Richard Petty has been building hot rods ever since his childhood bicycle wouldn't go fast enough. By the ripe old age of 11, he was traveling the NASCAR circuit as a mechanic on his dad's stockcars. At just 21, Petty had launched a motorsports career of speed and excellence, which even today remains unmatched in American motorsport. For decades, the fans who had crowned Richard Petty the "King of NASCAR" equally revered Petty's Level Cross, NC garages and shops, which for more than 60 years rolled out winning stockcar after winning stockcar.

December of 2007 marked an uncertain time for the legendary Petty facility. The race team had moved to nearby Mooresville, NC, leaving empty and quiet the string of Level Cross garages at 311 Branson Mill Road in Randleman, NC.

Gone were the buzz of more than 200 employees, the rumble of race-prepped engines and the energy of mechanics, engineers and drivers preparing for the next race.

A new era is born

In no time, The King decided this new silence wasn't golden and he set in motion what would become a new era for the Petty facility. Just six months later, in June 2008, Petty's Garage was born.

It began with a couple of longtime Petty Enterprises employees and a plan to restore a handful of racecar chassis from Richard's private collection. But when the word hit the custom- and collector-car market that Richard Petty was restoring cars, let's just say the phone started ringing.

Quickly, the focus of Petty's Garage grew into what we are today: A high performance speed shop focused on spectacular performance automobiles.

Dream it – Do it

Petty's Garage can build anything you can dream up. We've done custom cars and street rods. There's our production-based Richard Petty Signature Series Challengers and custom Dodge LX and LC chassis builds.

Want a pro-street Barracuda with a 426? Done it! How about a Challenger, Charger, Magnum or Jeep with a 426 stoker? Got it covered. Is a supercharged Challenger or Charger with 600hp-900hp on your birthday list? Here's your place. Want a custom tune suspension inspired by our over 60 years of racing experience? We've got just what the Dr. ordered.

We've done that and so much more – and we've got the t-shirt to prove it! But we don't do everything. If you want a period-correct 55 Chevy with a straight 6 and 3 on the tree you're out of luck. For that, we'll point you in the right direction of another great car builder.

Seasoned car guys

Ok, we admit that the racecar mechanics and engineers of today can sometimes be limited to their practical experience of only working on racecars. Not the folks at Petty's Garage. Our staff is made of seasoned car guys, not just racecar mechanics. They've always built, maintained and restored performance cars as a hobby or, as most will say, "my second job." With their diverse backgrounds, wide-ranging focuses and varied perspectives on what makes a car great, they've bonded in a community forged by an unrelenting love of cars.

In-house is "In-house" at Petty's Garage

Many performance speed shops "farm out" all but a fraction of the build. Not here. Petty's Garage does it all in-house, even bringing in professionals for the custom interior work when necessary.

Whether the job requires heavy fabrication, welding, transmissions, gears, cut axels, hand fabrication, roll cages, custom floor pans, rear tub's, custom paint or whatever else you can think, we do it all in Level Cross. The guys at Petty's Garage aren't afraid of sweat, blisters and a busted knuckle or two. Curious for more? Browse our site. Check out our online store for custom performance car parts. Read the bios and get to know the Petty's Garage team. When you are ready to start building your dream, we'll be here. We welcome your ideas and questions and look forward to inviting you in as a lifetime customer.

---

Greg Steadman
General Manager, Petty's Garage

Greg Steadman drove Petty's Level Cross transformation from NASCAR race shop to aftermarket powerhouse. As Petty Enterprises' former competition director and No. 43 Dodge crew chef, Steadman applies a whole-vehicle approach to every auto Petty's Garage touches.

Cutting his teeth as a drag racer in Central Florida, Steadman's automotive passions grew alongside his skill. Today he blends racing strategy with streetcar smarts and creates savvy street vehicles optimized for strength, speed, safety and design.

Steadman's understanding of a vehicles suspension is where he really excels. Caster, camber, bumpsteer, suspension travel, static ride height, camber gain, tire deflection, contact patch, compression and rebound are all second nature to him. His ability to tune the suspension of a performance vehicle, be it a racecar to handle the 31° high banks of Daytona at 200MPH or the switch-backs of rural roads, is all second nature to him.

