Lee Petty

American race-car champion, a famous driver. His son Richard and grandson Kyle carried on the family tradition. Son Richard became an owner of a NASCAR Winston Cup race team, grandson Kyle is a professional driver in the Winston Cup series and great-grandson, Adam, at age 19, made his debut in Winston Cup racing in March 2000. Lee was known for counseling each generation of the racing family as they came of age. The Petty family had its share of tragedies. The family home was burned to the ground; son Maurice was stricken with polio and the other son, Lee, was involved in a very serious crash in 1961, effectively ending his driving career. Son Richard won a record seven Winston Cup titles, a triumph shared with only one other driver. The final tragedy was just four weeks after Lee died. His great-grandson, Adam, was killed in a qualifying crash for the Busch series at the Loudon, NH. track, 5/11/2000 at the age of 19, extinguishing a shining star that had showed the potential of abilities of his granddad, Lee. Petty died at Greensboro, NC, 4/05/2000, the patriarch of the racing dynasty, weeks after undergoing surgery for a stomach aneurysm. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less