Adam Petty

**Adam Kyler Petty** (born July 10, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A member of the Petty racing family, he is the fourth generation from the Petty family to drive in races in the highest division of NASCAR racing. He is believed to be the first fourth-generation athlete in all of modern American professional sports.

## Early Life

Petty was raised in High Point, North Carolina into stock car racing "royalty." The son of Kyle Petty, he was widely expected to become the next great Petty, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather Richard, and great grandfather Lee.

## Racing Career

Petty began his career in 1998, shortly after he turned 18, in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Like his father Kyle, he won his first ARCA race, driving the #45 Pontiac at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Petty moved to NASCAR Busch Series full-time in 1999, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet. Petty finished sixth in his first Busch Series race at Daytona and had a best finish of fourth place at Fontana, though he also failed to qualify for three of the Busch races. Petty finished the 1999 season 20th overall in points.

Petty Enterprises planned to have Petty run a second Busch season in 2000, while giving him seven starts in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, in preparation for a full Winston Cup campaign in 2001. He struggled early in the Busch season, but managed to qualify in his first attempt at Winston Cup during the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2. He qualified 33rd and ran in the middle of the pack most of the day before his engine expired, forcing him to finish 40th. Adam never got to race alongside his father. Kyle failed to qualify and eventually relieved an ill Elliott Sadler, but Adam was already out of the race. Lee Petty, Adam's great-grandfather, and 3-time NASCAR Champion, lived to see his Winston debut, but died just three days later.

The rest of Adam's Busch Series season consisted of 14 top 20s, 4 top 15s, and 1 top 10 at Charlotte late in the season where he got his first and only ARCA win in 1998. In the other 6 Winston Cup starts Adam Petty had, his finishes were: 38th, DNQ, 41st, 40th, 33rd, and 30th.

For the 2001 season, Petty was not ready to move up to the Winston Cup Series full-time for the upcoming season. He would drive the #45 car in the Busch Series another full-time season for 2001 while making 7 more Winston Cup starts. His Busch Series season in 2001 started off with a 5th place finish at Daytona, he then went on to an 18th place finish at North Carolina. Adam Petty's 2000 Busch Series season consisted of 1 top 5, 5 top 10s, 8 top 15s, and 14 top 20s, with a single DNF in the first half (23 races) of the season. The last 10 races had him get 4 more top 10s, 6 more top 15s, and 8 more top 20s with a 33rd place finish at Phoenix and a DNF at Homestead after a tire failure on lap 70. His Winston Cup starts saw this: 38th, 41st, 40th, 33rd, 28th, 30th, and 20th.

### 2002: Winston Cup Rookie Season, Busch Success.

For 2002, Petty was announced to be driving the #45 Sprint PCS Dodge full-time for Petty Enterprises. The whole preseason was focused on how he would do in his rookie season after some sub-par 14 starts he made in 2000 and 2001. His first Daytona 500, he qualified 34th for. Adam would reach as high as 18th place before he was taken out in the big one on lap 72. Adam would spend the next 40 laps behind the wall before returning to the track on lap 112 in 28th place. Petty would stay out until the motor blew on lap 138. He would finish 32nd in the overall race standings.

The following race at North Carolina, Adam would qualify a high of 15th place in the Subway 400, beating his original best, 28th starting spot. Adam would go on to finish the race in the 19th position, it being his best Winston Cup finish, beating his previous 20th place finish in 2001 at Darlington. Over the next 10 races, Petty would score 2 top 15s, 5 top 20s, including another new best finish of 18th at Martinsville. The rest of the season consisted of his best finish of 10th in the Daytona July race, 5 top 15s, 9 top 20s, and 4 DNFS. He would overall have 1 top 10, 7 top 15s, 14 top 20s, 5 DNFS, a best finish of 10th, and finished 24th in his rookie season. He finished 3rd out of the 5 rookie of the year contenders.

