Richard Petty was (and still is) UNBEATABLE

Watching Petty on the track would be one of the first things i would do when i have access to time travel.

the winningest season in NASCAR's modern era was Gordon's 1998, where he won 13 races. someone would have to replicate that year sixteen times to get to Petty. outrageous.

After Petty won that 200th race in 1984, some unseen force basically went "Enough" and forbid him from winning again

The fact that people try to pull this "plummer" excuse is sad. He went against: David Pearson-105 wins Bobby Allison-84 wins Darrell Waltrip-84 Cale Yarbrough-83 wins Ned Jarret-50 wins Junior Johnson-50 wins Lee Petty-54 wins Herb Thomas-48 wins Buck Baker-46 wins Tim Flock-39 wins Bobby Isaac-34 wins Fonty Flock-19 wins Rex White-28 wins Fred Lorenzen-26 wins Jim Paschal-25 wins Joe Weatherly-25 wins Benny Parsons-21 wins Jack Smith-21 wins Speedy Thompson-20 wins Curtis Turner-18 wins Dick Hutchinson-14 wins If you consider any of them plumners,you don't know wheel.

One important bit of context is that today's fields are significantly more competitive than they were in the '50s and '60s. Back then, with such a long schedule, very few drivers had the stamina and finances to compete in NASCAR full-time, especially in the numerous low-paying short track races they had. In quite a few of Petty's early victories the field consisted basically of him, David Pearson when he felt like showing up, and a bunch of local ham-and-eggers in substandard equipment. That doesn't at all mean that Petty wasn't an incredible driver...but his early success was due at least in part to his marketing skills as it was his driving skills.

to be frank, the wins record in baseball is also unbreakable. Due to the way pitchers don't play nearly as many games as they used to and get taken out earlier etc.

Him ‘requesting’ a fire extinguisher at his final race in 1992 is legendary.

You forgot to mention that David Pearson only raced in 574 races as opposed to Richard Petty's 1185. In fact David Pearson only ran 4 full seasons and was the champion in 3 of the (66, 68 & 69).

Although what Richard did was very impressive for his Era, this only highlights how great drivers like Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were, winning 80+ races in the Modern Era when the schedule was shortened. Richard's 200 wins is similar to Kyle Busch's 200+ wins across all series. Impressive, but we don't look at it under the same lens because he was always driving the best car with less competition. With how evenly matched cars are today and the competition level, Jeff Gordon's 93 Modern Era Wins should be the record drivers chase.

My grandfather was lucky enough to have watched Petty many times in his youth and met him several times. He once told me a story of when he was at a race at Dover and petty ran out of gas with a few laps to go. But was ahead by so many laps that he was able to coast the whole way on an empty tank and still win

When Petty won his 7th Daytona 500 in 1981, the only other driver who had won the race more than once was Cale Yarborough, who had only won twice to that point.

Jeff Gordon's 93 wins should be the benchmark for wins that drivers should strive for. With today's playoff format, I don't think anyone will tie 7 Championships again for a long while.

Don't forget that the racetracks varied greatly back then. They raced on dirt, asphalt, concrete, various road courses. Very minimal practice time to get used to a track and set up for it. You show up, qualify and go. That Petty mastered all these different tracks with so little prep time deserves much more attention than he currently gets. That's why he's the King: he could, and did, beat you literally anywhere.

To speed run his records you need to dominate nascar for 7 yrs with 29 wins a season and lead most of the laps in every race damn thats crazy.

Great video. Petty has been my hero since I was 6 years old in 1974. Not just because of his amazing accomplishments, but because of the man he is outside of the car. Polite, friendly and respected the competition and media.

To be fair, the wins record in MLB will never be sniffed at again. It’s so far out of reach in the modern game that 300 wins - 60% of Cy’s total (if you round up) - is considered to be an S-tier achievement and immediate pass to the Hall of Fame.

No wonder Kyle cracked so often. He was under immense pressure.

hopelessly chasing perfection; good line

The King is the Ultimate Legendary GOAT of NASCAR and racing history

Feels like the King is getting more respect in recent years. Great video