Richard Petty, the NASCAR icon, recently congratulated his grandson, Thad Moffitt, on his marriage to his long-time girlfriend. On September 6, 2025, NASCAR driver Thad Moffitt married Lauren Welborn in Randleman, North Carolina, home of the Petty family.The couple also conducted their wedding in a ceremony that symbolically linked their own milestone to the rich history of NASCAR through the Petty family, as both families have a long history in the sport. With the future of his racing career, especially the ARCA Menards Series with Nitro Motorsports, the marriage to Welborn puts the increasing Petty influence in the sport in relation to the family and future racing aspirations. Moffitt, the eldest grandson of Richard Petty, shared the news with a heartfelt post on Instagram, marking the day as:"The best day of our lives." View this post on Instagram Instagram PostRichard Petty shared a picture of the newlywed couple on his Instagram story, writing:"The Petty Family continues to grow! Congratulations."Screenshot via Instagram - @therichardpettyRichard Petty, the King as he is commonly known or referred to, is widely perceived as the most successful and influential driver in the history of NASCAR. Throughout a career from 1958 to 1992, Petty had accumulated an all-time record of 200 Cup race wins and a record seven Daytona 500 victories. He is also a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, a record shared with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson.Showing remarkable stability and dominance in the sport, Petty set several records, including most wins in a single season (27), most consecutive wins (10), most poles (123), and most starts (1,185).Richard Petty on why old-school NASCAR never needed hand gesturesRichard Petty reflected in a recent interview on how NASCAR’s culture of driver aggression and conflict management has changed drastically since his era in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, drivers used their cars, particularly their bumpers, to send messages and settle disputes on the track rather than resorting to hand gestures or post-race drama. Petty emphasized that drivers would handle issues quickly and directly during the race, often with a well-timed nudge or tap from the bumper, and then move on without holding grudges. During his interaction with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic earlier this month, Petty said:"No, we just used a bumper. You know what I mean? If you had trouble with somebody, you tried to take care of it right then. Now, when the race is over, people get healed with each other: they start telephoning each other, faxing each other and stuff."In contrast, Petty observed that modern NASCAR drivers are more prone to show frustration with explicit gestures, which has become a widely televised and penalized form of venting anger. The rise of cockpit cameras, live broadcasts, and social media has amplified the visibility of such behaviors, leading to fines and penalties that earlier generations didn’t face.