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Sprint Cup
HEMBREE: A King And His Legacy
Richard Petty’s impact extends beyond his sport…
Richard Petty is NASCAR's all-time wins leader. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
It was another in a long, long string of similar activities for Richard Petty.
Another check presentation. Petty’s familiar piano-key smile, cowboy hat and sunglasses. Handshakes all around.
In six decades in racing, through 200 victories and seven championships and dozens of sponsor announcements and assortments of anniversary celebrations and all the other things that come with being racing’s King, Petty has this kind of stuff down pat.
The latest occurred Friday at Kansas Speedway as Petty accepted a check for $43,000 – emblematic of his iconic car number 43 – from long-time Petty sponsor STP, a donation to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, the Petty family’s camp for chronically ill children.
What should not be forgotten in these sorts of ceremonies, however repetitive they might seem, is what Petty and his extended family have done not only in building and continuing to operate this magnificent camp but also in the world of philanthropy in general.
It would take quite a ledger to list the good deeds the Pettys have done in and around Petty Country in Randleman and Level Cross, NC. There, in the middle of North Carolina farm country, the Pettys are known more as good neighbors than racers. You might run into Kyle or Richard at the supermarket or the service station and get into a conversation about the soybean crop or how the high school football team is performing.
The Pettys have donated money to a myriad of local projects over the years, from playgrounds to ballparks to church facilities.
The king of them all, though, stretched the Pettys’ philanthropic reach far beyond their North Carolina home with the building and seemingly endless expansion of the Victory Junction camp, a project that gained life after the death in 2000 of Adam Petty, Richard’s grandson and Kyle’s son.
Adam was the bright and shining young star of the Petty family, “the son that Richard Petty never had,” as Kyle once called him. The tragedy of his death – in a crash at practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – is something those close to him have never really closed the door on. The birth and development of the Victory Junction camp was the family’s way to make something positive from one of the hardest days imaginable.
And what a positive it has been. Every year, children from an assortment of backgrounds and abilities, many with life-threatening illnesses or health problems that otherwise prevent them from enjoying the normal “summer camp” experience, travel to central North Carolina for a week or a weekend of pure fun.
The “let’s help” response to the camp from drivers, teams, speedways and fans is virtually unparalleled in the history of NASCAR. Largely because of the love and respect for Richard Petty and his family’s long association with stock car racing, money poured into the camp coffers from all directions. Companies associated with NASCAR contributed millions for facilities, and young fans stop Kyle Petty on his annual charity motorcycle ride to put 45 cents in his hands in memory of Adam’s car number.
And that continues.
It all began with the King donating the property for the camp, which, even including his grand racing accomplishments, will be one of his greatest legacies.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
Another check presentation. Petty’s familiar piano-key smile, cowboy hat and sunglasses. Handshakes all around.
In six decades in racing, through 200 victories and seven championships and dozens of sponsor announcements and assortments of anniversary celebrations and all the other things that come with being racing’s King, Petty has this kind of stuff down pat.
The latest occurred Friday at Kansas Speedway as Petty accepted a check for $43,000 – emblematic of his iconic car number 43 – from long-time Petty sponsor STP, a donation to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, the Petty family’s camp for chronically ill children.
What should not be forgotten in these sorts of ceremonies, however repetitive they might seem, is what Petty and his extended family have done not only in building and continuing to operate this magnificent camp but also in the world of philanthropy in general.
It would take quite a ledger to list the good deeds the Pettys have done in and around Petty Country in Randleman and Level Cross, NC. There, in the middle of North Carolina farm country, the Pettys are known more as good neighbors than racers. You might run into Kyle or Richard at the supermarket or the service station and get into a conversation about the soybean crop or how the high school football team is performing.
The Pettys have donated money to a myriad of local projects over the years, from playgrounds to ballparks to church facilities.
The king of them all, though, stretched the Pettys’ philanthropic reach far beyond their North Carolina home with the building and seemingly endless expansion of the Victory Junction camp, a project that gained life after the death in 2000 of Adam Petty, Richard’s grandson and Kyle’s son.
Adam was the bright and shining young star of the Petty family, “the son that Richard Petty never had,” as Kyle once called him. The tragedy of his death – in a crash at practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – is something those close to him have never really closed the door on. The birth and development of the Victory Junction camp was the family’s way to make something positive from one of the hardest days imaginable.
And what a positive it has been. Every year, children from an assortment of backgrounds and abilities, many with life-threatening illnesses or health problems that otherwise prevent them from enjoying the normal “summer camp” experience, travel to central North Carolina for a week or a weekend of pure fun.
The “let’s help” response to the camp from drivers, teams, speedways and fans is virtually unparalleled in the history of NASCAR. Largely because of the love and respect for Richard Petty and his family’s long association with stock car racing, money poured into the camp coffers from all directions. Companies associated with NASCAR contributed millions for facilities, and young fans stop Kyle Petty on his annual charity motorcycle ride to put 45 cents in his hands in memory of Adam’s car number.
And that continues.
It all began with the King donating the property for the camp, which, even including his grand racing accomplishments, will be one of his greatest legacies.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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