Prior to NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 qualifying on Wednesday, Daytona International Speedway track president Frank Kelleher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty unveiled a piece of art titled “The King’s Hat” in the Hard Rock Bet Fanzone at Daytona International Speedway.
As Petty and Kelleher pulled the tarp off of the statue, a massive six-foot tall cowboy hat statue, resembling the iconic hats that Petty has worn since the 1970s, appeared. The statue screams America as the hat has red, white, and blue colors blasted throughout and of course there is the iconic “Petty Blue” mixed in as well.
On the red and white stripes on the brim of the hat is a mosaic of photos of memorable moments from the Petty family at Daytona International Speedway over the years.
It was a stunning tribute to the Petty family, which is celebrating its 75th year of racing in NASCAR in 2024.
“It’s always special to be recognized and this does take it to the very top,” said “The King” Richard Petty. “This is really for the fans to enjoy something unique to our family, our history, and our contributions to the tracks and NASCAR. It took a lot of people, time, and effort to make this happen and our family is honored by that.”
While the statue at Daytona is special, that is not where “The King’s Hat” initiative ends.
28 versions of “The King’s Hat” will be hand-crafted by TivoliToo, Inc. Each statue will have its own unique artwork, and the 28 statues will be permanently placed on the grounds of every NASCAR-owned track on the schedule, every Speedway Motorsports-owned track on the schedule, as well as Indianapolis Motor Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway, and Pocono Raceway.
The statues will weigh approximately 1,000 lbs. each and they will be crafted with a mixture of fiber glass and concrete.
“The King’s Hat” initiative was a joint effort between the 28 race tracks, and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, the team that Richard Petty is a consultant for in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“My dad’s cowboy hat is iconic and is a part of who Richard Petty is,” said Kyle Petty. “If you see that hat, you know it’s Richard Petty. It’s been his signature look for as long as any race fan can remember. This is a great way to celebrate our family’s heritage and a fun way for fans to honor and learn about our history within the sport. We can’t thank LEGACY M.C., and all the tracks enough for working together to bring this to life.”
The goal of the hat statues is to give fans a landmark at the tracks, where they can take photos of themselves with “The King’s Hat” and honor the Petty family on social media for years to come. Fans are encouraged to utilize the hashtag #Petty75 when sharing their photos of “The King’s Hat” at the various race tracks.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB has a page on the team’s website, which details the list of tracks that will have their own version of “The King’s Hat”.
