NASCAR 75: No. 43 in a series of 75 stories that helped define the first three quarters of a century of NASCAR.
- There’s a pretty good reason that Richard Petty—he of the 200 career wins in the NASCAR Cup Series—will forever be known in the sport as The King.
- Petty was never more dominant than in 1967.
- In the 1967 season, Petty won his second Cup championship, won 27 of 49 races on the schedule and won 10 races in a row in one stretch.
Of all the nicknames bestowed on Richard Petty over the years, the most prominent has been The King.
And that moniker was no more appropriate than in the 1967 season, when Petty dominated the competition in a manner not seen before or since.
Petty won his second Cup championship that season. He also won 27—27!—races. And, to add cream to the top of the pie, he won 10 in a row. There were 49 races in 1967, so Petty “lost” only 22.
Richard Petty’s 10 consecutive wins and 27 victories for the 1967 season are on a level with Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in baseball—records that will never be topped.
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These are numbers modern-day racers look at with a sense of wonder. It’s hard not to laugh. No one is ever touching those numbers.
Along the way that season, Richard notched his 55th career win to pass his father Lee’s all-time NASCAR victory total. Richard has held that career record ever since.
How did this happen? Petty’s driving talent was a given, but his blue Plymouth typically was the best car at almost every stop that season.
In the late summer and early fall, there was little reason for any other driver to report for work. Petty ran through the schedule like Sherman through Georgia. Over a stretch of 10 races, he won at Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Darlington, South Carolina; Hickory, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Beltsville, Maryland; Hillsborough, North Carolina; Martinsville, Virginia; and North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Richard Petty checks in for fuel and tires at the Southern 500 at Darlington. It was a race he would go on to win by five laps.
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Some of Petty’s 27 wins must have been close ones, right? Uh, no. The closest margin of victory over the season was six seconds. On a typical race day, he finished laps ahead of second place. He won the Southern 500 at Darlington, a track that usually gave him fits, by five laps.
In some ways, the whole thing got sort of boring for Petty. After the 10th consecutive win at North Wilkesboro, he marched into the press box for the winner’s interview and suggested that he interview the media members instead.
“I don’t have much to say that I haven’t already said,” Petty said.
A week later, Petty didn’t have to worry about the winner’s interview. Finally, he lost. He was involved in an accident at Charlotte Motor Speedway and eventually left the race with an engine problem, finishing 18th. For the first time in weeks, a man not named Petty—Buddy Baker—won the race. It was Baker’s first career victory.
Bobby Allison won the final two races of the year (at Rockingham, North Carolina and Weaverville, North Carolina) to keep Petty out of victory lane.
Oddly, despite Petty’s hold on the schedule that year, he did not win the season’s biggest race—the Daytona 500. Mario Andretti, making a rare start in NASCAR, took that win.
Along the way in 1967, Petty broke his father Lee’s career victory record, reaching 55. Of course, he would go on to score 200 career wins, a total that likely never will be approached.
Other drivers, including Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Bobby Allison, have experienced various streaks of brilliance in NASCAR history, but Petty’s 1967 will forever remain the standard.
Keyword: Richard Petty Delivers NASCAR's Most Incredible, All-Time Greatest Season in 1967