NASCAR legend Richard Petty reveals the only | Sports News

NASCAR legend Richard Petty make clear the touching gesture he made to land the first and only autograph of his life.

Petty achieved no scarcity of success over a adorned 35-year profession in motorsports, amassing 200 Cup Series wins — the most of any driver in the historical past of NASCAR — and 7 championships.

During his rise to national stardom, ‘The King’ — who not too long ago shared his ideas on the Cup Series playoff format and named which present drivers he’d wish to see win — made a number of mates in high locations. Of all the people he crossed paths with, nevertheless, there was only one which Petty requested to signal a piece of memorabilia.

While talking to The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck, Petty revealed that he as soon as acquired an autograph from former Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr as a reward for his son, Kyle. “I never got but one autograph, and I got that for (son) Kyle. He was a big fan of the Green Bay quarterback … Bart Starr,” he defined. “We were in Texas somewhere, and he was staying at the same hotel. That’s the only autograph I ever got. I like autographs on checks.”

Much like Petty, Starr dominated his respective sport in the Sixties and Seventies, propelling the Packers to 5 NFL championships and two Super Bowl wins en path to being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

Since hanging up the racing gloves, Petty himself has taken a larger liking to soccer after having already been a fan. “You know, me, as I get older and stuff, I’ve always really liked football,” he mentioned. “I’ve always really liked football: college football, professional football. I’ve never been that big on baseball or basketball. I might like to watch the championship games, but during the season.”

Now in the later phases of his life, Petty conceded that he’s misplaced the aggressive fire that he and Starr routinely displayed at the peak of their careers. “I don’t get competitive about anything, really,” he mentioned. “We play games with the grandkids and all that, and sometimes they let me win.

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“But other than that, I don’t know if I’ve ever been competitive; whatever I was doing, you wanted to be the best you could be. And sometimes it wasn’t good enough to win, but it was good as you could do. And that’s all you can ask (of) yourself.

“A couple or three races, when I got beat on the last lap and stuff, I’d knock myself in the head when it was over: ‘How stupid can you be to let this happen?’ But it was in the past, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it, so you went on down the road.”