Over nearly 30 years at The Charlotte Observer, columnist Scott Fowler has built an unparalleled rolodex of hardwood heroes, gridiron greats, hall-of-fame coaches, and sports media luminaries throughout the region. Now, thanks to access fans won’t get anywhere else, Fowler sits down with icons from the area — including Muggsy Bogues, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jay Bilas, and more — to hear the unfiltered, untold stories of their journeys to becoming Sports Legends of the Carolinas.
All content for Sports Legends of the Carolinas is the property of The Charlotte Observer and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Over nearly 30 years at The Charlotte Observer, columnist Scott Fowler has built an unparalleled rolodex of hardwood heroes, gridiron greats, hall-of-fame coaches, and sports media luminaries throughout the region. Now, thanks to access fans won’t get anywhere else, Fowler sits down with icons from the area — including Muggsy Bogues, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jay Bilas, and more — to hear the unfiltered, untold stories of their journeys to becoming Sports Legends of the Carolinas.
Richard Petty is 86 years old now, and his seven NASCAR Cup championships and record 200 wins at the sport’s highest level came long ago. But Petty is still going strong in Level Cross (pop. 3694), which sits right in the middle of Charlotte and Raleigh. Petty lives a stone’s throw from the house where he was born, and that house sits right next to the Petty Museum that houses an incredible amount of his stuff.
Nicknamed “The King” and a member of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Petty long ago developed a signature look that is all his own: cowboy hat, black sunglasses, oversized belt buckle and cowboy boots. He showed up wearing exactly that to our interview.
Honestly, I would have been a little disappointed if he didn’t.
This interview with Petty serves as the Season 3 kickoff for the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” multimedia project. Petty and I sat inside his museum, on two high-back chairs, and talked about life, death, racing, autographs, Daytona, family and the time his own father took his first race win away from him via protest.
After we were done, a surprisingly spry Petty hopped off the chair and said: “You got my whole history, didn’t ya?”
Not quite, but we did hit a lot of the highlights. On the eve of the 2024 NASCAR season and the Daytona 500, there’s no better way to rev up the racing anticipation than a visit with “The King.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sports Legends of the Carolinas
Over nearly 30 years at The Charlotte Observer, columnist Scott Fowler has built an unparalleled rolodex of hardwood heroes, gridiron greats, hall-of-fame coaches, and sports media luminaries throughout the region. Now, thanks to access fans won’t get anywhere else, Fowler sits down with icons from the area — including Muggsy Bogues, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jay Bilas, and more — to hear the unfiltered, untold stories of their journeys to becoming Sports Legends of the Carolinas.
