The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Foundation, Inc. announced that veteran NASCAR racer Richard Petty 
will be the honoree at the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, scheduled for March 12-14, 2010 at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach.
With his trademark cowboy hat and sunglasses, Richard “The King” Petty, as he is nicknamed, is widely considered to be one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time and his impact on motorsports can outstrip the glory of any one of his victory lanes. This NASCAR legend will serve as the key note speaker at the Concours’ annual Gala Dinner Saturday, March 13, 2010.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that Mr. Petty is our honoree for the 2010 Amelia Island Concours,” says Bill Warner, Concours founder and co-chairman. “He is a guiding force in the world of motorsports and a major reason that NASCAR is so popular in America today. He is a vibrant, sincere and honest man, who inspires the greatest loyalty from fans worldwide. I’m really looking forward to having him.”
As a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Petty is most well-known for winning the NASCAR championship seven times. He’s also known for winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 seven times and winning 27 races (10 of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone. Petty was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1997 and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
In addition to Petty’s presence, this year’s Concours will honor the 40th anniversary of Porsche’s inaugural victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona and Le Mans and showcase a number of influential 917s, a model that is widely considered to be one of the most significant racecars of the modern era. This year’s Amelia will also honor Sir Stirling Moss, OBE and the 50th Anniversary of Moss’ victory in the last Cuban Grand Prix.
For more information, visit www.ameliaconcours.org.
[Source: Amelia Island Concours]
God bless Richard Petty …… A childhood hero who still lives up to the Hero part.
I wish they would honor him at Goodwood, and bring all his cars, and then let the man
King Richard drive them ” Up the Hill ” personally ! …. That would be extraordinarily appropriate and long overdue and very classy. Because the Goodwood Revival is rolling in class, they gotta lotta class, they got class out the ying yang. My point is Goodwood has got class and aughta share some of their extra class on Nascar’s greatest, let the KING have some of that class.. share the class… or something like that..