Richard Petty, 'The King' of NASCAR, says camp for seriously ill children is family's true legacy

FILE - Montgomery Lee Petty, 14, leans on her grandfather, racing great Richard Petty, as she listens to her dad Kyle Petty, not shown, announce that the Petty family is founding The Victory Junction Gang Camp during a news conference at the North Carolina Speedway near Rockingham, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 21, 2000. Adam Petty was 19 when he was killed in a crash practicing for a race at New Hampshire. Not too many years before, he'd made a visit to Paul Newman's-owned Camp Boggy Creek and became transfixed in creating a similar camp in North Carolina for children with serious medical issues. Richard Petty said the family following through on Adam's dream with be their lasting legacy.

FILE - Montgomery Lee Petty, 14, leans on her grandfather, racing great Richard Petty, as she listens to her dad Kyle Petty, not shown, announce that the Petty family is founding The Victory Junction Gang Camp during a news conference at the North Carolina Speedway near Rockingham, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 21, 2000. Adam Petty was 19 when he was killed in a crash practicing for a race at New Hampshire. Not too many years before, he'd made a visit to Paul Newman's-owned Camp Boggy Creek and became transfixed in creating a similar camp in North Carolina for children with serious medical issues. Richard Petty said the family following through on Adam's dream with be their lasting legacy. (AP Photo/Erik Perel, File)


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Richard Petty has a record 200 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series to go along with seven championships. The Hall of Fame driver known as "The King" and his family have been with the stock car series since its inception in 1948. He turned 87 this week and says his family should be hailed for something far bigger than anything it did in NASCAR. Petty wants the family legacy to be the Victory Junction Gang Camp, which was opened in 2004 for chronically ill children as a way to honor his late grandson.

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Jenna Fryer

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