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Only eight other drivers have reached that milestone, and only five others have done it in the modern era.
Courtesy of NASCAR.com


CHARLOTTE, N.C.—A little more than 25 years ago, a 19-year-old third-generation driver crawled through the window of a car at Talladega Superspeedway for the first time.
That was so long ago that it wasn’t even called Talladega Superspeedway. But the track that was then known as Alabama International Motor Speedway was still the behemoth it is today — the 2.66-mile giant in northern Alabama.

Richard Petty would go on to win the championship that season, the last in his storied career. But Petty was passing the torch, in a matter of speaking, to his only son, Kyle, that day.
Kyle Petty had won an ARCA race earlier that year in Daytona in the first race of his career, but Petty Enterprises wasn’t then — and isn’t now — anything but a NASCAR team. So NASCAR it was for young Kyle Petty.
“I remember I didn’t have a clue more than anything else,” Petty said recently of that first start. “My first start, I went to Daytona and ran an ARCA race. Then I went to Charlotte and wrecked a car trying to practice, then I went to Daytona and wrecked a car trying to qualify, then went to Talladega.
“My first NASCAR start was at Talladega. I’ll never forget it. We ran unrestricted. I qualified 18^th and started right beside Bobby Allison, and I thought, ‘Man, it doesn’t get any better than this.’ To be standing in the pits one week and to be out there driving against Bobby Allison and Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip at 18 years old, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Well, the glee lasted about 15 laps, when he got lapped.
“That was pretty wild because I thought I was running as hard as I could go,” Petty said. “I think I ended up finishing ninth or 10^th in the race, but when the race was over with and I got out of the car, I was exhausted. Here comes my father and Cale and Baker and those guys, and they’re over 40 at the time, and you’d think they hadn’t been through nothing.
“I realize after all these years that Talladega was a simple place to drive. It wasn’t that hard, but what I remember most was that a bunch of old guys spanked you really hard, and they did it in a simple way. I thought it was pretty tough, but it wasn’t as tough, looking back, as I thought it was.”
No, Petty has certainly been through plenty of tough times since. But this weekend at Watkins Glen International, Petty will make his 700^th career start in NASCAR’s top division. Only eight other drivers have reached that milestone, and only five others have done it in the modern era.
“I didn’t think 500 was going to be a big deal, but looking back 500 was a pretty cool deal,” Petty said. “I was looking through some stuff the other day, and when I was on this conference call I figured (Dodge PR rep) Ray Cooper had just run out of Dodge drivers to get on the conference call, so he called me up.

“I didn’t know it was my 700^th start to be honest with you, but it will be pretty cool. Terry (Labonte) is at 800-plus, and Ricky Rudd and those guys all started in ‘79 when I did. They’ve all been more successful and run a lot more races, but maybe sometime I can catch up to those guys.”
But don’t count on Petty make 700 more starts. “I’d like to count backwards from 700 to where I started and do it all again,” Petty said. “I think any time you run a lot of races, you never think about how many you’re running. You’re always looking to the next one. It’s pretty cool to have run this many races, but you’ve got to remember I started a long time ago. I started when I was 19.

“I’ve missed races because of wrecks, and I’ve missed races because I wasn’t fast enough. I’ve missed races with Felix (Sabates) just because when I went to drive for him we cut back to half a season. It’s exciting to be in a business and be in a league where you can be with Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd and guys like that who are still out there running and have over 800 starts. It’s pretty cool to be in a sport where you can stick around that long.”
Petty’s driving career started out promising, and he does have eight victories. But the last time he won was in 1995, a streak of 276 races.
But for Petty, racing is only part of who he is. He now runs Petty Enterprises, helped start the Victory Junction Gang Camp in honor of his late son, Adam, and is one of the sport’s top “ambassadors.”
“I think the term ambassador gets used just because you’ve been around for so long,” Petty said. “It gets passed on from one generation to the next, and we’re the older group that’s here now along with Dale Jarrett and guys like that. I think your perspective on life changes. I think that’s obvious to me through the camp and some other stuff we have going on away from the racetrack.

“Racing is what we do. That’s my life. That’s what I’ve always done. That’s what my grandfather and my father and Adam after me came along and did. It’s a family business. This is what we do, and this is the core of what we do.”
But racing also helps Petty and other drivers do other things.
“We’re able to use it as a platform to not only do what we love to do, which is drive racecars, but to maybe make a broader impact on other people’s lives and maybe on society in some ways,” Petty said. “For me, the importance … shifts, but as you get older your family is a lot more important and what goes on away from the racetrack is just as important.”
And you can believe that Petty’s biggest moment in racing involves his family.
“The biggest moment for me is watching Adam race, bar none,” Petty said. “Watching a videotape of him winning his first ASA race, and being at Charlotte when he won his ARCA race, and just being with him when he ran his Late Model Stock Car and stuff”, it was great for me to watch all of that combined and another career start; it was a big moment.” But as Petty’s career starts continue to mount, one wonders how much longer he’ll want to stay in NASCAR. Times have changed, and while the Petty name is still big in NASCAR, it isn’t what it used to be.
Petty, though, is still having fun, even though not winning has to wear on him.

“I’ve always said I’ll wake up one day and it won’t be fun anymore,” Petty said. “I feel very blessed to be able to drive and be around the people. I enjoy the people in racing as much as anything, being in the garage around the PR people and the crew and everybody. They’re a good group of people.
“For us, this is a family business and the business will survive whether a Petty drives the car or whether a Petty doesn’t drive the car. I’d like to drive for a number of more years to be able to run around and keep the camp out there and keep some cash flowing to the camp and keep that in the forefront so we can keep it up and running and build an endowment for the camp.

“At the same time, we’re still trying to win races and trying to build Petty Enterprises back with Jeff Green and those guys and with Dodge so that we can win some races. We’ll keep plugging along and driving, and one day I’ll wake up and say, ‘I’m not helping, and it’s not fun anymore.’ That might be the last time you see me. I might not ever come back to a racetrack, but that’s a few years off.” For now, enjoy it while you can.