Lee Petty Passes Away

LEVEL CROSS, N.C. - Lee Petty, a three-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion, first winner of the Daytona 500, and patriarch of the only four-generation family of athletes in major league American sports, died early this morning at Cone Hospital in Greensboro, N.C. He was 86 years old.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Toomes Petty; two sons, Richard and Maurice Petty; nine grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren and one brother.

Petty was the founder of Petty Enterprises, the winningest organization in American motorsports, and a 10-time national champion of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The organization, which began in 1949, has won 271 races, having entered over 2,140 cars in nearly 1,800 events. Richard Petty won 198 of those races for Petty Enterprises, which has fielded cars for such other notables as hall of famers Joe Weatherly, Buddy Baker, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Tiny Lund, Bob Welborn, Marvin Panch, Darel Dierenger, Jim Paschal and Herschel McGriff.

His 54 race wins in only 10 full seasons (16 years of NASCAR Winston Cup racing overall) rank him as one of the top driving talents in the history of the sport - only six other drivers have won more races in a career and all ran well more than 10 full years. Petty found victory lane on everything from dirt tracks to the biggest of the superspeedways. His record was incredible - 429 NASCAR Winston Cup starts, 283 top-five finishes (66 percent) and 376 top 10s (88 percent).

Petty was truly one of the "founding fathers" of the success of NASCAR, beginning his career in races throughout the southeastern United States and on the beach at Daytona Beach, Fla. He was the winner of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, beating Johnny Beachamp to the start-finish line in a photo finish that required three days to determine a winner. That race was a watershed for NASCAR racing, putting the sport "on the map" nationally as the most competitive in motorsports.

A private graveside service for family members only has been scheduled this week. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the Level Cross United Methodist Church Building Fund, 10142 U.S. Highway Bus. #220 North, Randleman, N.C. 27317.