NASCAR Legends: The story behind Richard Petty's famously intricate autograph
Editor’s note: This story is part of our monthlong celebration of NASCAR Legends presented by GEICO. For more great legends content, visit our hub page.
Most of us have heard it numerous times: When someone needs your signature on a piece of paper, they invariably will say to give them your “John Hancock” on it.
But some NASCAR fans might object to that and say, instead, to give them your “Richard Petty.” The reason is simple: Petty has one of the most recognizable — as well as one of the most in-demand — autographs not just in NASCAR, but throughout the world of sports and entertainment.
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According to Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell, Petty‘s celebrated autograph is so unique that he doesn‘t know if anyone out there can duplicate his close friend‘s iconic signature.
The 85-year-old Petty has been signing with a flourishing imprimatur for almost 70 years. As the story goes, before his racing career took off, Petty was attending a business college in Greensboro, North Carolina. After graduating from high school, there was a professor who took young Richard to task for what he called poor penmanship, particularly his signature.
Petty took the criticism and advice to heart. It motivated him to begin practicing his signature for hours on end, trying to come up with something that would be his own version of John Hancock, unique and one of a kind.
In hindsight, it‘s a wonderful coincidence that Petty did that. Once he became a racing star, his autograph grew more in demand than any of his peers. If you were a NASCAR fan and you went to tracks from North Wilkesboro to Rockingham, from Darlington to Daytona and all points in between, if you were going to get an autograph — any autograph — it had to be that of “The King.”
Former NASCAR President Mike Helton remembers when he got his first Petty autograph roughly 60 years ago — which he still has, by the way, one of his most prized possessions of a lifetime spent in the sport.
“I guess the influences I had on me as a young fan probably were more from David Pearson and Richard Petty,” Helton said. “And then the first time I went to the Bristol track, I got to get Richard‘s autograph, and that put him at the top of my list, I guess.”
What makes Petty‘s imprint so unique is it starts with a swoosh at the top of the first “R” in Richard, followed by another swoosh swirl for “P” in Petty. Plus, he adds a line through the double Ts and essentially connects everything.
Legendary broadcaster and fellow NASCAR Hall of Fame member Ken Squier said, “The reason that (having such a unique autograph is) important is that he felt anytime anyone asked him for an autograph, it was a contract, that they appreciated him enough. He developed a scroll in it, so it took him an extra moment or two. It gave him a chance to look you in the eye and say, ‘Thank you.”
Helton literally grew up both personally and professionally with Petty, first as a fan and then as a colleague in the sport. If anyone knows the significance of Petty and his autograph, it‘s Helton.
“(Petty is) notoriously known for never stopping until everybody that wanted his autograph at a race track got it,” Helton said. “But each one that he gave was a personal connection. … Every time Richard did it touched and felt very personal to the sport at that moment.
“That‘s why I think the evolution of drivers and autographs, and it’s the same in other stick and ball sports, or even in Hollywood, but I think our drivers led by the standard that Richard Petty set, (and) understand that the connection with the fan is personal to them, and then it makes it personal to the fans.”
As much of a prize as it was to get Petty‘s autograph, and to further extrapolate what Helton said, there was one other element of the experience of meeting The King in-person that was equally as valuable, if not more so:
Petty not only took his time to give those that stood in line for sometimes an hour or more a flourishing autograph, but also felt it was important and his personal responsibility to talk with virtually every person he signed for. It was an incredibly personal connection, making fans think they were now close, personal friends with The King.
“I mean he wrote the book, and everybody needs to read that book,” Campbell said of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee and the importance of autographs and personal interaction with fans to him.
“He knew what it took and I saw him time and time again after a race. I saw him sign every autograph. Everybody that came up to him that wanted it, he signed it. Yeah, he (speaks) to everybody that he signed. He didn‘t just write his name down and move on to the next person.”
That‘s just the kind of individual Petty is.
Petty sold his controlling interest in Richard Petty Motorsports to GMS Racing in November 2021, which then morphed into Legacy Motor Club in 2023 with primary ownership of seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and GMS owner Maury Gallagher.
Even though he‘s technically now semi-retired, Petty doesn‘t act retired, still attending virtually every Cup race, whether it‘s in Bristol or all the way in California. Free from some of his past day-to-day responsibilities of team ownership, Petty is now more of an ambassador for NASCAR, free to devote all his time to signing autographs and interacting with fans.
And he‘s still one of the most valuable autographs there is to “get.”
He said it more than 30 years ago, during his final season as a race car driver in 1992, and it’s a philosophy that remains intact to this very day.
“I enjoy doing it, getting to meet the people,” Petty said back then. “The fans are responsible for where racing is today and we (drivers) owe them a lot. I figure giving them an autograph is the least we can do.”
There‘s another interesting story behind why Petty‘s autograph remains so in demand. While numerous athletes have earned countless sums of money signing their autographs at events such as baseball card and sports memorabilia shows, Petty has never charged even the smallest amount of money for his autograph, a personal policy he‘s adhered to for over 60 years. This has made him one of NASCAR‘s most popular celebrities and a must-have autograph.
“I consider it a compliment when somebody wants my autograph,” Petty once said. “I always try to be as accommodating as possible.”
While Petty has remained consistent in how he signs his flourishing autograph, there has been one slight alteration: he used to add “43” at the end of his name, most notably during his driving career, to reflect his famous race car number. But today, he only inscribes “43” on occasion, or when someone specifically asks him to sign that way — which he willingly does with pleasure.
“I actually had a driver once tell me that I signed autographs too long, that I need to limit the number of times I pick my pen up, because you sign faster when you keep your pen in contact with paper,” former NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan said. … “The next day I‘m driving for Richard Petty Driving Experience, I‘m teaching for them. I looked at the Richard Petty autograph (on the car). OK, it‘s a fancy autograph. I mean, yeah, you can do a fancy one.
“I‘m doing an autograph session with Richard Petty two weeks later, the autograph that‘s on that car is the autograph he‘s putting on that piece of paper for that fan that waited two hours to get his autograph. He did every single one that way and picked his pen up 15 times to draw Richard Petty. I go, ‘that’s the man!.’ That‘s what you need, to treat people like right there.”