Adam also raced in the Busch Series for 2002 where he would score 2 top 5s, 6 top 10s, 8 top 15s, and 10 top 20s in his 10 starts. He even scored his first win at the 2002 Sam Town's 250 Benefiting St. Jude at Memphis Motorsports Park. This would be his first win since 1998 in ARCA at Charlotte and first overall win in any of the 3 highest NASCAR Series'.

### 2003: Sophomore Slump, Busch Series King, Truck Start

2003 saw Adam Petty struggle in his sophomore season in the Winston Cup Series. He would start the season off with his best finish of 8th in the Daytona 500, followed by a 10th place finish at North Carolina. He was sitting top 10 coming into Las Vegas where he would finish a solid 16th place and then at Atlanta he would match his best finish in 8th. Adam was on track for a possible top 15 points finish heading into Darlington, one of his best tracks, however, in his lone truck start in the #2 Ultra Motorsports Dodge, he would suffer a horrible crash on lap 8, running in the 15th position where he and Robery Pressley came together going into turn 3, Petty was hooked all the way down to the inside wall, nearly hitting it, he would shoot back up the track and pound the wall so hard that he dented it. Petty was rushed to a local hospital where he suffered a broken wrist and toe.

Following this, Petty was forced to sit out the 5 Winston Cup races, including his first 2 of 10 Busch starts of the season. After being replaced by Kasey Kahne in those 5 Winston Cup races, and having his car from the 2 Busch races, Petty was back to continue his good 2003 season. However, the rest of 2003 saw a best finish of 17th at Charlotte, 3 top 10s, 20 top 20s, and a whopping 8 DNFS. Petty would finish 27th in the standings in a disappointing 2nd Winston Cup Season that started off so promising that people would think that his Darlington truck crash ended his career. However his 8 Busch Series starts proved them wrong.

After missing 2 of his 10 Busch starts, Adam Petty would go on a hot streak in the 8 he had left, he won 5 of the 8 races at Nashville, Charlotte, Chicagoland, Darlington, and Memphis again. In the 3 races he didn't win, he finished 2nd at California, 8th at Nashville Fairgrounds, and 4th at Homestead. No worse finish than 8th showed that Adam could bring this momentum to his rebound Winston Cup Season in 2004, and that is what he did.

### 2004: Cup Glory, Bushwhacking, And Truck Revenge

2004 was Petty's standout year, he competed the full 36 race schedule in the new re-branded Nextel Cup Series, 10 for Busch Series races, and another truck start at Charlotte for Ultra Motorsports. In the Cup Series, Petty was able to finish 8th again in the Daytona 500, tying his best finish for the 3rd time. At North Carolina he got a new best finish of 5th, his first Cup Series top 5 and the start of a great season. In the next 24 races Petty scored 4 more top 5s, tying his best finish of 5th those 4 times, 11 top 10s, 14 top 15s, and 19 top 20s, he had 0 DNFS. Petty was able to secure the 10th and final spot in the first ever Chase For The Cup. Petty's Chase finishes were: 20th, 14th, 10th, 8th, 6th, 9th, 5th, 7th, 14th, and 29th. He was able to finish off 7th in points in a great 3rd season. His only DNF came at the finale at Homestead where he made contact with Ryan Newman battling for 7th. But was unable to secure his first career Cup win.

Meanwhile, 10 more Busch Series starts for Adam saw him become the #1 Bushwhacker, his finishes are: 1st, 1st, 7th, 4th, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 10th, and 1st. 6 wins in 10 starts for Adam saw the Busch regulars fear the #45 Sprint PCS car roaring around the track. Meanwhile, his truck return after a scary accident saw him dominate at Charlotte, leading all but 20 laps and scoring the victory in the same #2 Ultra Motorsports Dodge he crashed in at Darlington the previous season.

