53 days to Daytona: The Petty family connection to the No. 53

Published Jan. 10, 2017 2:15 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

It’s getting close, people. Only 53 more days until the 2017 Daytona 500, which takes place Feb. 26th on FOX.

Here’s a fun piece of trivia for you: Did you know that a member of the legendary Petty family raced the No. 53 twice in NASCAR events at Daytona International Speedway?

It’s true.

But it wasn’t King Richard Petty, the seven-time NASCAR champion, and seven-time Daytona 500 winner.

Nor was it Richard’s dad, Lee, who won the very first Daytona 500 in 1959.

It wasn’t even Richard’s son Kyle, who in 1979 won an ARCA race at Daytona when he was just 18 years old.

In point of fact, the No. 53 was raced at Daytona twice by Ritchie Petty, who is Richard’s nephew, Kyle’s cousin and the son of Richard’s brother, Petty Enterprises engine builder, Maurice Petty. Both Richard and Maurice, of course, are members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

For his brief NASCAR career, Ritchie Petty made just four starts, all in the No. 53 Ford owned by his dad, Maurice.

In the 1993 July Daytona race, Ritchie qualified 37th and finished 33rd, one position ahead of his cousin Kyle.

A year later in the same race, Ritchie qualified 35th and finished 41st.

As it turns out, the 1994 July Daytona race was Ritchie’s last in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Ritchie’s final NASCAR appearance would be at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1996, where he qualified 35th and finished 17th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

Not big numbers, certainly, but an interesting footnote for one of NASCAR’s most famous families.

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