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| THIS PHOTO MAY HAVE BEEN TAKEN AT ROCKINGHAM |
In the 1990s, we were at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, and I was working on a Winston Cup Scene story. I don't remember the subject, but I wanted to talk to Richard Petty.
Richard had just gotten out of the 43 car, and I asked The King if I could talk to him. He said he had to go to the bathroom, but he'd talk.
When he came back, I sat on something, and Richard climbed up on a stack of tires. He slid his butt down into the top tire, made himself comfortable and waited.
The one thing I remember from our conversation was I asked him about avoiding wrecks. He said that a young driver actually had a better chance with wrecks. He'd just pick a hole and head for it. He'd have maybe a 50-50 shot at avoiding a wreck.
Richard said that a veteran driver -- he'd run more than 1,000 Cup races at that point -- would fall back on experience. By the time he'd think it over, he'd be among the wrecked cars and probably be sitting in one of them.