### 2005: Cup Winner, Unstoppable In Busch, Another Truck Injury

In 2005, Adam got a new look as Sprint PCS became just Sprint with Yellow and Black being the supporting colors. For 2005, Adam was able to grab 7 top 5 finishes, 12 top 10s, 15 top 15s, and 17 top 20s. He had 8 DNFS which caused him to only enter the chase in the 9th position. His chase stats were this: 19th, 20th, 8th, 5th, 14th, 10th, 5th, 5th, 6th, and in the final race at Homestead, the crowd went wild for Adam as he was able to steal the victory from Greg Biffle and Mark Martin in a 3 wide photo finish to the line to score his first Cup Series win. Adam would end up 6th in the final standings in a lightning season.

In the Busch Series, 10 more races again for Adam saw these unreal finishes: 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 16th, 4th, 1st, 1st, and 2nd. 6 more wins for Adam now had him at 18 Busch Series wins. Adam ran the #04 truck for Bobby Hamilton Racing in the truck series for 5 races where he would finish: 4th, 5th, 19th, and 9th in the first 4 before having a massive crash in the truck series at Homestead where he got clipped by Dennis Setzer while battling for the lead on lap 62 and pounded the turn 4 wall head on. It was not until a few hours after his Cup Series win later on when he was announced to have a concussion from this accident, luckily this came at a great time due to no more racing until February. He was able to get back in the car for the 2006 season.

### 2006: Cup Breakout, Busch Dominance Continues, Another Scare In Trucks

2006 was looking to be a breakthrough season for Petty after scoring his first career win at the very end of the 2005 Nextel Cup Series season. Before the Cup Series started, Adam had a massive accident which scared many in the 2006 GM FlexFuel 250 Daytona season opener for the Craftman Truck Series. He was announced to be driving the #4 Dodge for Bobby Hamilton Racing for another 5 races in trucks starting with Daytona, however with 4 laps to go, while leading, Petty was turned on the front straight away and went backside into the catch fence. Petty was in the truck for 5 minutes after the wreck but was released from the infield care-center an hour after with no injuries. The next day it was announced that Petty wouldn't compete in any truck series race the rest of 2006. This would be his final truck start until he competed again in his final season in NASCAR, 2018.

For the Cup Series in 2006, Adam picked off right where he left off scoring his first win in the 2005 Ford 400 At Homestead Miami, Adam started the season off 3rd in the Daytona 500. Adam then was able to get two 2nd place finishes in a row at North Carolina and Las Vegas. He sat 2nd in the overall standings and went into Atlanta on pole, his first career pole in the Cup Series and finished 8th after a slower pit-stop. Petty then went on a slump the next 4 races finishing 16th at Bristol, 21st at Martinsville, 14th at Texas, and 28th at Phoenix after a pit-road speeding penalty. Into Talladega, Petty dropped to the bottom half of the top 10. He was able to lead the most laps he had ever led in a single race at Talladega, the first 16 laps but drifted to the back of the pack afterwards, he came back to finish 7th. Over the next 17 races, Adam got a total of 8 top 5s, 10 top 10s, 14 top 15s, 16 top 20s, and 1 DNF at the Daytona July race. He was even able to win his 2nd career race at the 2006 USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland. Petty entered the chase in 6th, looking to make his 3rd chase start. But his 10 finishes in the 10 chase races were better than what anyone would have expected: 8th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 1st, at least the first 5 which saw him lead the standings for the first time in his career. His 3rd and 4th career wins in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega and Bank Of America 500 really set the tone for the final 5 races, making him the championship favorite. However the final 5 races were: 13th, 9th, 27th, 28th, and 10th which ruled him out of championship contention and dropped him to 5th in points.

In Busch, he once again ran 10 more races, at this point it was normal for him to go out for the full Cup season and then run and dominate 10 Busch races. But this time he did this in his 10 Busch starts: 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 31st, 1st, 1st, 1st, and 1st. One fuel save by another driver and a speeding penalty kept Petty from winning in all 10 starts. But Petty was about to do something no Busch Series racer wanted to see in 2007.

