“It isn’t all glory – and that’s for sure!”

Apparently, at one point in time, Richard Petty’s mother told an interviewer that she didn’t name her son “Dick,” she named him “Richard.” Perhaps she stated that in response to articles like Jim McMichael’s profile on King Richard in the March 1961 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, in which he chummily mixes in a “Dick” here and there. Of note: $35,380 translates to about $300,000 in today’s wages. Any leading NASCAR driver would likely consider that a pittance nowadays.