When it comes to the title of the NASCAR GOAT, most fans are split between Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Both are 7x Cup champions who defined eras of the sport in their careers. But when it comes to pop culture coverage, it seems one of the two gets less love. The one in the subject is the one regarded as the King of NASCAR, Richard Petty.

Richard Petty not looked at the same way as Earnhardt

Over the course of his Cup career, which saw him start well over 1,000 races, Richard Petty won 200 races. He holds the record for the most wins ever by a Cup driver, and that record appears like it will stand the test of time. Moreover, he has 7 Cup titles, the most consecutive wins in a season (10), the most overall wins in a season (27), the most wins at Daytona (10), and so many more records.

On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Sr. had almost half as many starts (676) with half as many wins (76), and 1/10th of Petty’s Daytona 500 wins.

Comparing Petty’s career on paper to Earnhardt’s clearly shows that the former #43 driver was a better, more accomplished driver than the former #3 driver. However, the coverage both drivers have gotten on the silver screen and documentaries honoring their legacies tells a different story.

Petty notably starred as himself in the 1972 biographical film, 43: The Petty Story. He also has had cameos in Days of Thunder, the CARS movies, Stroker Ace, Red Line 7000, and Speed Zone.

On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Sr. has had a biopic made on him called 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, Dale, and Blink of an Eye. But more recently and more prominently, Earnhardt’s life was subject to a four-part Prime docu-series titled ‘Earnhardt.’

In fact, Richard Petty’s son, Kyle Petty, shared his appreciation for Earnhardt in the opening episode. He claimed that when he was growing up, NASCAR was going through a period of transition.

“At that time in the sport, you had a changing of the guard. You had the old guard: Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, and Richard Petty. Darrell Waltrip had seen himself as the heir apparent of the old guard. But when he turned around, there was another guy who had slid in behind him to take his crown, and it was Earnhardt,” Petty said.

The Prime title for Earnhardt not only received a lot of critical response and appreciation from the insiders but also a lot of love from the fans.

But when the idea of Richard Petty’s legacy and career was proposed among the fans, the response was less than warm towards it.

Fans not interested in seeing Richard Petty’s legacy as a biopic

Amid the recent reports by Variety of Dennis Quaid starring in a series about a NASCAR family across multiple generations, one fan wondered if a Richard Petty biopic would work. The fan even referenced the kind of biopic it would be, putting it in a similar ballpark as Ford vs. Ferrari, which was essentially a David vs. Goliath story. But the idea of a Ford vs. Ferrari-like biopic on Richard Petty’s life was one that most fans didn’t think should or could happen.

One fan straightforwardly said, “I have very little interest,” while another tried to picture a potential plot as they wrote, “Petty V Pearson could be interesting.”

The rivalry between Petty and David Pearson more or less defined the sport for over two decades as they shared 63 one-two finishes between them. While Petty’s career ended with more wins in total, between the two of them, it was Pearson who had an edge (33-30).

One fan dissected the aspect of the underdog vs. big-dog aspect of a Petty version of Ford vs. Ferrari as they wondered, “What exactly is compelling about the son of the owner of Ferrari taken over driver duties from the owner and just continuing to beat the s**t out of everyone?” To the fan’s point, Richard Petty is the son of Lee Petty, who himself was a very successful name in NASCAR as a driver and owner.

A fan questioned the whole idea of having a Richard Petty biopic to achieve a desired goal. “If the goal is to make a good biopic for race fans, yes. If the goal is to make a biopic that crosses appeal to movie watchers, I’d rather see a Hollywood budgeted Junior Johnson film,” the fan wrote. Johnson, a quirky figure in NASCAR history, was no stranger to drama in his career as a driver and owner. From moonshining to engine scandals to cheating, Johnson’s life had it all.

Having said that, there was one fan who simply wondered if Richard Petty’s life and legacy should be given the same treatment Prime gave to Dale Earnhardt. “The whole biopic genre is getting overkilled. I’d rather see a 4-part documentary on Amazon like they did with Dale Earnhardt,” the fan wrote.

Now, whether Petty gets an Earnhardt-like docu-series would be something only time will tell.