### 2007: COT Struggles, Full-Time In Busch

For 2007, the Cup Series got the addition of the Car Of Tomorrow for a total of 16 races. Adam's 2007 season was bad compared to 2004, 2005. and 2006. He struggled to adapt to the Car Of Tomorrow. In the 15 non-COT races in the regular season, Adam scored 7 top 5s, 11 top 10s, 13 top 15s, and 15 top 20s with no DNFS. In the 11 COT races during the regular season, Adam got 2 top 5s, 5 top 10s, 8 top 15s, and 10 top 20s with a DNF in the first COT race at Bristol. Adam barely entered in as the final driver in the top 10, plus the 2 wildcard racers behind him. With 5 of the 10 races in the chase being COT races, it was basically a 50/50 chances Petty would do well. His chase results were this, bold equals the COT races: **15th**, **18th**, 8th, **10th**, 4th, **33rd**, 6th, 2nd, **40th**, and 5th. He went winless in 2007 for the Cup Series which was disappointing, even with a lot of Gen 4 car races on the schedule still. But 2008 was about to be a struggle due to COT going for all 36 races.

In early 2007, it was announced that Adam Petty would drive the #45 Sprint Dodge full-time. This was a very big scare for all the 2007 Busch regulars to see Adam become a regular in the series. Already with 16 wins in only 10 starts per season since 2002, it was about to get even larger, he could even go over 30 wins by the end of the season. And everyone's prediction was very right, Adam dominated the 2007 Busch Series Season, this full-time in Busch could have affected his Cup performance a little more than it would have if he stuck to 10 races, but his stats are in 35 starts: 24 top 5s, 28 top 10s, 30 top 15s, and 33 top 20s. He had 2 DNFS at the Daytona opener and at Talladega. Adam dominated, Carl Edwards was really his only competitor, Adam was able to score an outstanding 18 victories. He went from 21 wins in Busch to 39 wins in Busch in one season and won by over 300 points. This is the most legendary season of modern day racing, something his grandfather, Richard Petty did back in the day in Cup.

### 2008: Cup Downfall, Nationwide Series/The Adam Petty Rule

2008 was a very big slump for Petty. The COT was in-use for the entire Cup season which saw Petty only score 5 top 5s, 11 top 10s, 14 top 15s, 18 top 20s, and a total of 10 DNFS. Adam missed the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase, missing The Chase for the first time in his career. Adam finished 16th in the overall standings.

Adam was hit with another blow, following his unstoppable 2007 Busch Series Season, the now re-branded Nationwide Series had "The Adam Petty Rule" introduced. Much like the Matt Kenseth rule, but this stopped Bushwhacking, full-time Cup drivers are no longer allowed to run the full Nationwide Series season. This the Craftman Truck Series. Also for both series', full-time Cup Drivers would be limited to a maximum of 5 races per racing series. Adam would have these results in 5 races: 5th, 1st, 9th, 1st, and 2nd. This would give him now 41 wins.

### 2009: More Struggles In Cup, 1 Nationwide Win

2009 was just another year of struggles in the Sprint Cup Series, he once again missed the chase with 2 top 5s, 8 top 10s, 8 DNFS, and a points finish of 17th. It was really not looking like the COT suited Petty at all but a slight modification in 2010 would carry his career on for the better.

In Nationwide, Petty once again ran the maximum 5 races and his results were: 1st, 9th, 8th, 2nd, and 29th. Nationwide you could say was disappointing too this season and with the COT version for 2010 (4 races), people were beginning to think that the Nationwide Series would also be a struggle for Adam Petty in the coming seasons.

