Throwback: When Richard Petty Refused to Come Off the Race Track at Darlington

During the 2017 Southern 500 race at the Darlington Raceway, there was a hugely amusing incident. Apparently, NASCAR legend Richard Petty was given the task of being the honorary pace car driver.

However, it soon became evident that he had no intention of pulling into the pits and getting the race underway. All of the drivers realised it and had a good laugh. Some even confessed that if they were in Petty’s position, they would do the same thing.

Kevin Harvick said on the radio, “I’d drive around in that thing all day”. Richard Petty was clearly having a lot of fun and everyone soon realised that none of them would race unless The King said so.

How long did Richard Petty keep up the charade?

Petty obviously felt like he could have gone on forever, but NASCAR was getting rather impatient. So in an act of desperation, the officials threw out a black flag and forced The King to come back. It was so odd to see the living legend get a black flag simply for having a bit of fun on the track.

As per normal protocol, honorary pace cars have to dive into the pits, one lap before the field gets the green flag. However, Petty was determined to milk out this moment as long as possible before returning to the pits.

The field had to take an extra lap as the drivers remained highly amused at the spur-of-the-moment decision. Petty finally decided that the fun was over and heeded the black flag. He returned back to the pits behind the pace car just before the field took the green flag at last.

NASCAR officials were mum on suggestions that Petty staying out on track was planned. However, Petty’s extra lap was completely unplanned and it took a while to get him off.