| | Associated Press
Even after Lee Petty left racing nearly four decades ago, he still poked his head inside the family's garage every week to offer advice.
"Here's where you messed up ... what went wrong ... what you should have done Sunday," he would tell the drivers and crew.
|  | | Lee Petty, center, head of the most successful family in stock car racing, and his sons, Maurice, left, and Richard, look into an empty engine well of a new race car on July 15, 1964 at the family shop in Level Cross, N.C. |
But the patriarch of NASCAR's first family of racing doesn't come around anymore. Petty died April 5 of complications from a stomach aneurysm, leaving behind a dynasty that still loves to drive fast but is struggling to cope at slower speeds without the man who got it all started.
"It's been pretty hard on us," grandson Kyle said. "The one thing that has helped is the outpouring from the fans. My grandmother has been amazed ... that's been a big help for her to know there are that many people out there who knew who Lee Petty was and what he had done."
The pioneer driver and greatest star of the 1950s won 55 races, still seventh-best in NASCAR history, and three Grand National -- now Winston Cup -- championships.
In 1959, he become the photo-finish winner of the first Daytona
500.
Petty's legacy goes beyond his own accomplishments, though.
One son, Richard, became The King of stock car racing with a
record 200 victories and seven championships. Another son, Maurice,
was the family's engine builder.
Richard's son, Kyle, is now in his 20th year as a Winston Cup
regular, and has taken over the day-to-day business of running the
team. Kyle's son, 19-year-old Adam, made his debut in Texas just
three days before Lee's death, making the Pettys the first
four-generation family of NASCAR racers.
Lee's passing was not unexpected -- he was 86 and had been in
failing health since undergoing surgery in February -- but it's been
especially hard on his widow, Elizabeth, and their two sons.
"I've seen my father in 10 million different situations in his
lifetime, from laying in a hospital bed to standing on top of his
car in the Daytona 500 victory lane," Kyle said. "But I don't
think I've ever seen him this emotional about anything."
Together, the family had struggled, suffered and endured. When
Richard and Maurice were young children, the Petty home in Level
Cross, N.C., burned down. Maurice was stricken with polio. Lee was
seriously injured in 1961 during a qualifying race at Daytona,
effectively ending his driving career.
"I think the bond that those four people had was an incredible
bond," Kyle said. "All families are that way to some degree. But
for this family, it just seemed to be a lot more intense. I think
it's been hard for them to adjust to him not being there."
The eldest Petty lived out his days in a modest white bungalow
near where he founded his racing organization in a farm shed more
than a half-century ago. In his later years, he still walked
through what became a sprawling complex almost daily and would
practice his golf swing in front of his home.
But he had no interest in cashing in on NASCAR's amazing surge
in popularity over the past decade.
"He never thought of himself as anything but Lee Petty, who
just happened to drive a race car and put food on the table," Kyle
said.
Lee was intensely competitive, even protesting when it appeared
Richard had won his first race at a North Carolina dirt track in
1959. Race officials later changed their ruling and declared Lee
the winner.
Earlier that year, it took NASCAR a while to decide it had erred
in declaring Johnny Beauchamp the Daytona winner. Petty got the
trophy, Beauchamp the congratulatory kiss.
Kyle Petty said his grandfather's motives in the North Carolina
race are misunderstood to this day.
"The reason he protested was because he had a late-model car,
and the race paid a couple of hundred dollars more for a late-model
car to win than it did for my father's car to win," Kyle
explained. "And that's what it was all about to him, putting food
on the table."
After crashing at Daytona, the elder Petty raced occasionally,
then retired in 1964.
"Once he walked away, he just walked away," Kyle said. "He
didn't care about all the hoopla and all that stuff that went on
when NASCAR had their 50th (anniversary). If they didn't call, it
didn't bother him."
In the past year, there have been more changes at Petty
Enterprises. Richard still signs off on major decisions, but little
else.
These days, he might stop by the track on race day, but is more
inclined to be at his second home in the mountains of Wyoming or
traveling the country with his nine grandchildren.
"He doesn't have to do this anymore," Kyle said. "Finally, he
has gotten to the point in his career where he wants to know
something different."
The Pettys -- Kyle is joined by John Andretti in the Winston Cup
cars -- have struggled with engine problems this season. They are
hopeful that a switch next year from Pontiac to the new Dodge
improve their fortunes.
If not?
"This is all we do," Kyle said. "We race cars."
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