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Long live the King! The Petty name is leaving NASCAR as team rebrands to LEGACY M.C.

ken willis, the daytona beach news-journal
·4 min read

As NASCAR’s premier Cup Series division enters its 75th season with much ballyhoo, the massive marketing campaign will carry on without a banner that’s been practically synonymous with the sport since, oh, only the very beginning.

PETTY.

That’s right, everyone say goodbye to the King.

OK, that’s a tad overdramatic. Richard Petty, at an energetic 85, will likely remain on the scene as a walking, talking, Hall of Fame monument — smiling the big smile and signing that legendary autograph while remaining the milepost by which today’s mortals can never compare (200 wins lifts into your own category, you know).

But the Petty name disappears. The Petty GMS Motorsports brand lasted just one season, and the team will now be known as . . . you ready?

Legacy Motor Club.

Oops.

LEGACY Motor Club.

Sounds a bit like a British touring-car operation, don’t you think?

See you at the Motor Club, Clive. Don't forget a fresh pack of Borkum Riff.

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This past November in Phoenix, the Petty GMS team announced the addition of Jimmie Johnson to the ownership group. From left: Richard Petty, Jimmie Johnson, Maury Gallagher, and team president Mike Beam.
This past November in Phoenix, the Petty GMS team announced the addition of Jimmie Johnson to the ownership group. From left: Richard Petty, Jimmie Johnson, Maury Gallagher, and team president Mike Beam.

Here’s the opening to Wednesday’s official press release:

"NASCAR team owners Maury Gallagher, Jimmie Johnson and team ambassador Richard 'The King' Petty announced today the organization will officially change its name from Petty GMS to LEGACY Motor Club moving forward. LEGACY M.C. is home to two full-time NASCAR Cup Series teams featuring rookie Noah Gragson in the No. 42 Chevrolet and Erik Jones in the No. 43 Chevrolet as well as a part-time entry for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson."

Johnson, who retired from full-time stock-car racing two years ago and turned his attention to IndyCar, returns to NASCAR this year as part-owner of the race team, while also planning a part-time return to the cockpit, beginning with the Daytona 500 in February (in a No. 84 car, it was also announced Wednesday).

Lee Petty, center, 50-year-old head of the most successful family in stock car racing, and his sons look into empty engine well of a new race car on July 15, 1964. In the shop with Petty at Level Cross, N.C., are Maurice, left, 25, an occasional driver whose main job is building engines and helping pit crews, and Richard, 26, the family's no. 1 driver since 1961 when Lee was crippled in an accident at the Daytona International Speedway.

As for the bigger news, here's a quick roundup of the Petty attachment to NASCAR, and vice versa:

Lee Petty started Petty Enterprises in the family’s hometown of Level Cross, N.C., and competed in NASCAR’s inaugural “stock-car” season in 1949. He’d win three championships and remain as team owner as son Richard began his unmatched career — seven championships to go with the 200 wins.

Richard was still winning races and championships when he took over ownership from his father. His son Kyle joined the organization as a third-generation driver and, later, Kyle also ran the team.

In 2009, Petty Enterprises was practically down and out but survived — as Richard Petty Motorsports — after a merger with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The RPM name stuck until 13 months ago, when the team and its two Cup Series charters were sold to Maurice Gallagher’s GMS Racing, resulting in the Petty GMS name that lasted one season.

Here’s Jimmie Johnson’s take on the rebranding:

“After brainstorming about the new name of our team, Maury and I recognized the opportunity to do something special and different. We felt it was important to have a name (LEGACY) that honored the past and acknowledged the future.

“The term ‘Motor Club’ is a nod to car clubs of the past. LEGACY M.C. will be an inclusive club for the automobile racing enthusiast. I am excited to be a part of a story so rich in heritage and look forward to creating a new legacy in this sport outside of the racecar.”

Not to quibble, but you know what else is a nod to the past? Petty!

Finally, we get the King’s take on all this. Along with the obvious connection with Jimmie, his fellow seven-time champ, Petty also brings attention to former longtime crew chief (and Hall of Famer) Dale Inman, who actually reached eight championships when he led Terry Labonte’s 1984 championship run.

“We were all talking about creating a new name for the team, we looked at Jimmie, myself, and Dale Inman — that’s 22 championships — so there couldn’t be a better name to fit our race team than LEGACY.”

OK, we see the connection.

The King continues: “The ‘Motor Club’ is a perfect fit because we want our fans to pull for the whole team.”

You lost me there.

More: “When I see the No. 42 and 43 cars, no matter who the driver was, is currently, or could be in the future, I want our fans to remember the Petty history that comes with them, and that history will continue to be made with LEGACY M.C.”

True, no longtime fan with a memory, or younger fan with access to history, will be unaware of what the Petty brand has brought to racing.

Many will probably miss seeing the name, however.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Richard Petty's name scrubbed from NASCAR team; Jimmie Johnson involved