Adam Petty, 19, Dies After Practice Crash

Only three years ago, the Pettys of NASCAR, Lee, Richard and Kyle, sat on the dais and introduced motor racing’s first fourth-generation driver, Adam Petty, to the racing fraternity on the eve of the Daytona 500.

A tall, slender teenager in the mold of his forefathers, Adam shyly told the audience at the pre-race party how proud he was to carry on the family tradition.

“It was inevitable that Adam would follow us,” said a beaming Kyle, whose grandfather Lee had won two NASCAR championships and father Richard a record seven.

He was asked how he felt having a son racing. “What do I think about it? Probably just what Granddaddy and Daddy thought when I started out. You just hope they make it back.”

Adam didn’t make it back Friday. The 19-year-old driver was killed while practicing at New Hampshire International Speedway for today’s Busch 200 Grand National race at Loudon, N.H.

He died only five weeks after Lee Petty, 86, was buried in the family plot in Level Cross, N.C., after succumbing to a stomach aneurysm.

Adam was driving the family-owned No. 45 Chevrolet, in its familiar red and blue colors, when he apparently brushed the wall in the third turn of the 1.058-mile oval before spinning and hitting a concrete barrier sideways. It took rescue workers 20 minutes to get him out of the badly damaged car after cutting a hole in the roof.

He was taken to Concord Hospital where he died of head trauma, according to hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Dearborn.

Adam’s father was out of the country during a weekend off for Winston Cup teams and was not available for comment. Others in the Petty family issued a statement saying, “The family is gathering in a private setting, and no interviews will be scheduled at this point with family members or team members.”

Said Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of another seven-time Winston Cup champion: “Adam and I came into this sport at roughly the same time, so I looked at him almost like a classmate. It is a real blow to hear this news. We shared a lot of interests and we shared a lot of laughs--he was always smiling and easygoing.”

Winston Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield agreed. “Adam Petty was just a really good guy,” he said. “He loved racing and he loved his family. I’ve never seen anyone who was so happy all the time. He was doing what he loved to do and the thing he had always wanted to do, and he loved every second of it.”

Sterling Marlin recalled the day in February 1981 when Richard Petty won his last Daytona 500 and carried Adam on his shoulders in Victory Lane.

“He looked like he was a natural there, and I’ve got the feeling he started making plans right then to get back to Victory Lane for the Daytona 500 as fast as he could,” Marlin said.

The youngest Petty began his racing career in 1997, driving stock cars in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series around the Carolinas. On Sept. 30, 1998, he became the youngest winning driver in ARCA history by winning at Charlotte, N.C. Three weeks later, he made his debut in the Busch series at Gateway Raceway, near St. Louis, and finished 27th. In 1999 he drove a full schedule of 29 races, with three top-five finishes and a best finish of fourth at California Speedway.

This year, besides entering 11 Busch races, Adam stepped up to Winston Cup and drove April 2 in the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. He started 33rd and finished 40th. His big disappointment was that he did not get to race against his father, who had failed to qualify.

“There’ll be plenty of times for that later,” he said, smiling.

Adam was planning to drive one of Petty Enterprises’ new Dodges next year as a teammate of his father and John Andretti.

NASCAR President Bill France said in a statement: “It is difficult to express our sadness over the passing of Adam Petty. On behalf of the entire NASCAR family, we extend our hearts and prayers to his parents Kyle and Patti, his grandparents Richard and Lynda and the entire Petty family. The Pettys are an integral part of the sport of NASCAR. The entire NASCAR community will miss Adam Petty.”

Adam’s death was the first on-track fatality in NASCAR since John Nemechek was killed in a truck race at Homestead, Fla., in 1997.