RICHMOND, Va.—Those who associate “The Return of the King” only with J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy simply don’t grasp the importance of NASCAR’s “King” to the sport he helped to elevate to national prominence.
Richard Petty returned to the race track Friday at Richmond International Raceway after a prolonged absence following the Mar. 25 death of Lynda Petty, his wife of 55 years.
“I just felt like I need to have a little time on our own, so I’ve been gone for two or three weeks,” Petty said Friday at RIR during the unveiling of a special Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals paint scheme on Marcos Ambrose’s No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.
“But I’m back in the saddle again now. I’m just learning to live all over again.”
At this point, Petty expects a full schedule to be therapeutic.
“The busier they keep me, the better off I’ll be,” he said. “I’m surviving. It’s going to be different, I guess. After 55 years, I have to start all over again. I was fortunate that all the kids came home for Easter. We had all the kids and grandkids home, and that really made things work good.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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