The King celebrates 50 years in NASCAR

Tag : walking boots
He wasn't wearing cowboy boots. He wasn't walking around in a hatadorned with ostrich feathers. He wasn't even sporting darksunglasses.
He was a tall, lanky, 21-year-old who wanted a chance to drive. Hefinished sixth -- five laps behind the winner -- and earned $200.
"I got better," Petty says.
Indeed. Petty won an unmatched 200 races in his 35-year career,including seven Daytona 500 victories, and a record-tying sevenNASCAR championships. Somewhere along the line, he became "TheKing," a larger-than-life persona that includes the hat, the boots,the shades and the dark, bushy mustache. It all started at ColumbiaSpeedway on July 12, 1958, when he got behind the wheel for thefirst time.
The sport hasn't been the same since.
"I've survived these years I guess more than anything else," saysPetty, recalling the 50th anniversary of his debut. "I've beenthere ever since NASCAR started basically, and I just come along atthe right time to grow up with NASCAR."
Petty spent the better part of his childhood around race cars. Hebuilt engines, painted bodies and worked in the pits long before hewas old enough to legally drive. When he did reach NASCAR's agelimit, he asked his father, three-time NASCAR champion Lee Petty,for a chance.
Lee Petty pointed to an old car off in a corner and told him to cutthe top off it and use it in a convertible series race at Columbia.
Richard Petty jumped at the opportunity. No one knew it was thestart of something special.
"I just think I was a lucky son of a gun to be born at the rightplace at the right time under the right circumstances with a littlebit of talent and a lot of talented people around me to put me in aposition to be where I'm at today," Petty says.
Six days after his debut, Petty made his first Grand National (nowthe Sprint Cup Series) start in Toronto. He finished 17th in a racehis father won.
He needed less than two years to get his first Grand Nationalvictory, but then they started piling up in a hurry. Petty finishedsecond in the points in just his third season and was runner-up twomore times before netting his first title in 1964.
"When I won my very first race, I said nothing will ever be thisbig," Petty says. "But then you get fortunate enough to win moreand more, and over a period of time, it gets diluted. So no matterhow happy you are one day in, three or four weeks, you've doneforgot about that and you're on another kick."
Petty finished outside the top five in points just four timesbetween 1960 and 1983, an amazing run that made him the sport'sbiggest icon.
But looking back now, there isn't one moment that stands out.
"When I sit around and talk about it or listen to people orwhatever, the ones that got away are the ones that you really worryabout and you say, 'We should have done better in this race or thatrace,"' Petty says. "So those are probably in your mind more thanthe ones that you won."
Petty's last championship came in 1979. His last victory, fittinglyenough, came at Daytona in July 1984. He retired in 1992 and hassince dedicated his time to rebuilding NASCAR's most storied raceteam, Petty Enterprises.
It hasn't been easy.
The organization has been stuck in neutral for close to twodecades, falling far behind the success it achieved when The Kingwas driving. The team's last victory came with John Andretti in1999, and it now has sponsorship problems.
But there are signs of a turnaround.
The organization signed driver Bobby Labonte to a long-term deal,relocated its longtime race shop closer to the NASCAR hub andformed its first dedicated test team. And maybe most significantly,Petty gave up control last month when he sold majority ownership ofthe famed company to Boston Ventures, a private equity firm.
"It's a new venue for them and a new venue for us," Petty says. "Sowe have to get our arms around who does what, how do we get oursponsorships in, how do we get our sponsors all lined up, and howdo we get the crews all lined up. I don't see us having a majorimpact on anything outside right now, as far as seeing the cardoing better or any of that kind of stuff.
"I think it's kind of a deal where we have to sort of sit back andlook and say, 'OK, what do we need now to go forward?"'
And get The King back to his winning ways, a journey that started50 years ago on a small track outside Columbia.
"I came along with a bunch of other guys that helped build thesport," Petty says. "It was sort of like when they ran the veryfirst race. It was like planting a seed and then the tree startedgrowing. I grew with it a little bit and then the branches go out."


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