Race Car Driver. Born in Trenton, New Jersey. The son of NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and the grandson of "The King," Richard Petty. Adam was the first fourth-generation NASCAR driver. Adam was raised in High Point, North Carolina. He began his career shortly after his 18th birthday, starting out in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Like his father Kyle, he won his first ARCA race, driving the #45 Sprint/Spree sponsored Pontiac at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Adam competed in his first Winston Cup three days before his great-grandfather's death, finishing 40th. He was in his second season in the Busch Series and was planning to move to the Winston Cup circuit full-time the following year. In his 29 starts during 1999, he posted three top-five and four top-10 finishes; his best was fourth place in the Auto Club 300 at California Speedway (which in 2008 was renamed the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California). In 2000, his best finish was on April 15, when he came in 12th place in the Touchstone Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. During practice for the Busch 200, a Nationwide (then Busch) Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the throttle on Adam Petty's No. 45 Sprint Chevrolet stuck, sending him head-on into the Turn 3 wall. Adam died instantly of a basilar skull fracture, the same injury that had killed 1996 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter Scott Brayton and longtime NASCAR driver Neil Bonnett. Within the year, the Petty family had announced plans to establish the Victory Junction Gang Camp for terminally and chronically ill children as a way to honor Adam, who was well-liked for his friendly demeanor and warm personality. The camp opened in 2004 and remains one of NASCAR's most popular official charities. In December 2013, his brother Austin named his newborn son after Adam in tribute. Adam was 19 years old at the time of his accident.