### 2010: Cup Rebound, Nationwide Statement

2010 was a rebound year all around for Petty. In the Sprint Cup Series, the rear wings were taken off the cars and replaced by spoilers, Petty said in a conference before the season started: "I'm just happy with the new design, I couldn't drive the thing (Car) with the Wings. I hope the new addition of the spoilers can really help us improve this upcoming season." Petty said. His statement turned out to be right. Adam Petty made an upset statement in the Daytona 500 where he scored his 1st 500 pole and his first since 2007 with the Gen 4. This was his first pole with the Car Of Tomorrow. Adam's stats in the first 26 races were 8 top 5s, 12 top 10s, 1 DNF at Bristol due to an expired motor, and he finally made the chase for the first time since 2007, qualifying 10th for it. Petty was able to have a solid chase run with results of: 10th, 12th, 5th, 2nd, 1st at Charlotte, 22nd, 31st, 9th, 14th, and 5th. Adam ended up with 6 top 10s and 4 top 5s in his chase run and snapping his 113 race winless streak all the way back to the 2006 Bank Of America 500 at Charlotte. Oddly enough he won the same exact race to snap the streak. Adam finished 5th in points which was amazing from what has happened from 2007-2009.

In the Nationwide Series, Adam decided to run 4 of his 5 starts in the new COT car to make a statement. He ran all 4 COT races and his results were this (COT BOLD): 4th, **5th**, **8th**, **9th**, and **1st**. This was a statement made for him, this win in a COT car overall in the BUBBA Burger 250 at Richmond.

### 2011: Rhythm Again, Nationwide Luck Runs Out

In 2011, the Sprint Cup Series saw the new and improved Adam Petty, the excited and jolly 30 year old returned to his old ways as he scored 9 top 5s, 14 top 10s, and no DNFS in the first 26 races of the 2011 season. He qualified 7th for the chase and his chase results are this: 10th, 11th, 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 9th, 26th, 28th, 4th, and 20th. He finished with 4 top 5s and 6 top 10s in the chase with a 6th place points finish. Petty did fail to win again this season, leaving him still at 5 career Cup wins.

In the Nationwide Series, Petty's luck ran out and for the first time since 2001, a decade ago, Petty failed to win a Nationwide Series race with results of: 10th, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, and 5th. This was something that was bound to happen with Xfinity being more competitive than ever between regulars and Cup drivers making select starts like Adam has done in the past 9 seasons.

### 2012: Championship Feud, 2 Nationwide Series Races

In 2012, Adam Petty really excelled in the Sprint Cup Series again, he quickly became the title favorite with 2 wins at the 2012 Auto Club 500 and the 2012 Samsung Mobile 500 in the first 10 races of the season. By the start of the chase, Adam had 2 wins, 11 top 5s, 16 top 10s, and 2 DNFS at the Daytona 500 and Richmond due to contact with Jeff Burton which sent him head on into the wall, he was okay though. Adam really excelled in the chase and was looking to really bring the battle to his competitors. His results in the first 9 races were: 8th, 5th, 2nd, 19th, 20th, 1st, 5th, 2nd, and 8th. His win in the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville was his 3rd of the season and 8th overall Cup win.

Heading into Homestead, he was tied with Clint Bowyer for the championship. Adam qualified on pole while Bowyer qualified 8th. Adam had a slight points lead over Bowyer when they took the green flag. By lap 34, Adam had led all the laps and Bowyer had gotten up to 5th. Adam's dominance ensured the possible championship coming his way. However on lap 89, lap car and rookie Travis Pastrana, who was teammates to Clint Bowyer in the #56 NAPA car, held Petty up in favor of his teammate, as Bowyer, who was now in 2nd along with Jimmie Johnson, the other driver still in-range of the championship caught up, Petty got desperate and after being held up for 4 laps, he drove it into the corner very deep and tried a slide job on Pastrana. He was unable to clear himself though and got hooked into the wall along with Pastrana. Petty was furious at Pastrana. He continued the race but out of championship contention, he would have to settle for 3rd and wouldn't be able to loose anymore spots in the chase since the top 3 separated themselves away from the rest by a lot. Petty searched the rest of the race for the 56 NAPA Toyota Camry and on the final lap, as Pastrana's teammate, Clint Bowyer won his first and only championship, Petty eventually got to the back of Pastrana in the final turn and right hooked him head on into the wall. The rookie driver went on his side because of the impact but never rolled over. After the race Petty was put on probation for the first 5 races of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series Season.

