This is the entrance to the Petty Museum and gift shop.
I recently took a trip to visit the Richard Petty Museum in Level Cross NC just a short drive south of Greensboro. Richard, The King, Petty has to be one of the most identifiable people in NASCAR. Even though he retired from racing 25 years ago, in 1992, everyone still know who The King is. He has to be one of the people with the most autographed items in the world! Not because of the money but because he loves his fans and it shows.
The museum is not huge but it does contain a large treasure of items that help tell the story of the man not just the race car driver. Richard is also not the only one honored in the Museum. His father Lee, his son Kyle and Kyle’s son Adam also have their own parts of the Museum.
This is the house where Richard Petty was born in an upstairs bedroom. It sits at its original location next to the Museum.
These two tributes to #42 Lee Petty and #43 Richard Petty sit just outside the entrance to the Museum.
A cartoonish statue of Richard Petty greats you as you enter the Museum.
This is the entrance to the Petty Museum and gift shop.
The Petty Museum includes a second building but many other buildings on the site are working shops and not open to the public.
The collection of Richard Petty race cars is impressive and brings back lots of memories to those of us to remember when he started.
Today, the Petty family is also doing street cars.
There was a time, 1964, when Richard Petty dropped out of NASCAR over a dispute of engines. He and Plymouth went drag racing. Unfortunately, that came to an end with a devastating accident that took the life of a young fan.
This is one of my favorite cars. It is a “zipper top” 1957 Oldsmobile. At that time there were two classes for NASCAR. One was for sedans and the other for convertibles. The zipper top cars had tops that could be easily removed to make them eligible for the convertible division.
In 1969 Richard Petty raced a Ford. Although the Petty Race Team now races Fords the 1969 Ford Talladega aero car was the only time Richard drove a Ford race car.
Do you remember when the Petty’s went to Indy with Window World?
This is the last car Richard Petty raced. He crashed his Pontiac race car and went into the history books.
The factory wind tunnel model for race car preparation.
The King from the Cars movies is even in the Museum.
One of Adam’s first race cars.
There is one section of the Museum devoted to Adam Petty. A DVD playing on a TV in the area will bring tears to your eyes as you listen to Kyle Petty talk about the Petty family experiences and his relationship with his son, Adam.
Behind The King from the movie is another star car. It is the actual 1969 Ford Station wagon Linda Petty once drove. It also starred in the Cars movie.
What really makes this Museum special to me is that it is located next to house Richard was born in and the Museum is located in buildings that used to be the Petty race shops. The site is a museum!
I easily spent a couple of hours there. If you are a person who likes to read every description on every item plan on making it a day. There is no restaurant on site but you can purchase drinks there. The admission is very reasonable and Senior Rates are available as are discounts for children and military.
Richard has been known to visit the Museum and speak with visitors but don’t count on that during race season he will likely be at the track.
I grew up and lived in Iowa for a good portion of my life before moving to Southern California. After 20+ years we now live outside Nashville Tennessee. I have been into cars since I was old enough to remember. I don't have a brand loyalty although I do prefer American Muscle especially the 1969/1970 NASCAR Aero Cars. (Check out our other web site at www.TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com site) As long as it has four wheels and an engine I get excited. Few men are lucky enough to be able to share their passion for cars with the woman they love. Fortunately, my wife, Katriana, is also a gear head and many of our activities revolve around the cars. We have a small collection that includes at least one car from each of the Big Three. It includes a Best of Show winner, a survivor, a driver with lots of patina and several others. Katrina prefers all original cars while I like to modify them so we have a few of each. When we aren't playing with cars we are out working with or showing our miniature donkeys. You can see more about that part of our lives at http://www.LegendaryFarms.com.
