Lee Petty is the patriarch of the famous Petty family.

He raced in the early days of NASCAR and won the inaugural Daytona 500, after it took officials three days to officially declare him the winner.

In 427 starts, Petty earned 54 wins, more than any driver in his time. He was surpassed by his son Richard Petty but is still ranked 9th on the all-time win list. He also accumulated three Cup Series championships.

Petty was the founder of Petty Enterprises, currently known as Richard Petty Motorsports.

This is the first year that there is not an active driver with the Petty name racing in NASCAR.

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