8/10/2019 Petty Country

1/3

Friends

and Miracles

At

some

of

the smaller, local

races

tracks,

the

promoters

didn't

like

the idea

of

a religious

service

being

held.

This

was

overcome

when Richard

Petty,

Bobby

Allison,

and

a few

others,

like

Roy

Maine,

formed

The

Chapel,Inc.

Back

then,

Grand

National

drivers

would

attend

races

at these

small tracks

during

the week

and

would

receive

"appearance

money"

for

showing

up.

Having

Bobby

Allison

and

Richard

Petty

race

at

your

Thursday

night

event guaranteed

a

packed

grand

stand.

So

when

these

promoters

saw that

these

same

drivers were

behind The

Chapel,Inc.,

they

became

very

gracious to

Brother

Bill

and

suddenly

"found

religion"

themselves.

Bobby

Allison

also helped

Bill in

other

ways.

Sometimes,

he

would

help with

direct financial

suppolt,

especially

when

he was

doing

well

at the races.

Bobby

was

also one

of

the

few

drivers who

would

fly

himself

to race

events,

and he

would

often take

his

friends,

like

Bill,

with

him. This was

at

a time

when

even

the

top

drivers

would

fly

commercial airlines to

a

distant

race

if

they

didn't

drive.

Once, while

racing

in

Michigan,

Bobby

even flew

Bitl

to

a

church

dinner

in

Minnesota

where

he was

to

speak.

When

Bill

had

initially

arrived

on the

racing

scene,

much was

being

made

about

the feud

between

Richard

Petty

and

Bobby

Allison.

The grudge

was

real

and

would

often

spill

over

from

the

track

into

the

pits.

But

even

though

the

rivalry was

sometimes

called

downright bitter, the

one

thing that could bring both

men

together

was

God.

Bobby

liked

the

way

Richard

Petty visibly

sup-

ported

the

ministry

and

the way

he

publicly

acknowledged

his rela-

tionship

with

Jesus Christ.

He

was

pleased

that

Richard was

very

conspicuous

about

going

to

the

chapel

service

and knew

it

set

a

sood

example

for

others.

One

way

that

Richard

Petty

helped

bring

rn

money

for

the

ministry

was

a

promotion

where people

could

luy

one square

inch

of

"Petty Country"

for two

dollars.

The idea

rctually

came

from

a friend

of

Bill's

in

Alabama

who

had

done

the

'ame

thing

to raise

campaign

funds

for

Governor

George Wallace.

The

one inch

square

pieces

of

Petty's property

at the

Level

Cross

:ace

compound

were

actually

deeded,

and

each

person

received

a

iice

certificate

with

their

purchase.

All

of

the money went

to

The

Chapel,

Inc.

Bobby

Allison

joined

the

effort,

and

advertisements

,\ere

run

in

Stock

Car Magazine

that

proclaimed,

"Bobby

Allison

8/10/2019 Petty Country

2/3

Witlt

God You're

Alwavs

a

Winner

owns

a

piece

of Petty

Country,

and

you

can,

tion

got

good

response,

and

the

money

helped

expenses

on the road.

too " The

promL-

Bill with

his livin:

"Richard

Petty

and Bobby

Allison present

Martinsville

Track

Orvner,

CIay Earls, rvith

a

piece

of Petty

Country

as

Bill

looks

on."

(Bobby

Allison still

owns his

piece

of

Petty Counrry to

this

very

day

and

jokes

that he wants

Richard

to take

good

care

of

it

for

him.

On

hearing

this,

Richard

laughed

and

said ro

tell

Bobby

that

he

still

keeps

that

one

inch

nice

and

trimmed.)

74

8/10/2019 Petty Country

3/3

Friends

and

Miracles

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This

combined

effor-t

by normally

fierce

competitors

went

along

rvith

a

constant

theme

that Brother

Bill

preached

to the

drivers

over

and

over

again. That

is,

once

you

leave

a

race

track, you

should

leave

behind what happened.At every new

race,

it

is

a

new start,

and

:rudges should

not be

carried

over race

to

race.

Bill

didn't

just

speak

the

words

but would

actually

go

talk

to the feuding parties

when

trouble

broke

out

between

different

race

teams.

As Bill

was

a neutral

Darty

who

was

trusted,

he

became

very

effective

at mending

fences.

In

addition

to

Richard

and

Bobby,

another

driver who

became

:lose

with

Bill

early on was

Bobby

Isaac.

Isaac

had

won

the

1970

NASCAR

championship,

driving

for

:

rew

chief

Harry Hyde,

and often

Bill would

be

part

of

the crew for

.saac,

sometimes

serving

as a

jack

man.

Isaac

felt

uncomfortable

with

his

lack

of

education,

having

to

-:Lit

school

at age

twelve

to

go

to work

in

a mill.

He

was

very quiet

.:d

would

keep to himself.

Bill

noticed

that Bobby

never

sat

with

'::

other

drivers

at Bill's

services

but

would

always

stand in the

":ck.