Steadman also has one of the best all around mechanical minds in the business. Decades of building cars from the ground up and fine-tuning them in trackside garages around the country gives Steadman – and Petty's Garage – an edge.

Bunk Long
Paint specialist

To Bunk Long, the smell of automotive paint fumes produces as many childhood memories as his mom's cooking. Growing up in a family of automotive paint specialists, Long learned painting techniques right alongside reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic.

With four decades of automotive experience under his belt, Long started painting auto bodies professionally before he turned 15, and spent countless years painting Richard Petty racecars from the high banks of Daytona to the flat short track at Martinsville he has finished and painted them all. And what does he do in his spare time? That's right, paints select custom cars!

Today, Long is a master painter and BASF R-M certified refinishing specialist, a designation that ensures Petty Garage's automotive finishes are top quality and guaranteed for life. His particular strength: Remaining a stickler for details every step of the way and making sure everything is correct before customers get the keys.

You can talk about body lines, billet, chrome, leather and today, even composite components, but it's paint that draws you in. Whether it be a custom or OEM color, maybe even the famed Petty Blue, award winning paint and body work is the show stopper! It's the first thing you see and it's the only thing you remember. And the man behind the paint gun, that's Bunk Long!

Bruce Berger
Automotive Technician

When the quality of your work means life or death to the person piloting the aircraft you service, having a meticulous work ethic is priority No. 1. Bruce Berger knows; In addition to being Petty's Garage's automotive technician, he's also a certified helicopter and aircraft mechanic. His training has taught Berger the importance of maintaining top-quality skills and the critical importance of doing things right, the first time.

More recently, Berger was responsible for build up of racecars built by Petty Enterprises. When a car arrived ready for race preparation, it was Berger that went to work readying cars for 200+MPH.

These days, Berger is the first guy to touch the vehicles rolling into the Petty's Garage shops and the last guy to work on them before they roll out to the customer. His primary responsibility is the conversion of a stock Dodge Challenger into the tarmac shredding machine the Richard Petty Signature Series Challenger is known for.

It's his attention to detail that our customers feel each and every time they sit down in a Richard Petty Signature Series Challenger. Our customers can rest assured that their vehicle has been checked and rechecked by one of the industry's best.

Doug Murph
Master Fabricator

Doug Murph believes cars should have personalities. When NASCAR's increasing standardization took away cars' individualities, Murph found customizing aftermarket streetcars was his perfect fit.

Murph's passion for fabricating car parts and body panels started decades ago while racing stockcars in Concord and Kannapolis. Unable to find guys to create the parts he wanted at a price he could afford, Murph picked up a torch and learned to trade.

After years of "hanging" bodies for some of NASCR's elite teams, Doug comes to Petty's Garage with a wealth of knowledge and talent. Truth be known, he's back to his roots. For the past 20 years he has spent his free time at home restoring early and mid year Corvette's for a select group of longtime customers. If you have a 60's/70's question about a Corvette or Camaro, he's your guy.

Like the other members of the Petty's Garage team, Murph is always pursuing new ways to make street vehicles sweet. His specialty: Giving cars of the past the fabrication precision and modern automotive conveniences of today. Just check out his '69 Camaro in our photo gallery.

Tony Hancock
Master Fabricator

Tony Hancock eat, sleeps, breathes – and even married – the hotrod life. In fact, when he's not in Petty's Garage, Hancock is probably in his garage at home, shoulder to shoulder with his hot-rodding wife as they overhaul her '65 Mustang.

Hancock's passion: Automotive creativity – no matter whether the job's producing a tube chassis, fine-tuning the driveline or overhauling the body. Tony's one of the few craftsman that can do it all. He's made his living building transmissions and rear gears for NASCAR elite as well as the Saturday night racers that make up the foundation of the sport. Tony's one of the most creative people you will ever meet when it comes to shaping, fabricating and welding metal into automotive perfection. There's simply no challenge too great!

A master welder who refined his technique while building nuclear power plants, Hancock today produces one-of-a-kind pieces with head-turning result. In the early '90s, Hancock returned to his racing and hot rod roots, spending the next two decades in secretive rooms within some of NASCAR's most dominant teams perfecting individual components one piece at a time.

A vital member of the Petty's Garage team today, Hancock is the go-to guy for all things Ford. And yes, that's his '34 Ford in our picture gallery.