Petty a legend in NASCAR collectibles

Browsing through the NASCAR.com SuperStore, it seems only fitting that Richard Petty's 50 years in NASCAR is being honored by an assortment of commemorative collectibles.

After all, Petty isn't just the King of Stock Car Racing -- he's the original King of NASCAR Collectibles.

As Petty was emerging as NASCAR's first megastar back in the early 1960s, he became well aware of the fans' loyalty to their driver of choice. And noting that race fans like to show support of their favorite, Petty was the first NASCAR star to implement some semblance of a souvenir program, offering a variety of apparel and other merchandise.

"I have the first tee shirt that was ever made on a driver, and that was me," said Petty. "That was back in 1964. We never had any die-cast cars or anything like that when I started racing. Everyone had baseball cards, but not racing. We weren't big enough yet to have a collectible anything.

"Fans would ask us about souvenirs and stuff, so we decided to do a tee shirt. It had my name and a picture of the car on it. The fans loved it. So we started doing more. Then we did some hats. They were a big hit too. We would try different things, new designs. The fans were always wanting something new."

Petty's pioneering of the NASCAR souvenir business soon caught on with others in the sport, and more top drivers and teams began dabbling in souvenirs. As a result, fans were finally able to purchase memorabilia featuring their favorite driver.

"When I started going to races in the 1960s, Petty was the only driver who had tee shirts and hats and stuff like that," says Hickory, NC race fan Richard Barnette. "Then other drivers like Bobby Allison and (David) Pearson and Cale (Yarborough) started selling souvenirs too. Everybody followed Richard's lead. When you think about it, that's the way it was in most aspects of racing back then. Everyone followed Petty's lead. Whatever he did, they did. Petty was good to the fans. He'd sign autographs for hours until the last fan was gone. That's what sells collectibles."

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In the early days, teams and drivers orchestrated virtually every aspect of their souvenir program. Everything was done internally. But as the business grew, more and more design, production and marketing was handled by outsiders-- entrepreneurs who could focus totally on the collectibles program.

In the mid 1970s, souvenir booths and trailers -- though primitive by today's standards-became a regular sight at every track on the circuit.

By the time the collectibles boom hit in earnest in the late '80s, most top drivers already had a trackside presence -- thanks in large part to the precedence set by Richard Petty.

When Petty hung up his helmet in 1992, his Farewell Tour spawned what is, to this day, still the most all-encompassing collectibles and souvenir marketing program in the history of sports.

"I think it shows how much our sport has grown and that it has become a national sport," said Petty. "Now, we see die-casts, cards and collectables everywhere we go. I used to sign hats and t-shirts. It's all we had, but I sign a ton of racing cards and die-casts nowadays. It's pretty amazing to see all the collectables that are out there today."

Sixteen years after his retirement, Petty still ranks high on the list of most-collected drivers. In fact, he is still well ahead of many current stars. Be sure and check out the broad selection on Richard Petty merchandise at the NASCAR.com SuperStore.