Racing legend Richard Petty salutes nation’s truck drivers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Richard Petty is a car racing legend, who is often referred to as the King. But no matter how successful Petty’s career has been, the NASCAR superstar understands how important truck drivers are to this nation.

Petty signed autographs and took photos with fans on Thursday, March 22 at the Mack Trucks booth of the Mid-America Trucking Show.

“If it weren’t for trucks, we wouldn’t have nothing,” Petty said. “Everything we have. Everything in our house, it goes by truck. I don’t think the general public really understand what the trucking industry creates.”

Petty said he especially enjoys shaking hands and chatting with truckers at shows like MATS.

“The average truck driver who owns their own truck, they started like we did with racing,” Petty said. “We started in the backyard. We had a car and converted it into a race car. These guys that have one truck now or 15 or 20, they all started working on the truck and then they got a truck and got in the trucking business. They’re our kind of people. They’re middle class, hard-working people that we really appreciate.”

A seven-time NASCAR champion, Petty won 200 races in his storied career.