The name’s different, but the blood in Thad Moffitt is historic.
Moffitt is the grandson of seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty and will be making his stock car racing debut Sunday.
The 15-year-old will drive the No. 46 Ford Mustang, complete with the “Petty Blue” paint scheme, in a limited late model at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, North Carolina, as part of a partnership between Richard Petty Motorsports and the Empire Racing Group.
Moffitt is the son of Brian and Rebecca Petty-Moffitt and has gotten his racing feet wet by competing in quarter midgets and karting.
But Petty won’t be able to attend his grandson’s first foray into the stock-car world. He’ll be in Las Vegas for the Kobalt 400.
“Thad is a true rookie this weekend,” Richard Petty said in a release. “This is (his) first time in a heavy stock car with others cars around him during a race. He’s pretty excited, and I’m really proud of him. I just hate that I’m going to miss it. We haven’t talked a lot about it. We’re just letting him go out and learn the process, and we’ll support him and help him grow.”
