Adam was an extremely friendly person, he always had that famous "Petty smile" on his face. His repertoire of driving skills was amazing. If he was involved in a wreck, he never evaded the media. He was never upset, at least not that I had ever seen, and he seemed like such a great person.
Adam was always my favorite racer, not only because of his talent, but also because of his personality. I was never fortunate enough in my lifetime to ever meet Adam, but it is evident from his online journals and his TV appearances that he was one of a truly rare group of human beings. I always looked up to Adam as a race car driver, a Christian, and as a person. He had those qualities of someone that only comes along once in a lifetime.
Five weeks ago, the Pettys also lost the patriarch of their family, NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty, to complications of a stomach aneurysm. Lee was the great-grandfather of Adam, grandfather of Kyle (Adam's father) and father of NASCAR legend Richard Petty (Adam's grandfather). I can already see Adam up in heaven, speeding around on the best race car team ever, with Lee by his side the whole way. Adam has won the ultimate race.
I can only thank the Pettys for sharing Adam with us for the brief 19 years he was on this earth. My heart goes out to them. If I am in so much pain over the loss of Adam, I wonder how they can still draw breath.
Following Adam Petty through his short but promising career has been a piece of Heaven for me, but then again, Adam was a piece of Heaven himself.
-Alyssa Lang, APFC#149/SPUD#24 forever
