NASCAR's King always took time for PR
- Brian Cleary
- 14 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Thinking today about another great example of how the NASCAR drivers of yesterday, specifically "The King", Richard Petty, always had time to promote the sport that provided them with their livelihood.
Whether it was spending time signing autographs for fans or taking a few minutes to meet the needs of interested members of the media, there was a time when NASCAR seemed a little more aware of the need to get the word out.
I'm thinking specifically of a time in the garage at Daytona when Richard Petty took a few moments out of his Daytona 500 preparations to help out a young photographer trying to please his editor.
It was toward the end of Petty's career and I was working for United Press International covering the Daytona races under the legendary editor Peter Cosgrove,
When I arrived at the speedway one day, shortly before the Daytona 500, Pete handed me an old black and white 8x10. Earlier in the day he had gone over to the speedway archives department and picked up a copy of an old photo of Petty early in his career that had been taken at Daytona.
Pete's idea was to try and get Petty to reproduce the pose in the photograph for a side-by-side comparison of the early and late stages of The King's career. Hed handed me the print with those instructions and sent me off to the garage in search of the racing legend.
When I found him, Petty was working with his crew on his race car, which was up on jackstands. I walked up and asked him if he might be willing to give the phot idea a try. Without hesitation he said, "Sure, let's go for it." He asked if he wanted to car's hood open or closed and, since it was in the garage and since the STP Logo was clearly visible on the hood, I decided we should keep the hood open. Petty liked the idea of his sponsor's logo being prominent in the photo.
He took the print from me and laid it on the ground next to his car where he could see it and climbed into the iconic race car. Using the photo for reference and asking me for direction, he perfectly recreated the pose, even removing his hat to more closely simulate it. Even I knew that removing the iconic sunglasses was too big an ask, so I did not try.
The whole process took about 5 minutes, and I was able to return to the UPI darkroom with the requested photo, mission accomplished. I never forgot that day and how a legend of NASCAR racing went out of his way to help a young photographer score points with his boss.
Over the years I experienced many more examples of what truly made Richard Petty "The King" and I've always known for a fact that NASCAR could never have become what it was with people like Richard Petty.
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Original photography and firsthand visual history by Brian Cleary.
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