It all started with Lee Petty, which feels appropriate. He won the first Daytona 500 in 1959. Five years later, his son, Richard, claimed the increasingly iconic NASCAR race for the first time.

In 1962, Lee Petty was knocked out of racing by a near-fatal crash. It was Richard's turn to carry the Petty family name. Two years later, he would begin his first run to a Grand National ...