Jan 13, 2023
The 2023 NASCAR season will be the first without a team bearing the Petty family name.
Petty GMS Racing announced Wednesday that it was changing its team name to Legacy Motor Club. The name change comes after seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson joined the team’s ownership group at the end of the 2022 season.
The Petty family name is synonymous with NASCAR. Petty Enterprises was part of the first NASCAR season ever in 1949 when Lee Petty entered five races. Lee Petty was one of the most successful early NASCAR drivers with 54 wins in 427 races and three championships.
His son Richard then became the king of NASCAR with seven Cup Series titles and 200 wins. Richard Petty became the first driver to win seven titles and is the only driver with more than 105 Cup Series wins.
After retiring from driving in 1992, Petty continued to field teams at NASCAR’s highest level. Petty Enterprises existed as a standalone team until 2009 when it merged with the remnants of Gillett Evernham Motorsports and became Richard Petty Motorsports and Petty himself became a minority owner.
Source: Yahoo Sports