Deathwatch: Lee Petty, Stock Car Racing Patriarch, 86

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://cnnsi.com/motorsports/news/2000/04/05/leepetty_obit_ap/

Racing pioneer Lee Petty dead at 86

Posted: Wednesday April 05, 2000 11:36 AM

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Lee Petty, the stock-car racing pioneer and
patriarch of a dynasty of racetrack luminaries, died Wednesday, several
weeks after undergoing surgery for a stomach aneurysm.

Petty, 86, died at 4:50 a.m. at Moses Cones Hospital, said hospital
spokeswoman Susan Gerson.

Petty was the father of Winston Cup legend Richard Petty, grandfather of
Kyle Petty and great-grandfather of Adam Petty, who made his Winston Cup
debut last weekend in Texas.

He won the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959 and was a three-time champion on
what now is the Winston Cup circuit.

"All of us at NASCAR are saddened to hear of Lee's passing and extend our
deepest sympathy to his family," said NASCAR president Bill France.

Petty was one of the first true superstars during stock-car racing's
formative years. He began his career with an eight-race schedule in 1949 and
went on to score 55 career wins, becoming a three-time Grand National
champion.

Richard Petty began racing under his father's tutelage in 1958, eventually
surpassing his father's Grand National championships.

Lee Petty founded Petty Enterprises in 1949, the most successful
organization in American motorsports and a 10-time national champion of the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The organization has won 271 races and entered
over 2,140 cars in nearly 1,800 events. Richard Petty won 198 of those
races.

Petty Enterprises also has fielded cars for hall of famers Joe Weatherly,
Buddy Baker, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Tiny Lund, Bob Welborn, Marvin Panch, Darel
Dierenger, Jim Paschal and Herschel McGriff.

On the track, Lee Petty was known for his fiercely competitive spirit. When
his son Richard appeared to have won his first race at a North Carolina dirt
track in 1959 -- against Lee Petty himself -- the elder Petty protested
loudly. Officials subsequently declared Lee Petty and the victory, which
pleased him immensely.

"I would have protested even if it was my mother," he said.

Petty's best season was 1959, when he captured the inaugural Daytona 500,
beating Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish that wasn't decided for three
days.

His 55 career wins placed him seventh on the list of drivers with the most
NASCAR Winston Cup victories. His son Richard ranks first with 200 wins.

Lee's career suffered a serious setback on Feb. 24, 1961, during a 100-mile
qualifying race at Daytona, when he tangled with Beauchamp and their cars
hurtled over a guardrail, soared more than 100 feet and crashed in the
parking lot.

Petty suffered a punctured lung and broken leg. He came back occasionally
during the next three years, starting six races, but retired from driving in
1964 to devote more time to the mechanics side of racing.

Petty, a master mechanic, was voted Mechanic of the Year by the media in
1950. He was also voted the most popular driver in 1953 and 1954.

"I've always felt the man who works the hardest gets the most out of it," he
once said.

Petty is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, sons Richard and Maurice; nine
grandchildren; seventeen great grandchildren; and one brother. A private
graveside service for family members will be held this week.


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