petty’s racing career.