The "Exceptional" Petty

The "Exceptional" Petty

By Brian H Cotnoir

The Petty's are the first Family of NASCAR.   They have been a part of NASCAR since the very beginning when Patriarch Lee Petty ran the first NASCAR sanctioned Strictly Stock race at the Charlotte Speedway in 1949, where he'd finish 17th after a crash.  Lee's sons Richard and Maurice would follow their father's lead and begin their own racing careers!   All three are in the Hall of Fame.  Lee won the 3 NASCAR Cup Championships and 54 races in his career, including the Inaugural Daytona 500.  His record of Most career wins would be broken by his oldest son, Richard who would go on to score an untouchable 200 career wins in the Cup Series, 7 Championships and 7 wins in the Daytona 500's!   While Maurice never won a Cup race as a driver, he went on to become a successful Engine builder for his family's team, Petty Enterprises, and served as Crew Chief for driver Pete Hamilton when he won the 1970 Daytona 500!  In 2000, the Petty's became the first family in NASCAR to have a fourth-generation member enter a NASCAR Cup Series race. However, not everybody can follow in their families' footsteps.  One member of the Petty family had a career so unremarkable, that if it wasn't for his last name, you'd would probably never have heard of him, and no, I'm not talking about Kyle Petty who won respectful 8 career races in the Cup Series, including the 1987 Coca-Cola 600, and finished in the Top 5 in points twice in the 1990's.  I'm not even talking about Thad Moffit, who's still trying to make a name for himself in the NASCAR.  No, the driver I'm referring to is Ritchie Petty.

Winston Cup Water?  Sounds disgusting!

Ritchie Petty was the son of, Maurice Petty.  Like his older cousin Kyle, Ritchie decided to follow in his father and Grandfather's footsteps.  In 1989, he made his debut in the ARCA Series driving for his father, Maurice.   Petty would finish 24th place one lap down at his only race that year at the Pocono Speedway.  Over the next three years, Ritchie Petty made 12 more starts in the ARCA Series, where he'd only manage a career high finish of 9th place (3x).  Despite these mediocre results, Petty made the jump to the Cup Series the following season.  He attempted to qualify for 5 races that year and made his NASCAR Cup Series Debut at the 1993 Winston 500 at Talladega.   Petty would finish the race in the 25th position (several positions behind his cousin Kyle).  Petty would go on to run the summer race at Daytona and the Fall race at Talladega, where he failed to finish both races.   Ritchie Petty would also fail to qualify for that year's races at Michigan and Richmond as well.

The following season Ritchie Petty attempted to qualify for both races at Daytona and Talladega, but only managed to qualify for Pepsi 400 at Daytona.  He dropped out of the race just before the half-way point with overheating issues.   That would be Petty's last race in the NASCAR Cup Series.   Petty's Cup Series career results are 4 starts, 7 DNQ's, a career best finish of 25th, and a career average finish of 35th place.  Ritchie Petty's last start in NASCAR came in the 1996 opening round at Homestead, where he finished 17th place in a one-off start for Rosenblum Racing (known better today is FDNY Racing).

These stats are embarrassing, not just for any driver, but especially a member of the prestigious Petty Family.    He shouldn't even been in the Cup Series so soon.   How the hell did they not even try to put him in the Busch Series for a few races?   The Petty's still have one family member racing today (Thad Moffitt, the grandson of Richard Petty), and even though his NASCAR career is just beginning he's still lightyears ahead of his 2nd cousin, Ritchie!