TheHEMI.com

You can’t always depend on the weather in Level Cross, North Carolina, but you can always find fast cars and remnants of racing royalty. Crumby weather couldn’t keep hot rodders away, as the 4th annual Petty’s Garage 2019 Cruise-in featured dark storm clouds, 40-degree temps, and nearly 600 cool cars.

Richard Lee Petty was born in 1937 in a small house with a white picket fence in Level Cross, NC. The house remains as it was when Petty was born. However, the garage beside it has grown and evolved into Petty’s Garage, a multi-building compound devoted to building classic and new muscle cars.

The 4th Annual Petty’s Garage Cruise-in is an informal gathering where the museums and shop are open for free. There are no registration fees, awards, or admission charges. The museum, now spread between two buildings, features a giant collection of famous cars including those driven by Adam, Lee, and Richard. There’s even one driven by mythical driver, Cole Trickle—one of the vehicles from the Tom Cruise movie, Days of Thunder.

Inside the main shop, several exciting projects were underway, including a Hemi-powered Superbird, a bare-metal ’70 Chevelle, and several late-model SRT Durangos getting quadruple-digit horsepower. Undeterred by the poor weather, guests showed up making it one of the largest turnouts yet. Petty’s Garage estimated around 500-600 attendees.

On May 25th, 2019, Petty’s Garage will host the Petty Fest. A much more formal (and hopefully sunnier) version of the cruise-in. That show involves registrations and awards. One exceptional element is the King’s Court, where 20 guests park in the center row for a meet-and-greet with Richard. Registration for King’s Court is $430, where all proceeds go to the non-profit, Petty Family Foundation.