Richard Petty Was Once Charged With Hit-And-Run After Repeatedly Bumping Driver On North Carolina Interstate

I’d always recommend staying out of the way of The King.

Of course, on the track, Richard Petty was known as The King, and the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson for the most in NASCAR history. His championship seasons were 1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1979, and he is an icon and a legend in the sport who remains active in a lot of the media and events to this day.

Petty grew up in Level Cross, North Carolina, around a racing family. His dad, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a three-time NASCAR champion. Richard had a storied career, but many may not know that, after retiring from racing, Petty had political aspirations, and in 1996, he ran for North Carolina Secretary of State as a Republican.

But the campaign didn’t go off without a hitch, and he wound up losing to former Democratic State Senator Elaine Marshall, thanks in part to a scandal, to use the word very lightly, that involved him bringing his NASCAR driving skills to Interstate 85 in North Carolina. On September 11th, 1996, Petty was driving home from the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, when he decided a car in front of him wasn’t going fast enough… imagine that.

He tailgated, and ultimately drafted behind and bumped, James Rassette, who was driving a Mazda, with his 1996 Dodge truck. He left the scene, and was charged with hit-and-run and reckless driving as a result, both misdemeanor charges. That might work in an effort to win over 200 races, a record he still holds to this day, but it’s not gonna fly on a regular old highway…

In an AP article from 1996, it was reported that he was accused of repeatedly bumping the rear of a car he was trying to pass in the left lane, though no one was hurt and there was minimal damage to the car. The Highway Patrol captain overseeing the investigation, Capt. H.M. Overcash, said that Rassette’s statement suggested that Petty had intentionally bumped his car:

“Mr. Rassette claimed he struck him more than one time, more like three or four times. My assumption was he thought it was an intentional act.”

Ya, I think so…

According to the Greensboro News & Record, Petty claimed it was just a single bump (Rassette said it happened at least four times), and admitted that he did it, though of course, he had an explanation as to why is was no big deal and how it could’ve been much worse if it was an actual race:

“I think he got a little aggravated because I kept running up on the back of him. This was a situation that would have come up with anybody at any time. Instead of shooting each other or throwing rocks at each other, he retaliated by putting on the brakes. Now if it had been a NASCAR showdown, he would have been over in the ditch somewhere.”

Classic.

He was pulled over 45 miles and four counties away, and the trooper also included in his report that Petty said:

“If Mr. Rassette was still in front of him, or if he should get in front of him again, he was going to knock his rear-end off the road again or some words to that effect.”

I mean, that’s objectively hilarious, and I can only imagine how shocked Rassette was to find out the man whose license plate number he’d written down and reported further down the road was a one Mr. Richard Petty.

Petty’s attorney back then, Tom Grady, insisted that they did not receive any special treatment in terms of the handling of the case:

“It was just an unavoidable thing. It could happen to anyone. We have not asked for any special treatment.”

Renee Hoffman of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety the report as follows:

“Rassette was driving his Mazda north on I-85 from Charlotte at about 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday. Near the Concord exit, a green pickup came up behind him and flashed its lights to pass. Rassette, who had just passed another car, slowed down and tried to move out of the left lane. At that point, the truck bumped him and kept going.

After Rassette got into Davidson County he flagged down a trooper, described the truck and gave the license number. The trooper pulled Petty over several miles up the road, took information from both drivers, and looked at Rassette’s Mazda, finding little or no damage. The trooper, who wrote that Rassette was going about 50 mph when Petty hit him, sent the case back to Cabarrus County district where the incident is said to have occurred.”

But considering this was in the thick of a political campaign, Democrats used it to their advantage as much as they could in terms of really spinning it into a negative, though Petty and his lawyer argued that the average driver likely wouldn’t have stopped, either, had they simply bumped another car. I don’t know about that, but again, Petty was always thinking like he was on the track.

While some voters might have disliked his actions, his aforementioned opponent, Marshall, actually didn’t say much about it all when she was asked about the incident during a campaign stop right after it happened, saying that it was up to the courts to handle, adding that it’s just “one more thing the voters will have to look at.” Okay, that’s a little shady, but pales in comparison to what politicians say about each other today…

“It’s something that’s a court action, and that’s something that will have to take its course. It’s just one more thing the voters will have to look at. It’ll undoubtedly get some play.”

Ultimately, Petty pleaded guilty to the charges and paid $65 in court costs, and the car had about $25 in damage. Petty also lost the election in what was a pretty big surprise, and hasn’t tried to get back into politics since, but I think the real lesson here is that you get out of the way of Richard Petty whether you’re on the track or the highway…The post Richard Petty Was Once Charged With Hit-And-Run After Repeatedly Bumping Driver On North Carolina Interstate first appeared on Whiskey Riff.