Adam Petty Dies in Crash

12 May 2000
    New Hampshire - Adam Petty, the fourth-generation driver of NASCAR's first
family of racing, died after a crash Friday during practice at the New
Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. He was rushed to Concord Hospital
by ambulance, but died of head trauma at the hospital, said spokeswoman
Jennifer Dearborn. The 19-year-old driver crashed shortly after noon EDT during
practice for this afternoon's qualifying in the Busch Grand National Series. 

    Petty hit the Turn 3 wall of the 1.058-mile superspeedway head-on in his No. 45
Pontiac and had to be pulled from the car by rescue personnel. He was taken by
ambulance to the helicopter pad outside the track, then airlifted to Concord
(N.H.) Hospital.

    Adam is the son of Kyle Petty, and the grandson of Richard Petty.

    Johnny Benson was at home in Cornelius North Carolina and made the following
comments by phone after learning of Petty's death.

    "This is tragic. When I heard this i could not believe it. To have someone so
young and with such a bright future ahead of him die like this is a hard thing
to swallow. The Petty family has helped build this sport. It goes back to Lee,
Richard, and Kyle and I know it would have continued with Adam. They are almost
like royalty in our sport. For a family that has done so much for the sport and
then to have this happen is just terrible. My Dad raced and that is how I got
into this sport. It's hard to explain why we love racing and  on days like this
it is even harder. Its so rare for this to happen in NASCAR because they have
made the cars so safe in recent years. Sometimes you get lulled into thinking
it can never happen."

    Steve Park's comments came while standing in the team hauler after learning of
Petty's death.

    "I don't know what to say. Adam and I were joking around this morning right
before practice and then to have this happen is unreal. This hurts. I was on
the motorcycle ride with Kyle the week before last and we raised a lot of for 
charity. The Petty's do a lot for other people and it hurts that we can't
do anything for them right now. I'm numb. Racing seems so unimportant right
now. My prayers are with the Pettys."

    In January, THE AUTO CHANNEL had the opportunity to cover the Busch Preview 
and in Charlotte and talk with Adam about the forthcoming season.   That interview
can be found at 
http://www.theautochannel.com/content/cybercast/2000buschpreview/insider_adam_petty.asx 

    While at Talladega last year we did this interview with Adam:
http://www.theautochannel.com/media/netshow/1999talladega/0422/adam_petty.asx

        In June 1999, Joe Moore, host of the Raceline television show, featured this
interview with Adam:
http://www.theautochannel.com/media/netshow/raceline/1999/0611_56k.asx

    Funeral plans have not been announced.