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Petty Enterprises is the historic name associated with the Petty NASCAR racing team and family heritage. Founded by family patriarch Lee Petty, driving a car built by his brother Julius, Petty Enterprises (Originally Petty Engineering) was a tight family organization. Lee's son Richard eventually took over the team's driving spotlight, while his brother Maurice grew into one of the sport's greatest engine technicians, and his cousin, Dale Inman, invented the modern organization and operation of a NASCAR pit crew. Lee, Richard, Maurice and Dale are recognized pioneers of stock car racing, and all now are in the NASCAR or International Motorsports "Hall of Fame." The numbers and drivers of the family cars are immediately recognized by fans: the 42 car driven by Lee; the 43 car by Richard; and the 44 car by Richard's son Kyle; and the 45 car by Kyle's son, the late Adam Petty. Even team colors became a trademark: "Petty Blue" is as well known in North Carolina as "Carolina Blue" and "Duke Blue."
Petty Enterprises also is the historic name for the complex of buildings in Level Cross, N.C., where the Lee Petty began building its legacy in NASCAR racing. It includes not only the former homes of both Lee and Richard Petty, but the racing workshop and fabrication facilities built by the Petty family from 1949 to 2007. Beginning in a dirt-floored, gable-roofed pole barn, the Petty family collected 288 wins and 10 championships in a rambling assemblage on Branson Mill Road that finally totalled 16 buildings and 65,000 square feet of space.
