When we say “King of NASCAR,” the legendary driver Richard Petty instantly comes to mind. Everyone who follows the sport knows about Richard Petty’s legendary driving skills and career. As The Great American Race is just three days away, there are lots of incidents attached to it, one of them being Petty’s horrific accident that even veterans like Dale Earnhardt Jr. haven’t forgotten to date.

Dale Jr revisits Richard Petty’s chilling Daytona crash

In a recent conversation with NASCAR insider Jay Hedgecock, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revisited one of the worst accidents in the history of Richard Petty’s NASCAR career that happened in 1988 at the Daytona 500.

“You were the one who built the chassis for the car that flipped down the front straightaway at Daytona,” Junior said to Jay. He continued, “You talk about building safe cars; that was a hell of a wreck, and Richard was towards the back end of his career at that point. And those wrecks are harder to walk out of. In his case, you had to be pretty happy with how that thing held up, considering all the things that went through during that crash.”

Petty was coming out of a turn on lap 106 when he was bumped from behind by Phil Barkdoll. That sent him sliding sideways down the track, where his car caught air underneath the vehicle, causing it to stand up on its nose. It then slid into the fence, where it began rolling along the track.

When what was left of Petty’s car finally landed, it was slammed by Brett Bodine, which sent it spinning out of control. Petty suffered temporary blindness from the incident but was unharmed otherwise.

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As Jay Hedgecock detailed the accident and aftermath, said, “I was standing on the pit road, and it happened right in front of us. And I was like, ‘Oh no, this is bad’. And when he finally stopped, the flipping part wasn’t so bad, but when he got hit in the left front and spun into the wall, Dale on the radio was going on like, ‘Richard, are you alright? You alright?”

He further continued detailing how everyone was worried because Richard was not responding. “Finally, he came on the radio and said, ‘Yeah I’m alright, but I can’t see anything,’ he said. ‘My eyes are not working.’ And when the doctor said he was spun so fast that the blood vessels and all the blood went out of his eyes. And Jesus, he couldn’t see.

These graphic details explain how safety protocols were such a concern in NASCAR back in this era. The driver’s life was actually at stake. Because of this accident, Petty suffered not only temporary blindness but also his knees took the brunt of the injuries from the impact.

The incident witnessed by millions underscored Petty’s toughness in his 50s. Jay Hedgecock was the guy who built Richard Petty’s cars. Because of him and his craftsmanship, Petty was saved from this horrifying Daytona crash.

Petty’s comeback a week later

Even after the injuries and temporary blindness, Petty was unstoppable. He made a comeback in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond Raceway, and it was the second race of the 1988 season.

Richard Petty was in the headlines because he had overcome one of the worst wrecks in his racing career. Jay Hedgecock was his relief driver at Richmond, and Jay was on standby. As Jay further explained, “We’re using a trailer the morning of the race, and he said, ‘You gonna, you gonna be alright?” I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll be alright,’ and he said, ‘Well, I’m just saying, get your suit on when this race starts,’ and he said, ‘If I feel bad, or just make a stop, whatever, do, lose a lap, whatever, do it.’

“And then the doctor came there, started taking fluid out of his knees, and I’m like, ‘There’s no way he’s gonna run this race,’ and he said, ‘I’m gonna be fine,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I ain’t gonna, I ain’t gonna get out,’ yeah, but I just went, took the drive, and shoot off, and watched.”

Even after all this chaos, Richard Petty finished 3rd on the lead lap. In 1989, in an interview a year later after this incident, Jay Hedgecock was praised for his work on Richard Petty’s car.

“The biggest thing was that I just didn’t want anybody to get hurt,” he continued. “I don’t care if it was in my car or someone else’s car. Besides Richard’s conditions, I was really concerned whether we had done something that broke and caused the accident.

This reveals how everything crucially unfolds behind the scenes and goes off track if such incidents occur, and also how the safety methods and procedures have evolved since then is something to pinpoint.