While it would be his son Richard who would eventually come to be known as “The King of NASCAR”, Lee himself could very well been named “Mr. Consistency”, as for ten years of his career, he had no lower than a fourth place finish. Having had many first place finishes, it was winning the very first Daytona 500 in 1959 which would mean the most to him. It could have been because the finishing order was so close to Johnny Beauchamp and Joe Weatherly that it took NASCAR officials three days before determining Lee to be the winner.
Many observers contend that the beginning of the end of Lee Petty's racing career came in 1961 when he was involved in a spectacular crash while trying to qualify for the race that he had won just two years prior at the Daytona track. Spending four months in the hospital did not in itself put an end to Lee’s career, but his racing career was never the same. He had seemed not to have been as competitive upon his return to the world of racing and would run his final race three years later at the Watkins Glen, New York track.
Though no longer driving the #42 car, Lee remained involved in racing after his retirement. After all, his son Richard was racing by then and later, his grandson Kyle and his great-grandson, Adam would all follow the path that Lee himself has started many years before. Passing away on April 5, 2000, Lee would die just days after being able to watch his grandson, Adam drive in his first NASCAR Winston Cup race.