Meanwhile, Petty only drove 2 Nationwide Series races because he was scheduled to run the other 3 during the chase but wanted to focus on his championship run so he only ran the Daytona opener and Sargento 200 at Road America. He finished 4th in the Daytona race and 2nd in the Sargento 200 at Road America which meant he has now gone 2 years without a Nationwide Series win.

### 2013: Rivalry Costs A Chase Spot, Nationwide Winless Streak Ends

In 2013, the Gen 6 car debuted in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The last time a new car debuted in the Cup Series, it took Petty 3 years to get a handle on it. During next gen testing, Petty was able to get top 5 in every timed session and in the Daytona testing race, he was able to finish 8th after leading the most laps and setting the fastest lap of the race.

The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was most known for the biggest feud that took place in a total of 5 races throughout the season and was never stopped by NASCAR until it went too far. Adam Petty won his 2nd Daytona 500 pole to start the season and finished 2nd to Jimmie Johnson.

#### Feud #1 - Auto Club 500

The first of 10 feuds between Pastrana and Petty happened in the 2013 Auto Club 400 where Pastrana was looking like he was gonna get his first career victory after a disappointing rookie season for MWR and the #56 NAPA Toyota Camry team. However Petty's #45 Sprint Dodge had other plans as he was looking for his 9th career win and just didn't want Pastrana to win at all costs. On the final lap, Petty got to the bumper of Pastrana and full on sent him into turn 3 which caused Pastrana to slam the outside wall. Petty went on to win his 9th career race and first and only of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series Season. Pastrana was furious about this and got into a fight with the #45 team on the pit-road as Petty celebrated.

#### Feud #2 - Toyota Owners 400

A few races have gone by and the two rivals found themselves 1st and 3rd for the Richmond race. Petty started on pole with Pastrana in 3rd right behind. As the race started, the predictable happened and Pastrana sent Petty into turn 1 causing him to crash out of the race. Petty then proceeded to rip Pastrana's window net down under caution and as Pastrana was being called to pit road to be held 1 lap, Petty decided to climb on the back of Pastrana's car. Once Pastrana pulled into his pit box, Petty got off and started to punch Pastrana as his crew jumped in, Petty's crew also came and a huge brawl started to breakout. It took 5 minutes for this fight to be stopped. Petty would be suspended for the following race at Talladega.

#### Feud #3 - Toyota/Save Mart 350

The Toyota Save/Mart 350 at Sonoma was where Adam Petty got his revenge. Pastrana, being a pretty good road course racer, grabbed the pole and flew away from the start. However, in the closing laps, after a pit-road penalty under green, Petty's race was ruined. He waited for Pastrana, the leader to come by and held him up for two laps. Pastrana couldn't get by so he sent him off into the hairpin turn with 2 laps left. Petty was out but Pastrana started to overheat and power from the damage he had from knocking Petty out of the way. Pastrana ended up losing the race and finishing in the 2nd position.

#### Feud #4 - Quaker State 400

The very next race saw Pastrana's revenge as on lap 41, closing in on the 8th place Petty, he bumped him out of the way and into the green Kentucky wall. Petty continued on but 11 laps later blew a right rear tire and crashed out of the race.

#### Feud #5 - Coke Zero 400

The final straw for this rivalry was at Daytona. With 10 laps to go, Petty led the race and as they went through turn 1 and 2, Pastrana got to the outside of him. The two went side by side on the back straight away. Petty started to move up the track. He eventually got Pastrana into the wall. Pastrana regained control. Before he fell back from Petty, Travis right hooked Petty into the outside wall causing him to come back off, hit Pastrana into the grass and get slammed by the rest of the field. All 43 cars still being in the race before the crash, had only 19 left as 24 cars were wrecked afterwards. Pastrana was suspended for the following race at New Hampshire, both drivers were put on probation for the rest of the season, both teams were fined 20,000 dollars with both drivers 50 driver points along with 50 owner points for the cars.

