Richard Petty & Newton Grove, NC

If you had the RoadSpoke Highway Tours app, you would HEAR the below podcast at this Exit:
EXIT OF THE DAY: EXIT 90 on I-95n: Newton Grove, North Carolina To Devil’s Racetrack Road 

Upcoming is an old Racetrack Road… And on this day in 1986, North Carolina Native, RICHARD PETTY made his 1000th start — a first in NASCAR.

Possibly the greatest race car driver ever, Richard Petty was a Seven-Time Daytona 500 champion. He tops NASCAR in wins with 200 poles and 127 wins in a season (27 in 1967).

Richard Petty is from the town of Randelman Nc just west of the Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill Triangle. He is a second generation driver. His father, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a three-time NASCAR champion. Richard’s son Kyle is also a well-known NASCAR driver.

Sadly, his grandson, Adam, was killed in a practice run crash.

That said, the Pettys were historically cautious about allowing their kids go into the family business…

In fact, while young Richard worked in his father’s pit crew at age 12, his father did not allow him to race until he was 21.