Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King," is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 43 Plymouth/Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. He was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times (a record now tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson), while also winning a record 200 races during his career, including the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and a record 27 races (10 of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone. Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport, and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. Petty remains very active in the sport as both a NASCAR team owner (Richard Petty Motorsports) in the Cup Series, and owner of Petty's Garage (car restoration and modification shop) in Level Cross, North Carolina.
