Why 21-Year-Old Richard Petty Started His NASCAR Cup Career in Canada

• The greatest racer in American sports-car history kicked off his NASCAR Cup career ... in Canada.

• Six days before the 1958 NASCAR Cup race in Toronto, Richard Petty made his NASCAR debut in a non-Cup, Convertible Division race at Columbia Speedway in central South Carolina.

• Petty didn’t finish his first Cup race because he was spun out—by his father.

Richard Petty, the driver whose name would become famous to racing fans across America, started his Cup Series career in—of all places—Canada.

The date was July 18, 1958. Petty had turned 21 earlier that month, and his father Lee looked upon that as a key birthday, one that would open the door to one of international motorsports’ grandest careers.

First, though, he gave Richard a test run of sorts. On July 12, six days before the Cup race in Toronto, Petty made his NASCAR debut in a Convertible Division race at Columbia Speedway in central South Carolina. He finished sixth, five laps behind. His feet officially wet, the Pettys rolled off to Canada for the next weekend’s race.

There was no big discussion that resulted in the choice of the Toronto race for his Cup entrance, Petty said.

“Daddy handled everything about when we raced and where we raced,” Petty said. “It was the next race on the schedule, so we went.”