Some may think the tread’s pretty worn on the story of the Petty family and racin’ by now, some 75 years after it all began.
Thankfully, though, in time for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, one of NASCAR’s origin tales has been reshaped and repurposed from old hat to big hat. A very big hat.
Coming in at 6 feet tall and nearly 1,000 pounds of fiberglass and concrete is the baby-blue cowboy-hat statue that will be on display this race weekend at AMS, a salute to Richard Petty’s iconic headwear of choice. The hat statue will be at the Fan Zone on Friday and Saturday at the track and then moved to the front of the grid before the race Sunday.
Remarked the 86-year-old Petty a couple of weeks back upon seeing the version on display at Daytona: “It made me get a big head because that hat’s kinda big.”
There’ll be 28 versions of “The King’s Hat” popping up at different tracks throughout this NASCAR season, each one commemorating a different Petty milestone. Each is a mileage marker along a both glorious and painful journey that began in 1949 when Petty’s father, Lee, fired up his first ride in Charlotte and claimed a $25 prize for finishing 17th.
Lee went on to win the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and three NASCAR Series championships.
Richard was crowned the king of his sport while winning seven championships and nearly lapping the field with 200 career wins (the next closest has 105). His son, Kyle, made 829 NASCAR starts, winning eight times. Kyle’s son, Adam, died in 2000 in a practice crash in New Hampshire before a second-tier Busch Series race.
It’s not any of the six wins that Richard had in 65 starts at Atlanta — “Atlanta wasn’t one of our luckier tracks,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — that is the subject of this week’s tribute. Rather, this big hat marks Petty’s last-ever race, the Hooters 500 at AMS the fall of 1992. It was a most eventful day, marking Jeff Gordon’s debut, a hometown victory for Bill Elliott and a hotly contested series championship for Alan Kulwicki.
As for the then 54-year-old Petty, he endured a mid-race fiery crash that relegated him to 35th place. Being outspent by other emerging teams, he had gone winless his last eight seasons.
“I went out in a blaze of glory. ... OK, we went out in a blaze, wasn’t a lot of glory to it,” he chuckled.
Petty’s headwear outside the car, unlike anything else seen upon the adjustable, logoed ball-cap set, became a trademark. So much so that one of his dandy lids, done up in feather and bone, resides in the Smithsonian.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
The story behind the hat:
That fashion statement was motivated, as with much else in racing, by a merchandising angle.
“Kyle had a western store — Kyle Petty Boot Barn,” Richard remembered Tuesday. “The Charlie 1 Horse guy came by one day trying to talk Kyle into selling his hats. He said, OK, I’ll give you one and see if your dad likes it. If he likes it, you’ll start selling them here.
“The first one I got, I loved it because it was completely different than anything I had ever seen before.”
Given his standing in the sport, Petty hardly needed a peculiar chapeau to make him stand out any more. But the big hat bobbing above the masses in the garage area always announced the King’s coming, as with any crown.
While the horsepower he dealt in always numbered many more than one, Petty said he used to know his way around a saddle.
But, honestly, “I’m a North Carolina cowboy,” he said.
Now, for the story going on beneath the hat:
Having sold control of his race team to another seven-time series champion, Jimmie Johnson, Petty is in the second year as “ambassador” for Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club.
The transition hasn’t always been smooth. A year ago he admitted to how difficult it was to cede control. This year at Daytona, however, Petty said, “I’ve gotten a little bit more comfortable with it. It’s not where I’d like to see it, but from my standpoint it’s a lot better.”
Now, as Petty describes his role, “We go to the shop every week, talk to the drivers, go to the races, just sort of hang out. If nothing else, we’re cheerleaders. If they did right, we pat them on the back and say ‘good job.’ If they did wrong, we keep our mouths shut.”
Two of Legacy’s drivers — John Hunter Nemechek (7th) and Erik Jones (8th) — finished top 10 at Monday’s Daytona 500, a quietly promising start for the team.
A couple of generations have come of age since Richard Petty reigned. There are fans now much more likely to know him as the voice of The King in the animated “Cars” movie as for his former dominance in the real thing.
There’ll be at least one large reminder of Petty’s outsized place in racing on display this weekend at AMS. No mere size 7⅜ hat will do for this cat.
Not that he really craves the validation.
“Everything that happened 15 minutes ago is history,” Petty said Tuesday. “I live off history, but I don’t go back there. I’m looking at every day I get up, it’s a new day for me, with new challenges. I look forward to getting up today and seeing what’s going on today.”
SUNDAY’S CUP RACE
Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Atlanta, 2:30 p.m., Fox
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