| | Associated Press
HIGH POINT, N.C. -- As her devastated parents, stunned stock
car racers and more than 1,000 other mourners looked on Monday,
14-year-old Montgomery Lee Petty bade a final farewell to her
brother Adam.
"We not only lost a fourth-generation driver, we lost a great
friend, and my brother," she said tearfully. "It's not the same
without Adam here. Things will never be the same."
|  | | Richard Petty leaves the Millis Center at High Point University after a memorial service for his grandson Monday. |
Adam Petty, 19, the rising star in NASCAR's most famous family,
was killed Friday when his Chevrolet crashed into the wall during
practice for the Busch 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.
His death came less than six weeks after he made his Winston Cup
debut and followed the death of his great-grandfather, NASCAR
pioneer Lee Petty, who April 5 at age 86 of complications from a
stomach aneurysm.
On Monday, Adam's parents, Kyle and Patti, and paternal
grandparents, Richard and Lynda, sat stoically as the family's
pastor, Douglas Carty, recounted memories of Adam's short life --
his baptism, his 16th birthday, his sense of humor and his
determination to continue the family legacy of championship
stock-car racing.
"'From the time he was a little kid, I can remember that all he
wanted to do was race,"' Carty quoted Adam's 18-year-old brother,
Austin, as saying. "He wanted to grow up and be a race car driver
just like my daddy."
Joining the Pettys at the memorial service at High Point
University were several NASCAR stars, including Bobby Allison, Ward
Burton, Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett and Bobby and Terry Labonte.
Also in the audience was Ernie Irvan, who barely escaped death
in a 1994 crash at Michigan Speedway and retired last year upon the
advice of doctors.
Kyle and Patti Petty held hands and sobbed quietly, their eyes
hidden by sunglasses, as they led family members into the
university gymnasium.
Adam's crew members wore dark polo shirts with his car number,
45, embroidered on the sleeves.
Montgomery Lee was the only family member to speak, her words
difficult to discern at times as they flowed together with her
tears.
"Everyone loved Adam, and he will always be with us, no matter
what," she said haltingly, vowing that her first child would bear
her brother's name.
As his grief-stricken granddaughter walked off the stage,
Richard Petty rose to escort her back to her seat.
A duet sang several songs, including "I've Been on a Mountain
With Jesus," and one of Adam's favorites, "When All Is Said and
Done," during which Lynda Petty broke down and sobbed.
Carty, who quoted from the apostle Paul and the Book of
Revelation, told mourners they could be comforted by the fact that
even though Adam was absent from them, he was with the Lord.
"Adam is in the presence of God, think about that," he said. | |
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