In the end, Both drivers missed The Chase with Petty finishing 16th in the final standings and Pastrana 20th. Petty ran 1 Nationwide Series race this season, the 2013 History 300 at Charlotte where he broke his 2 year winless streak.

### 2014: Championship Hunt

The 2014 Sprint Cup Series started off with news of Adam Petty cracking down for the 2014 SCS Season with the announcement of no Nationwide Series races in 2014. The 44 time Nationwide Series winner would look at the Cup Series now. In a new format where winning is key, he looked to extend his 8 Cup wins to double digits of 10.

In 2014, with the new racing package, it looked to be a pretty good season. And it lived up to it, Petty was able to start the season off with another 2nd place finish in the Daytona 500 to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Petty then caped it off with another second place finish at Phoenix. The next 5 races Petty finished: 5th, 8th, 19th, 2nd, and 4th. Petty was able to score the pole for Darlington, lead over 100 laps and score his 9th career win at the 2014 Bojangles' Southern 500. The next 2 races at Richmond and Talladega, saw Petty DNF with finishes of 40th and 32nd. Petty was able to come back to Kansas and Charlotte with back to back second place finishes. He went on a streak of top 10s over the course of the next 4 races with finishes of: 8th, 6th, 9th, and 10th. At Kentucky he was able to win the 2014 Quaker State 400, his 10th win of his career and 2nd of the 2014 season. He then was able to finish 5th at Daytona and 9th at New Hampshire. Indianapolis and Pocono saw finishes of 22nd and 18th. He then got a 10th place finish at Watkins Glen. Petty was able to win for the 3rd time in 2014 at the 2014 Pure Michigan 400, his 11th win. He then finished 15th at Bristol, 18th at Atlanta, and 24th at Richmond.

Over the first round of the chase, the round of 16, Petty finished 8th, 5th, and 20th which secured him into the next round. The round of 12 races saw Petty finish 30th and 19th in the first 2 races at Kansas and Charlotte due to mechanical failures. Petty was put into a must win situation at Talladega in which he delivered, winning the 2014 GEICO 500 and getting his 4th win of 2014, his 12th win overall. At Martinsville, Texas, and Phoenix in the round of 8, Petty secured enough points from finishes of 11th, 2nd, and 4th to advance into the Championship 4, the first ever championship 4 held.

The final race at Homestead Miami, one of Petty's best tracks where he got his first career win back in 2005, had drivers, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Adam petty all competing for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. Keselowski qualified 1st, Harvick 2nd, JR 14th, and Petty back in 22nd. Petty had a lot of ground to make up but within the first 20 laps, he was up past JR and into 10th. Keselowski and Harvick remained 1-2 the first 100 laps until Petty ran them down. With 167 laps to go, Petty passed Harvick and then Keselowski, taking the championship lead. With 5 laps to go, Petty had over a 10 second gap on now Harvick in 2nd, followed by Keselowski, 15 seconds back. Petty had lapped up to 15th place when his old rival from the prior season, Travis Pastrana spun out. It was later deemed that Pastrana spun out on purpose in an attempt to cost Petty the championship, this incident was later known as "Spingate". On the final restart, all but 2 of the 15 cars on the lead lap pitted, one that did not pit was Dale Earnhardt Jr., in a last effort to win the championship with Clint Bowyer also staying out in hopes of winning. As they restarted Bowyer spun the tires which caused Petty and Keselowski to check up on the outside, JR and Harvick on the inside however got away. Coming to the white flag, JR dove to the inside of JR and passed him. Petty came roaring past JR as they entered turn 1. Petty closed to Harvick. However, it wasn't enough and my near inches, Adam Petty lost his best shot at the championship to Kevin Harvick.

