“It was a whole different world mate”: NASCAR legend Richard Petty shares emotional story of his family’s NASCAR roots

In a recent podcast with NASCAR, Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty reminisced about the early days of his father's stock car racing and shared an emotional story of his family roots and how his father began his professional racing career when he was 11.

Petty is the seven-time Cup Series champion, etching his name in history with golden ink. His fans often address him as "The King," and he still holds some untouched records, including the most wins (200), most wins (27) in a season, and most starts (1185) in his 35-year career.

Richard Petty touched upon the time when he built the legendary Plymouth with his father, Lee Petty. He highlighted that the father-son duo started building the car in their reaper shed, moving the tractors out, and bringing in the race cars. He mentioned that Lee Petty raced the cars at 3 in the morning when no one was around.

The word got around about Lee Petty racing on streets, and people started coming there "just to watch them just go poop." The reporter asked the 87-year-old NASCAR veteran:

"Could you have ever, at 11 years old, thought that he was going to be a race car driver?" [01:15]

Richard Petty replied:

"It was a whole different world. Well, when I was growing up, here was just plain old country boys. I mean, we lived on a dirt road. We didn't have running water. We didn't have electricity. They read in the paper that Bill France was gonna have a stock car race in Charlotte. So all of a sudden we were going somewhere; they had the first time I'd ever been to Charlotte. When Dad did start racing, the whole world opened up. I remember we stood in the pit area here in the infield." [01:20]

He further mentioned that his dad won the 1954 Cup Series Championship and secured P1 in 54 races in the season.

Richard Petty and Lee Petty: The first three-time father-son champions

The Hall of Fame driver Lee Petty, with his sons Richard and Maurice, started Lee Petty Enterprise in 1949 in Level Cross, North Carolina. They soon became a major face in NASCAR, and Lee Petty raced between the 50s and 60s.

After his first championship win in 1954, Lee Petty never looked back and clinched two more titles in 1958 and 1959. He retired in 1964 after racing at the Glen, and Richard Petty carried his father's legacy. He became one of the most successful drivers in the history of NASCAR, with seven championships to his name.

Petty Enterprise is known for its iconic #43 Plymouth Pontiac and #45 Dodge Charger. The enterprise has been the most successful team in the NASCAR Cup Series for over six decades. The team merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports and became Richard Petty Motorsports in 2008. It was then renamed in 2021 as GMS Motorsports and once again in 2023 as the Legacy Motor Club.