Adam Petty

Petty was raised in High Point, North Carolina into stock car racing "royalty." The son of Kyle Petty, he was widely expected to become the next great Petty, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather Richard, and great-grandfather Lee. He was the first known fourth-generation athlete in all of modern American motor sports to participate in the chosen profession of his generations.

Racing career

Petty began his career in 1998, shortly after he turned 18. Like his father Kyle, he won his first ARCA RE/MAX Series start, in the #45 Sprint/Spree Pontiac at Lowe's Motor Speedway in that same year.

Petty drove a #45 Sprint Chevrolet in the Busch Series full-time in 1999 after a successful season in the Midwestern short track American Speed Association season in the #45 Spree Pontiac. He also finished sixth in his first Busch Series race at Daytona and had a best finish of fourth place that year. However, he failed to qualify for three races, and finished 20th overall in points.

Petty Enterprises planned to give Adam a Winston Cup ride in 2001 and to give him seven starts in Cup in 2000, along with a full Busch campaign in a car sponsored by Sprint. He struggled early in the Busch season, but managed to qualify in his first attempt at Winston Cup during the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2. He qualified 33rd and ran in the middle of the pack most of the day before his engine expired, forcing him to finish 40th. Lee Petty, Adam's great-grandfather, and 3-time NASCAR Champion, lived to see his debut, but died just three days afterwards.

Death

On May 12, 2000 Petty was practicing for the Busch 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series (then Busch Grand National Series) race^[1] when he got loose going into turn 3, over corrected and went head-on into the wall. Petty was killed instantly due to a basilar skull fracture.^[2]

Adam's death, along with 1998 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Kenny Irwin, Jr.'s at the same track (on July 7, 2000)^[3] led NASCAR to mandate the use of a kill switch on the steering wheel and the adoption of the Whelen Modified Tour restrictor plate for the September Cup race; the plate was abandoned after that race. It was not until after the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr., under similar circumstances, that NASCAR mandated head-and-neck restraints.

Kyle Petty, Adam's father, who drove the #44 car at the time of the crash, drove Adam's #45 car in the Busch Series for the remainder of 2000. He then used the #45 in the Sprint Cup series throughout the rest of his driving career. For two years, Kyle did not race at Loudon. He returned in 2002, only to leave again until 2005. His final race at Loudon was in 2007.^[4]

Legacy

In October 2000 five months after Adam's death, his family partnered with Paul Newman and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp to begin the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, North Carolina, as a memorial to Adam. The camp has received support from many NASCAR drivers, teams, and sponsors, including Cup Series sponsor Sprint, which has placed a replica of Adam's 1998 car in the camp. The Victory Junction Gang camp began operation in 2004, and is an official charity of NASCAR. Petty also appears as a special guest driver in the video games NASCAR 2000, NASCAR Rumble, NASCAR 2001 and NASCAR Arcade.

References

External links

Career Stats

Petty family

Family members	Lee Petty (deceased) • Richard Petty • Kyle Petty • Adam Petty (deceased)

Games	Kyle Petty's No Fear Racing • Richard Petty's Talladega

Persondata
Name	Petty, Adam
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 10, 1980
Place of birth	High Point, North Carolina
Date of death	May 12, 2000
Place of death