“The Name of the Game Is Money”: Richard Petty’s Uneasy Divorce With NASCAR Partner Which He Backtracked on Within a Year

With the NASCAR world getting ready to celebrate its 75th anniversary, it is natural for fans to reminisce about some of the incidents that contributed to shaping it. And talking about incidents, a name that can never be forgotten is the most successful Cup Series driver Richard Petty.

The King is the most accomplished driver in the history of NASCAR. He is the first of just three drivers to win the Cup Series championship seven times. He also has a record of winning a mammoth 200 races in his entire Cup Series career. Petty started racing in the ‘50s and established himself as a class apart. The man had already started to create benchmarks in the auto sport winning numerous races for Petty Enterprises, a team founded by his father, brother, and himself. 

Richard Petty and his time with Ford

In 1969, a massive announcement by Richard Petty and Petty Enterprises created a lot of buzz. They announced a switch to Ford beginning with the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway on 1st February.

During a press conference, Petty said, “Ford has a vast storehouse of knowledge, much more than Chrysler has. The name of the game is money…my relationship with Ford is on a year-to-year basis. I won’t be getting much more money than I was getting with Chrysler. But I feel the potential for winning more money is much, much greater with Ford.”

As the team had amassed 145 victories and five NASCAR Cup Series titles to its name while enjoying Chrylser products, this became a huge piece of news. And though this looked like a good decision then, Petty returned to driving Chrysler Plymouths in 1970 after they modified the design.

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The King is among the most respected and beloved people in the NASCAR community. In view of his achievements, he was rightfully inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

Apart from achieving all that he did as a driver, Petty was the co-owner of now-defunct Petty Enterprises, which was the winningest team in the NASCAR Cup Series for 61 years. He is the co-founder of Petty GMS Motorsports and Petty’s Garage, which works on restoration and modifications.

Given his age, Petty is still very active in the sport. And as a cherry on top of all his accomplishments, he also has a museum to his name: The Richard Petty Museum, dedicated to preserving and showcasing the Petty family’s NASCAR legacy.

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