``I know his family has a strong faith, and I'm
with them right now,'' driver Tim Fedewa<br> said, his
voice quavering with emotion as he spoke to reporters
at the Loudon speedway.<br><br> Adam Petty's death
was the first on-track fatality in NASCAR since John
Nemechek was<br> killed in a Craftsman Truck race in
Homestead, Fla., in 1997.<br><br> The last death in Busch
competition was that of Clifford Allison, the son of
another<br> NASCAR Hall of Famer, Bobby Allison. Clifford
Allison was killed during practice for a<br> race in
Brooklyn, Mich., in 1992.<br><br> Lee Petty won 55 races,
still seventh-best in NASCAR history, and three Grand
National -<br> now Winston Cup - championships. In 1959,
he become the photo-finish winner of the first<br>
Daytona 500.<br><br> His son Richard became the king of
stock car racing with a record 200 victories and
seven<br> championships.<br><br> Richard's son, Kyle, is in
his 20th year as a Winston Cup regular, and has taken
over the<br> day-to-day business of running the
family's team.<br><br> Adam Petty's entry into racing made
the Petty Enterprises team the first with four<br>
generations of NASCAR drivers.<br><br> It was his second
season as a Busch Series regular and he planned to drive
in five Winston<br> Cup races this season in
preparation for a shot at the rookie title in 2001.<br><br>
He was 20th last year in the Grand National points
race and third in the rookie-of-the-year<br>
standings, finishing a career-best fourth in Fontana,
Calif., in May.<br><br> He had planned to drive full time
next year on the Winston Cup circuit in one of the
new<br> Petty Enterprises' Dodges as a teammate of his
father and John Andretti.<br><br> Adam Petty first got
serious notice in racing in September 1998 when he won
the ARCA<br> race in Charlotte, N.C., at age 18,
becoming the youngest driver to win a race in that<br>
series. He also ran the full American Speed Association
season that year.<br><br> In 1999, Kyle Petty was asked
about his son's decision to join the family racing
tradition.<br><br> ``I think it's like any parent when your 16-year
old leaves the driveway for the first time. It's<br>
like, 'Ugh, are they gonna make it back?''' he
said.<br><br> Besides his grandfather and father, Adam Petty is
survived by his mother, Pattie; his<br> grandmother,
Lynda; and his great-grandmother, Elizabeth.<br><br>
Petty's death was one of several involving NASCAR drivers
in the last eight years. Clifford<br> Allison's
older brother, Davey, a Winston Cup star, was killed in
a helicopter crash at<br> Talladega Superspeedway
in 1993. A few months earlier, 1992 series champion
Alan<br> Kulwicki died in a plane crash in
Tennessee.<br><br> Winston Cup Drivers Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr
were killed after crashing before the<br> Daytona 500
in 1994. <br><br><br>They say "Only the good die
young" and Adam was one of the best. May he rest in
peace. With all of our memories he will live on!