‘The King’ has faced conflict several times. Richard Petty’s golden career featured such brush-up moments with rivals on the racetrack, starting from his early days. During the 1959 race at Lakewood Speedway, his own father Lee Petty stirred up a storm and invalidated his son’s victory. Then during a 1971 Bowman Gray race, Petty was furious about Bobby Allison claiming the victory that he thought belonged to him.

Once Richard Petty lost his temper to an infamous rival. Gary Balough was a short-track racing legend with over 1000 race wins to his credit. Balough also rapped the bad side of the law several times due to questionable activities. Similarly, he got into Petty’s bad books as well, as he recollected recently.

When Richard Petty’s fuse blew

Well, the 200-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner rarely got into physical brawls. During the 1979 Daytona 500, Richard Petty grabbed the checkered flag while the Allison brothers and Cale Yarbrough got into a bitter fight. Yet Petty did have a few moments of his own, one of which involved NASCAR’s ‘bad boy’, Gary Balough. Balough dominated regional tracks from his home tracks in Florida to the northeast’s Modified circuits. But before he could venture into the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time driver, Balough was convicted of being involved in a multi-million dollar dr-g trafficking ring in 1982. He was jailed and then released several times until 2010.

Presently, a senior Gary Balough recalled a time when Richard Petty charged him with something. This was not an illegal activity, but jittery racing during a practice session at Michigan International Speedway. Speaking in a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Balough recollected the incident: “I made a big mistake with Richard Petty in Michigan, a real big mistake… I think there was some difficulty there with Pete Hamilton being my driving coach and driving for Richard… Richard never really cared for me. I got underneath him down the back straightaway in Michigan, I followed Buddy Baker by. He didn’t know I was going to come down, and I got him in the door and he almost wrecked.” Nearly wrecking the King is not the wisest decision, as he was known to make his feelings known toward you after the drive.

Then things escalated a little, as they would when you get on the bad side of ‘The King.’ Balough recounted how Richard Petty‘s confrontation almost developed into a fight. Before law enforcement could get to him, Petty terrorized NASCAR’s bad boy. “Practice was over right, and I didn’t want to go back into the pits. They said…’Gary, do yourself a favor and stay right here for a while.’ Everybody put their tools down and he’s [Richard Petty] going… He’s like, ‘Where do you think you’re at, Iowa Speedway?’ I said, ‘Richard, I was drafting by you… I got two tires on the flat to keep from running into you.’ He said, ‘Let’s practice!’ I got to win practice too… ‘Let’s have a beer. If you don’t want to have a beer, we’ll fight. I don’t care’.”

Although Gary Balough had a penchant for ticking off both the law and Richard Petty, his talents were undeniable. This was evident in the winning machine he built for himself.

The ‘Batmobile’ was a trailblazer

Gary Balough may have angered Richard Petty for his Michigan antics. However, he was an incredibly intelligent driver and has the records to prove it. Balough was a two-time winner of the Snowball Derby, the prestigious winter race. He also won the All-American 400 in Nashville twice and was the All-Pro champion in 1986. Besides, Balough had a clever trick up his sleeve. Along with driver and car builder Kenny Weld, Balough put together the iconic ‘Batmobile’, a dirt Modified car. Officials were so impressed that they had to admit that Balough creatively designed the car within legal limits. He drove the ‘Batmobile’ to victory in the 1980 edition of the Syracuse 300.

However, the Super Dirt Week race win in Syracuse, New York, was so dominant that it raised eyebrows. Officials deemed Balough and Weld’s engineering feat illegal, re-writing rule books to outlaw such creative ideas in the future. The Batmobile had a few special features. Although Modifieds could not use sprint car wings, Balough installed a flat roof and angled it forward exactly like a wing. Then he could control massive air tunnels on both body sides with inlets. The Batmobile or the black No. 112 is now a museum piece.

Clearly, Gary Balough’s racing career is as interesting as it gets. Richard Petty may not look at it fondly, but even his encounter makes for a great story.