Lee Petty

When seventeen-year-old Adam Petty, Lee Petty's great-grandson, drove his first race on April 11, 1998, he was writing the beginning of another chapter in the Petty family's book of records. It was the first time four generations of a single family had participated in a professional sport. From the start it was clear that he was cut from the same mold as his grandfather (Richard Petty) and great-grandfather. He won his first race just two months after his debut, the youngest winning driver ever in the American Speed Association, and won in his first Winston Cup race in 2000 before the assembled Petty clan. Three days later, Lee Petty passed away. Even as an amateur, Adam seemed to have a penchant for getting into wrecks. In May 2000, just five weeks after his great-grandfather's death, a bad crash ended Adam Petty's brief NASCAR career tragically. In a preliminary at the New Hampshire International Speedway, the 19-year-old lost control of his car and was killed when it hit the wall. The Petty dynasty had apparently come to an unexpected sudden end.