Petty is one of the most recognized names in the history of NASCAR. But Lee Petty didn’t begin competing in NASCAR for fame or fortune. It was a means to an end. On a good day it was a way to put food on the table and pay the bills. His career bore little resemblance to the pampered lifestyle of today’s stock car racing elite.
With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Junior Johnson giving the command to get the action started and a grandfather clock trophy on the line, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 65th annual Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 Powered by Kroger at Martinsville Speedway.
It has been said that there has been cheating going on in NASCAR since they first started. Yes, advantages were sought, but usually it was to make the car go faster in order to win, not to throw the race in order to fix an outcome.
Julius Timothy “Tim” Flock was born in Fort Payne, Alabama and grew up in one of the most famous racing families of early stock car racing. His two brothers, Bob and Fonty were both NASCAR drivers, as well as his sister Ethel Flock Mobley.
While Ryan Truex’s Sprint Cup Series debut might not have turned out exactly as he had hoped, the 21 year old development driver for Richard Petty Motorsports and past K&N Series Champion left Bristol feeling ‘fortunate and lucky’ to be where he is at currently in the sport today.
With the support of Richard Petty Motorsports and Phoenix Racing, the Richard Petty Motorsports development driver, Ryan Truex, will make his first Sprint Cup series start this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“He was as good as they come,” Petty said. “There have been very few guys who had more confidence in what he could do than Herb. He was so strong-minded that he ‘willed’ his wins and what he was doing on the track. He was going to beat the guys on the track no matter what was going on. That was his mind set.”
While Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DEWALT Racing Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, is not only hoping for a victory at the Monster Mile, but he is also racing for a miracle to help children who are ill and being treated at Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.
While any death is tragic, especially when it is unexpected, reactions are even more complicated when the person takes his own life. This was definitely demonstrated after the NASCAR family learned of Dick Trickle’s death of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a local cemetery.
