NASCAR is built on family legacies, and the Pettys are one of the most iconic. It began with Lee Petty, who won the first Daytona 500 in 1959, followed by his son, Richard “

The King” Petty, a seven-time Cup Series champion. The legacy continued with Richard’s son Kyle and grandson Adam, who was poised to be the fourth generation before his tragic death in 2000. Despite the loss, Adam’s legacy lives on through the Victory Junction camp, which supports children with serious illnesses, ensuring his impact endures beyond racing.

At the recent Daytona Cup Series race, the winningest family in NASCAR celebrated 75 years of their family’s legacy in the sport. Richard has won the Daytona 500 seven times. He, along with his son Kyle, were the grand marshals of the Coke Zero 400. At the event, Kyle missed his son Adam, who was destined to take forward the family name.

Remembering Adam, Kyle had said, “Adam’s death and Adam’s accident was an endpoint for where we were from a driver’s line, but I never saw it as an endpoint for where we were as our family in the sport.” 

Adam Petty passed away on May 12, 2000, when he crashed in a practice session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. During the session, the throttle in Adam’s car got stuck as he entered turn 3, and the car barreled head-on into the outside wall. The 19-year-old suffered a skull fracture, leading to his death. This was only Adam’s second Cup Series start. The fourth-generation Petty had shown promise to continue his grandfather’s legacy after several top-5 finishes in the Xfinity Series along with two ARCA wins. Although not through his driving, he still continues to live on, as Austin recently shared.

He said, “To see his favorite paint scheme on an actual Cup car brought cold chills to me seeing it.” Back in the 2019 Southern 500, Bubba Wallace ran a paint scheme honoring Adam. The #45 car featured orange, green, purple, and yellow colors. It was the same paint scheme Adam Petty carried across the victory in his ARCA debut at Charlotte in 1998. Also at Historic Sportscar Racing‘s stock car vintage racing series, out of the 30, one car will have Adam’s paint scheme. The tribute is one part, but Austin recently revealed how his brother’s memory lives through him.

Many mistake him for Adam, as they were only a year apart in age, Adam being older. However, he never corrects them. “I laugh ’cause every time I see some people and they see me. You know I was 19 and Adam was 18 when he passed away. I’m older now. But people will still see me and think I kind of look a little bit like Adam. They’ll not mean to, but they’ll call me Adam. I’ll never correct them. Like I just let them continue to have a conversation they’ll talk to me like I’m Adam and in my mind I always think if they are calling me by brother’s name that means they still remember him and they still think about him.”

 

 

Even outside of racing, Adam Petty’s legacy is continued with his brainchild, “Victory Junction.” It is a camp that works towards enriching the lives of children who are seriously ill. Richard Petty had recently said that Victory Junction is their true family legacy.

How is Adam Petty’s Victory Junction changing countless lives?

Adam had paid a visit to Paul Newman’s Camp Boggy Creek, which too is a camp for ill children. Ever since his visit, he became eager to create a similar camp in North Carolina; this is how Victory Junction was born in 2004 and has been there for two decades. Their mission is to enrich the lives of children with serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, at no cost to children or their families.

According to Richard Petty, being in racing enabled them to give back to society. Hence, he believes this to be their actual legacy. “The kids come from all over the country and they don’t charge them anything. We make sure they get there and get them home. So when I look at the Pettys’ 75 years of racing, I think it brought the camp into play and I think the bigger legacy, what it will hopefully be, is more about the Victory Junction Camp than anything about racing.”

The NASCAR Legend believes that racing might change in the future, but the camp will always stay and Adam will continue to live on. Further in the conversation, Austin said, “My dad talks about it all the time where you know we lost one son, who had one smile but when you see all those kids leave through Victory Junction. Their smiles, it’s like having so many Adams be able to leave and take the spirit of Adam with them. It’s just an incredible legacy to still be a part of.”

Do you remember any of Adam’s runs?