If you ever wanted to know why race fans call Richard Petty, “The King”, one look at the stat sheet from 1967 would tell you all you need to know.
Of course, in every year that wasn’t 1967, Petty was pretty good too. 173 wins, 105 poles and six NASCAR Cup Series championships is a legendary resume in its own right, but Petty’s otherworldly 1967 season made it clear that the second generation driver was NASCAR’s sovereign ruler.
Richard Petty’s 1967 Season:
Petty’s 1967 campaign was a statistical anomaly of dominance not seen again until Jeff Gordon’s title-winning 1998 season. Of the 48 races Petty started in 1967, he won 27 of them – or 56.3 percent of all races run.
Petty didn’t just win races, however – he proved he was worthy of having his father’s nickname, Mr. Consistency, passed down to him. 38 top-five finishes and 40 top-10’s further exemplified his unreal season, as did leading 5,543 laps – over 39.5 percent of the laps run in the Cup Series that year.
Petty also dared to tie both his consistency and race-winning speed together. From the 37th race of the season at Bowman Gray to the 46th race of the season at North Wilkesboro – a stretch that went from August 12 to October 1 – Petty won all 10 races and led 1,787 laps.
Petty’s success in the pre modern era years of NASCAR are often discounted due to fans pointing out that an inflated schedule and weak competition heavily contributed to his unprecedented success. While these are valid criticisms, that doesn’t mean the wins and championships Petty earned before 1972 are invalidated. In 1967, Petty still had to beat the likes of Donnie Allison, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac and Cale Yarborough for race wins. For the championship, he had to fight off James Hylton and Dick Hutcherson, two drivers whose solid careers were lost due to the incredible decade that Petty put together.
In an era of NASCAR where it was difficult for teams to make it to every race, Petty Enterprises was unique. With a bigger budget, better equipment and better personnel than his competition, Petty was simply a different breed of driver. Being under the tutelage of a three-time champion in his father certainly wasn’t a detriment. Richard certainly brought plenty of talent to the table in his own right.
As the years went on, Petty would add five more NASCAR Cup Series championships and five more Daytona 500 trophies to an already Hall of Fame worthy resume. But his championship-winning, 27-win season in 1967 will forever stand the test of time as the most dominant season in NASCAR history.
