WATCH: “I am not strapped”- Richard Petty and Kyle Petty recalls doing a 193-mph lap around Daytona without any safety gears

The father-son duo was one of the most fierce ones out on track in the '80s and '90s.

WATCH: “I am not strapped”- Richard Petty and Kyle Petty recalls doing a 193-mph lap around Daytona without any safety gears

Richard Petty and Kyle Petty (Via IMAGO)

Huge strides in safety have been made over the years in motorsports. However, in the early ’70s and ’80s, there was not a lot of awareness regarding safety regulations in the sport also on the side of the drivers. Richard and Kyle Petty shared one such instance on Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s podcast, where the seven-time champion took his kid around for a lap at Daytona without any safety harnesses.

The ‘King’ Richard Petty said he first took the car for a run for precautionary checks and then told his son Kyle Petty to hop in. Subsequently, they were on their way around Daytona, and the 63-year-old stated that they reached speeds of up to 193 mph while being unhooked and having no straps or helmet on. 

I went out and ran it, you know, make sure everything was working good. Put him in the car. Said, okay, this is where you're supposed to be, you know.
Richard Petty said.

The precarious speeds they were driving at could have ended the whole equation badly and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was really surprised with it. However, Kyle Petty was being driven around by one of NASCAR’s greatest, so such a situation seemed unlikely to the NASCAR Hall of Famer.

FS Video

Richard Petty tells Dale Earnhardt Jr. how he met his father the first time

When Petty claimed his seventh and last Cup series championship, a new rising star made his debut on the field in the form of Dale Earnhardt. Moreover, young Earnhardt would go on to equal Petty’s championship record and etch his name in the history books.

Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)
Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

The 86-year-old first encountered the young gun on the track at Martinsville Speedway in 1979. Subsequently, Petty explained how his first interaction with Earnhardt went about to his rival’s son, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

We go down I’m on the inside. I think somebody’s on the outside of me...he just turned left and went across the grass, he jumped the curb and jumped right in the middle of the whole crowd. That was my introduction to Dale Earnhardt.
Richard Petty said.

The 86-year-old elaborated that he was on the inside for the corner and Dale Sr. slashed across his which ended both driver’s races on the spot. This had enraged the veteran and explained his bitter-sweet introduction to Earnhardt to his son.

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