Petty in person, however, does not carry himself in an imperial fashion, and maintains the common touch. ''Lotta people ask me to sign their autograph with 'King Richard,' '' he said, in his distinctive drawl. ''But I won't. I ain't no King.'' He laughed. ''Elvis is the King.''

Yesterday, Petty, now 59 and retired as a race driver for four years, was in town to receive an award for his record 200th -- and last -- Nascar victory, which was chosen by a national poll of racing fans as Mastercard's Greatest Moment in Nascar history. On July 4, 1984, at Daytona, in the Pepsi Firecracker 400, he nosed out, or bumpered out, Cale Yarborough, winning by about two feet.

With a pair of sun glasses perched atop his dark, curly hair, and wearing a sweater and lizard boots, he recalled that race with pleasure. ''President Reagan was there,'' said Petty. ''We met after the race. Cale and I had been runnin' side by side at about 200 miles an hour down the home stretch and bangin' against each other and the smoke was flyin' high, and the President had never seen nothin' like it in his life. He said it blowed his mind.''

Petty also remembered raising his voice somewhat to speak to the President, because both of them wore hearing aids in each ear. For Petty, 35 years of having engines roar in his ears have caused such damage that, unless he wears hearing aids, he is nearly stone deaf.

When asked about his injuries over the years, he said: ''Well, let's see. Let's start at the top. I broke my neck a couple times, broke my shoulders, my arms, my fingers, my ribs about 12 or 14 times, my legs, both feet.'' He paused. ''But that's not as bad as it sounds, because I done all that over a period of 35 years. But it was a job, and I had to do it, and I had a lot of fun at it.''