Petty's `Just An Old Country Boy' In Level Cross, N.C.

LEVEL CROSS, N.C. - From the crack of dawn, Mick Gordon sits on a lawn chair and counts cars on North Carolina Business 220. Sometimes a half hour passes without a sound.

He cleans his fingernails with a pocket knife and chews tobacco. He is a salt-of-the-earth man, God-fearing and proud - just like most of his neighbors.

Fame comes to tiny Level Cross every day, but it passes by without leaving footprints.

It is a place where everyone still pumps their own gas, the barber shop's only open five days a week and "the best damn tomatoes and corn" comes from Gordon's produce stand on the side of the road.

"We don't have a name for the place," he said. "Maybe if we sell enough pumpkins we'll give it a name."

Protocol is not a priority in Level Cross.

Everyone in this quiet hamlet is proud of the favorite son - stock-car legend Richard Petty, winner of an unprecedented 200 races, and approaching the final race of his storied career - the Hooters 500 today in Atlanta - but no more than they are of the local Little League team or the Girl Scout troop during cookie season.

"Hell, Richard doesn't act any different, and he doesn't expect to be treated any different," Gordon said. "He's just an old country boy like us. Nothing's changed him. He's one of us. He sits right here and chews tobacco with us."

The townspeople watch the televised races on Sunday, but they talk politics and weather on Monday. There are more Jesus Saves

license tags than racing bumper stickers.

On a typical afternoon - when Petty isn't shaking the hands of presidents or making one of more than 200 personal appearances a year - he can be found at Frank and Larrys eating hot dogs or at Village Sheers getting his hair cut.

"When Richard comes in, we don't even ask what he wants," co-owner Frank Millikan said. "He gets two hot dogs all-the-way and a pint of milk. He sits up at the counter like anyone else. He's been coming here for more than I can remember, at least 20 years."

He said Petty eats the same thing - hot dogs with chili, onions, mustard and slaw - every day he's here.

"He had that Tommy Kendall boy in here a couple weeks ago, you know that boy that was going to drive for him next year," Larry Luck said. "Richard is Richard. He doesn't put on a show for anybody. Sometimes we talk about old dirt tracks and stuff like that, but mainly he talks about whatever everyone else is talking about. He fits right in."

Kendall was interviewed to replace Petty next year, but he was not hired. Although no announcement is planned about a successor, it's expected to be Rick Wilson.

Regardless of what direction stock-car racing moves with him as a car owner and not a driver, folks here are certain Petty the neighbor will never change.

"I used to race him on bicycles when we were kids," said Larry Toomes, a distant cousin. "And in all those years since, he ain't changed a bit."

Petty helped build the Level Cross Volunteer Fire Department, the town ball fields and the community center. He's a athletic association member and a band booster. And for the past 10 years, he's been a Randolph County councilman, and his wife, Lynda, is on the local school board.

His annual open house at his racing shop on Branson Mill Road attracts 40,000 fans, and the proceeds are turned over to the town.

"I don't know a damn soul that has anything bad to say about Richard Petty around here," Gordon said. "He's helped build a lot of things, but he doesn't act important. You'd never know he's got a lot of money, because he doesn't act like it's important."

A mile from Gordon's roadside stand sits the spacious Petty Enterprises. There are 13 race cars in the garage, a paved parking lot out front and a museum. Fans keep vigils at the front door, hoping to see Petty come to work.

A day after a recent race at Rockingham - about 90 minutes from the race shop - a bus with 20 six- and seven-year-old boys waits in the parking lot.

The Ashboro YMCA had voted Petty its "person of the year." Martha Jane Bonkemeyer, who oversees his schedule, promised the boys she'd get Petty to accept the award in person.

An hour later, he accepted the award - and presented individual autographs to each of the youngsters.

Although he lives in Randleman, four miles away, Petty calls Level Cross home.

"I was born in Level Cross, I was raised in Level Cross, and I hope to die in Level Cross," he said.