"He is missing, we can't find him" - Richard Petty's daughter Sharon reminisces traveling with her dad on commercial flights

Sharon Petty, Richard Petty’s daughter, shared a story about how she once lost her father during a commercial flight. She was traveling with her father, who was in first class, and her husband when the incident happened a couple of years ago.

Richard Petty is a former NASCAR driver who won seven Cup championships, tied for the most in the sport’s history. Nicknamed “The King”, Petty still holds several records to this day, including the most wins (200), most wins in a season (27), and most starts (1185), among others.

In a recent upload by Petty Family Racing on YouTube, Sharon told the story alongside her family, Rebecca and Kyle Petty. While she couldn’t recall the airport, she said she told her father to stay on the plane until she and her husband, who were in the backseat of the plane, got to him.

“Don’t wander off. Wait for us to get off the plane,” Sharon said. [9:54]

When Sharon Petty got to the first class cabin, Richard Petty was already gone. She looked around the airport for a man wearing a cowboy hat but the former driver was nowhere to be found.

His daughter then decided to wait in the baggage claim area since the guy who would take them to the hotel was also waiting there. When she asked the guy about her father, he said he hadn't seen him.

“So I call the guy and I say, ‘Do you have my dad with you?’ And he says, ‘I’ve not seen your dad.’ And I said, ‘He is missing, we can’t find him,'" Sharon shared. [10:54]

Sharon Petty was thinking of paging Richard Petty when she saw her father coming down the escalator.

“He got down and he said, ’Y’all walked right by me,’” Sharon shared. “He said, 'I had a whole group around me when I got off the plane and y’all walked right by me.’” [11:50]

Richard Petty chimed in and said:

“Didn’t recognize me.”

As soon as the family arrived at their hotel, Sharon Petty said she reminded her father to stay in his seat until she got to him.

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Richard Petty remembers brother Maurice on his fourth death anniversary

Earlier this year, Richard Petty posted a tribute to his brother Maurice with a heartfelt photo of the two on X (formerly Twitter). Maurice, nicknamed “Chief”, passed away in July 2020 at 81.

Petty captioned the post:

“Thinking extra about Chief today. It’s been 4 years since we lost him.”

Maurice Petty had a short driving career with 26 races from 1960 to 1964 until he became an engine builder. He competed as an engine builder with The King and was behind the scenes for 198 of his brother’s 200 wins. Maurice also built engines for drivers like Buddy Baker, Pete Hamilton, and Jim Paschal.

The Chief was the first engine builder to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014. This made Maurice the fourth member of the Petty family to become a Hall of Famer, along with his brother Richard, father Lee Petty, and cousin Dale Inman.