'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison once called NASCAR legend to authenticate his own tribute car
Set in the most famous pawn shop in America, "Pawn Stars" is able to rope in celebrities to verify the authenticity of their memorabilia. Richard Petty is considered by many as the greatest motorsports athlete of all time. With seven NASCAR Cup Series championships, he is one of the most accomplished racers in the world. So when a car built as a tribute showed up on “Pawn Stars,” Rick Harrison was sure to call the man himself to take a look at it. It was an incredible moment for race fans as the legend took a look at the machine.
The car was a replica of the one driven by Petty in the 1984 Firecracker 400, which was his 200th and final win in the Cup Series. The race was held at the iconic Daytona International Speedway. The tribute car even had an autograph of the great man on the dashboard. The guest claimed that he chanced upon the person who built Petty’s car for that race and that he helped to build the tribute car.
Petty seemed impressed when he saw the blue Pontiac and immediately recognized his signature. “Everything else looks good. Yeah, that looks like I done that,” he said. Harrison was curious about how it must have felt after the seven-time champion won his 200th race at a place like Daytona. “It was a big deal,” he said. “Nobody’s ever going to break that record,” the guest replied. “Nobody’s going to live that long,” Petty joked.
Harrison only needed Petty to authenticate his signature on the dashboard. After that was done, it was time to get down to business. The guest said that he wanted $125,000 for it, but this was too high. His offer was countered with $80,000 and then $90,000. However, the guest was unwilling to budge from his asking price. “I think my wife would probably shoot me if I took $90,000,” he said.
Fans of the show loved seeing Petty on “Pawn Stars” and expressed it in the comments section. “'Yeah, that looks like I done that' 🤣 Love Richard Petty!” one user commented. “Nice to see Richard Petty looking well,” added one more viewer. “I loved seeing King Richard in there,” a fan wrote.
This is not the only time Harrison had negotiated with a seller for a race car. In another episode of the show, he met a person who was selling an IndyCar. The seller, Gary, said that the car was built for the IndyCar series and even had the technology that goes into one. Turns out that he’s a man who has had some experience in the motorsports industry.
"I've owned IndyCars and been a team owner on and off for 40-plus years. This car ran in 1998 at the Indy 500 by a driver named Jimmy Kite. He finished 11th in this car, and it became available, and it was complete as run, which is kind of unique because usually they get torn apart," he said.
Unfortunately, Harrison did not make a deal for the car as he just did not have a market for it at the time. "I just don't have a market for it. If I had a market for it I'd buy it because I'll buy anything I can make money off of," he said.
