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Richard Petty is arguably the most successful driver in NASCAR history. In his 35 year-long NASCAR Cup Series career, Petty earned 200 Cup races and was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship seven times.
At the age of 21, Richard Petty began his NASCAR Cup Series career on July 18, 1958 in Toronto, Canada. Petty's father Lee Petty considered it a significant time that would open the door for him to one of the greatest careers in international motorsports.
According to Richard Petty, there wasn't much discussion that led to him choosing the 1958 Jim Mideon 500 for his Cup debut. Petty said:
“Daddy handled everything about when we raced and where we raced. It was the next race on the schedule, so we went.”
His father was one of NASCAR's pioneer drivers who was also on the field at Canadian National Exposition Speedway, a 0.333-mile-long track in Toronto, Canada.
However, the debut was not memorable for Petty as he couldn’t finish the race because he was spun out by his father on lap 55 and finished the race at 17th in field of 19th. Lee Petty was dominant that day and was lapping cars near the halfway point when he caught his son, who was on the way and Lee sent him spinning.
Richard has testified repeatedly over the years that racing was a big business for his father, especially at the start of his career. Because a win would mean more money to fulfill the family’s racing operation and not even his son would stand in the way. The win was one of the seven that Lee Petty would score enroute to that year’s Cup Championship.
Richard Petty is one of the greatest NASCAR drivers in the history of the sport
Richard Petty is one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time who has competed in the Cup Series from 1958 to 1992, most notably driving the #43 Plymouth/Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. Petty has accomplished much more in the sport, before and after, as one of its greatest drivers.
During his 35 year-long Cup Series career, Petty won the Daytona 500 seven times, the World 600 twice, and the Southern 500 in 1967, along with which he clinched his seventh Cup Championship. Apart from that, he scored a record 200 wins, 712 top-10 finishes, and record 123 poles in 1,184 Cup Series starts.
Richard Petty also won the Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver Award eight times between 1962 and 1978. He went on to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997.