### 2015: Chase Backup, Return To The Xfinity Series

Adam Petty returned to the newly named NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015 for a 1 off race at the Daytona season opener. Petty was able to hold off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski to win the race, his 45th career win, edging closer to Mark Martin's record of 49 wins, the most in the series. Meanwhile in the Cup Series, Petty once again for a third time came up short, 2nd in the Daytona 500. The 2015 season for Petty was a downgrade, taking 4 victories in 2014, coming up short in a heartbreaking controversial, manipulated championship race, Petty didn't show confidence in 2015 after this heartbreaking loss in 2014. He was able to finish 2nd in the Daytona 500 for the 3rd time. However, he would be unable to score another top 10 finish until the Duck Commander 500 at Charlotte where he finished 8th. Petty sat 16th in the standings, the last driver in. At Bristol and Richmond Petty scored two 5th place finishes while he DNFED at Talladega. By race 20, Petty had 4 top 5s and 8 top 10s. He sat still 16th in the standings as he stayed around the cut-line for most of the season heading into the final races until the chase. Petty was able to put up finishes of: 8th, 20th, 4th, 19th, 2nd, and 8th over the course of the next 6 races and was able to clinch the final spot in the chase by a few points.

In the Round Of 16, Petty put up finishes of 18th, 4th, and 9th which led him to the Round Of 12 where he put up finishes of 10th, 8th, and 20th. He was able to slither his way into the Round Of 8 where he was able to finish 20th at Martinsville after cutting a tire down on the final lap when he was 8th. However at the Hollywood Casino 400 and CampingWorld.com 500, Petty was able to win his first and only 2 races of 2015 which somehow got him to the Round Of 4 after having one of the most inconsistent years of his later career. However he was no match for the speed and pace of the other Championship 4 contenders as he was put back in the bottom half of the top 10 most of the race and came home to finish in 10th, 4th in the final standings.

### 2016: Petty Enterprises Downgrade, Another Xfinity Series Victory

In 2016, Petty Enterprises was at the bottom part of the list for teams that are competitive to win on pure speed due to developmental errors which put Petty and his teammates, Parker Kligerman and Paul Menard behind. This season was a complete disaster for the team. With the only other Dodge team left after Penske decided to switch following 2015, Dodge became less interested in helping Parker Kligerman, a developmental driver for the team that has started to stall out a little, Paul Menard who was only there to begin with because of sponsorship, and Adam Petty who has been either good or bad and never has been able to secure a championship because of all the controversy, bad luck, and lack of motivation.

Adam Petty had one of the worst seasons of his Cup career in 2016, the 36 year old, still believed to be in his prime, was only able to score 2 top 5s in the first 2 races of the season. Petty then was only able to score 8 top 10s on the season with 12 whopping DNFS. Petty missed the chase by a longshot all the way down, 19th in the standings. During the chase, the 34th race of the season at the 2016 AAA Texas 400 at Texas, Petty was on track to win his first race of the horrible 2016 season and Petty Enterprises' first win of the season as well. However, Petty ended up losing control with 10 laps left after Brad Keselowski put a lot of pressure on him. Petty went flying down into the pit-road wall, knocking it all down. Petty was taken to the local hospital where he suffered a broken back. Petty would miss the rest of the 2016 season with the newest Petty Enterprises developmental driver, Brennan Poole taking his place in the final 2 races of the season at Phoenix and Homestead.

That same Texas Weekend where Petty broke his back in the massive crash, he was running another 1 off race in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas for the Xfinity Series. Petty was able to straight up dominate the race, fellow teammate and Petty Enterprises Developmental Driver, Brennan Poole finished off in 2nd making it a Petty Enterprises 1-2.

### 2017: Massive Accident

In 2017, Adam Petty came in with new confidence along with Petty Enterprises. However during Speedweeks in his Duel race, Petty lost control on the back straight away and rammed into the inside wall head on. The whole car was crunched up in the front and the impact even crunched the rear of the car. Petty wouldn't compete in any races for the rest of the 2017 Season.

### 2018: Final Farewell

In 2018, Petty announced his return to the Cup Series but also announced this to be his final season of full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing. In his season, he ran a special gold and silver Sprint car the entire season.