Before “The King,” Richard Petty, flattened the competition and seized the throne, becoming NASCAR’s first 7-time Cup Series champion, there was Lee Petty, the man who showed his son, Richard, the way to NASCAR royalty, the man who started the Petty Racing family tradition. While the young Petty had his father to impart life lessons, the 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion during the early days of the sport had to figure things out for himself through true grit and unwavering spirit.

Recently, the NASCAR nation got to hear the patriarch of the Petty Racing family imparting some wisdom along with his son, Richard, as his grandsons dug up the decrepit tapes of the legendary driver to treat the community.

“We were poor church mice”—Lee Petty details how he built his empire from ground level up to start the decades-long family tradition

The Petty family is no joke in NASCAR. Besides the Earnhardt clan, the Pettys are the one family that has carried the sport for far too long, with both Lee Petty and his son Richard Petty captivating the fandom. Lee Petty’s road to NASCAR greatness was not a walk-over; instead, the late great made it with sheer work ethic, clawing his way into the NASCAR halls of glory.

In his first race, he borrowed his neighbor’s car for NASCAR’s inaugural race, ensuring that he would pay the damages with the money he would win from the race. Unfortunately, the quick setup of the 1948 Buick Roadmaster couldn’t get him across the line as Petty lost control of his car, flipping it three times with the young Richard Petty watching the scenes as his father went for a terrible ride.

If you think that stopped Petty, we’re sure you’re a newbie who doesn’t know the legacy of the Petty family. From that day on, Petty would take factory cars to a local service station, pull the mufflers off the car, and go racing until he finished in the top five in season points for NASCAR’s first eleven seasons and won the NASCAR Grand National Series driver’s championship three times.

The community got to hear the late great’s wisdom as his grandsons, the Petty brothers—Timmy, Mart, and Richi—keyed in with his old tapes. Reflecting on his humble beginnings, he said, “I had five brothers and I had five sisters, who were living in my family, and I remember we were poor church mice. I don’t know how poor that is, but it was awful poor, and my daddy was a farmer, and the fellow did a little bit of odd work, a little bit of this. Anything you get to do to make a book, see what I mean?”

Watch this story: Relive 1981’s iconic moment when Richard “The King” Petty handed over his #43 legacy to his son Kyle.

Lee Petty and his life are a perfect example of how hard times create tough men who will stand the test of time with their legacy intact, as an inspiration to many for generations to come.

The one piece of advice that started the Petty Racing Family

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Even before NASCAR and racing in general became a money spinner, Lee Petty’s father, Judson Ellsworth Petty, gave his son a piece of advice that would spark a flame in young Lee Petty’s mind to start the Petty Racing Family Legacy. In the tapes unearthed by the Petty brothers, the late racer quotes his father’s instructions.

He said, “He told us, ‘Boy, he’s here now. You’ll be able to make a living. But you’ll be able to make a living with your hands so much. You can do so much with it. And the next thing you have to do… You have to get people working for you. Well, that’ll expand your money-making and say the next best thing, and they’ll take you right today and buy real estate. That’s the best thing a man can do to get ahead.”

Read more: The 1959 Lee Petty Controversy: NASCAR’s First Daytona 500

This sense of direction imparted to Lee Petty would later inspire his generation and generations to come as the 3-time champion would lay the foundation of the family business that would later be taken over by Richard only to extend its legacy, becoming the most winningest driver in the sport’s history.