For Richard Petty‘s grandson Thad Moffitt, the stakes are high going into Martinsville! And, why wouldn’t it be? After all, the half-mile track has not only witnessed the rise of the Petty family legacy, but it has also been a track that the #43 dominated for an entire decade during the 1970s.

Now, as the 23-year-old looks to enter his first full-time NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season for Faction46, he will certainly be looking for a way to honor his family’s undisputed dominance. Even his grandfather seems to be backing him in that conquest as The King provided Moffitt with some tips and tricks to get started and even cited the example of former NASCAR driver Jimmy Hensley to educate the rookie.

Richard Petty gives racer Jimmy Hensley a shoutout for his Martinsville prowess

While Hendrick Motorsports may claim the throne of Martinsville dominance in the modern era, that seat belonged to Richard Petty throughout the 1970s. After winning his first race at Martinsville in 1960, The King dominated the half-mile speedway, unlike any other driver, bringing his tally of Martinsville wins to 15 by the end of the decade. During that time, Petty brought home wins in Plymouths, Dodges, and Chevrolets, making him a master of the speedway in every sense and machinery.

So now that Thad Moffitt is aiming to bring in a solid result at Martinsville during his debut, The King took fans and his grandson on a trip down memory lane to understand the key to winning at the fortress. He stated, “The deal at Martinsville is braking getting into the corner. Probably Jimmy Hensley got around Martinsville as well as anybody I’ve ever seen. And the way he drove the track, instead of going straight into the corner, he was out just a little bit further and then came back to the inside, instead of hitting it, getting too low going in.”

According to Petty, taking a line that is too low at Martinsville results in the driver having a poor exit. In order to counter this, Hansen took a wider line whenever possible. Petty added, “He’d make a little bit of a bigger arc so that his arc came to the middle of the corner, as low as he could hit. But when you’re racing with people, you’ve gotta watch out. Because if you move out to make an arc, they’re gonna jump in. He didn’t make one pretty big then, but by himself, he made one pretty big. And it also slowed down the car without using so much brake.”

Whilst Richard Petty’s advice was as sound as possible, Thad Moffitt also showcased his ability to analyze without bias as he clarified, “This is a situational deal right? I mean if you’re racing somebody you can’t leave the door open as much. But yeah.” Visibly, this analysis left his grandfather smiling ear to ear with pride. Petty gestured for Moffitt to leave lesser space when around other drivers, concluding, “Give em’ this much, not this much.”

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Having said that, while Martinsville has been like a second home to Richard Petty, there’s one aspect about his wins at the speedway that has been bothersome. Apparently, the Grandfather Clock that the Martinsville race winner gets has been getting on the Petty family’s nerves for as long as they can remember!

The Petty family was suffering from their Martinsville success

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Ever since 1964, winners at Martinsville Speedway have been awarded with grandfather clocks as the ultimate honor. Whilst the award itself is crafted with great detail and holds major value for race winners, the Petty family had a rather blessed problem. There were just too many trophies by the end of the ’70s! Throughout Richard Petty’s 15 wins at Martinsville, the family had collected quite an arsenal of clocks, and perhaps all that ticking got too much for them to handle!

With nowhere to keep the clocks, the Petty family reportedly decided to spread out the trophies within the larger family. The King’s son, Kyle Petty, was quoted by the Fayetteville Observer as saying, “Those things are everywhere now. When me and my sisters Sharon, Rebecca, and Lisa were growing up, they were all over the house, even in the bathrooms. We have some, other clocks have gone here and there.”

Even Richard Petty’s iconic crew chief responsible for 193 of his 200 wins, Dale Inman, was gifted one by the family. Kyle Petty concluded, “Dale Inman has one, some cousins have some. You can only put them in so many places when you have 15 of them, you know what I mean?”

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Although Richard Petty retired and never got the chance to bring home another grandfather clock, could Thad Moffitt continue the Petty family’s dominance at Martinsville Speedway?