Appalachian State University Receives Petty Racing Collection: Lynda Petty, wife of stock car racing legend Richard Petty, has donated a large collection of materials documenting her husband's career to the Appalachian State University Libraries Stock Car Racing Collection. The donation, which covers 1958-2003, includes newspaper and magazine articles, fan letters, scrapbooks, promotional and charitable materials, awards of recognition, photographs, books, and race programs. During his long and successful driving career (1958-1992), Petty won seven NASCAR Winston [Netxtel] Cup championships and holds the record for most victories, with 200. Known affectionately as "the King," he won the Most Popular Driver award nine times. Since his retirement in 1992, Petty has remained involved in racing. He owns Petty Enterprises, which fields entrants in NASCAR's Nextel Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. The Petty family has been in the racing business for four generations; Richard's father Lee was a three time Cup champion, and his son Kyle and grandson Adam followed in the family tradition. The donation is currently being inventoried and organized for public use, and there are plans to produce a Web page with finding aids detailing the contents of the Petty collection. The Stock Car Racing Collection, located in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains where the sport was born, is the only library in the country open to the public that focuses specifically on stock car racing. It contains more than 500 books, periodicals, and videos; an extensive clippings file covering more than 1300 subjects; photographs; posters; and promotional materials. Financial and material donations are welcomed. For more information go to: appstate.edu.(Carrick PR)(12-6-2004)