Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Richard Petty to receive Petersen Museum Lifetime Achievement Award

NASCAR XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 - Practice

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 22: Team owner Richard Petty stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 23, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Richard Petty will be honored later this month with a ceremony truly fit for The King.

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles will pay tribute to Petty on March 23, including bestowing the 2017 Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award to him.

The ceremony will be part of a dinner and celebration of Petty’s life and career, including his record 200 Grand National and NASCAR Cup wins and seven championships .

Among those feting Petty, who turns 80 in July, will be his son and NASCAR On NBC analyst Kyle Petty, NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon and NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton.

“Stock car racing is one of the most uniquely American forms of motorsport and nobody casts as big of a shadow in that world as Richard Petty,” said Terry Karges, Executive Director of the Petersen Museum. “His larger than life persona and incredible talent behind the wheel have done more for the sport than just about anyone else and we’re thrilled to help him celebrate his 80th birthday.”

The Petersen is the museum’s highest honor for contributions to motor racing. Past winners have included Dan Gurney, Art Chrisman, Carroll Shelby, George Barris, Andy Granatelli, The Ford Family, Vic Edelbrock, Jack Roush, Ed “Isky” Iskenderian, “Speedy” Bill Smith, Alex Xydias, Wally Parks and Ed Pink.

Follow @JerryBonkowski