Maurice Petty inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame

The Petty dynasty is now completely represented in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Maurice Petty, 74, was formally inducted Wednesday night into the Hall at Charlotte, N.C., joining his father, brother and cousin as members of the exclusive group.

Maurice Petty was the first member of the fifth class to be inducted during Wednesday night’s ceremony. “The Chief” was inducted by brother Richard Petty, 76, the seven-time NASCAR champion and member of the inaugural Hall of Fame class.

“The big deal is that it’s really the end of Petty Enterprises because we started in 1949, and now that my brother is in the Hall of Fame, then that pretty well closes the book on it,” Richard Petty said.

Maurice Petty is the first engine builder to be inducted into the Hall. His engines won seven titles and more than 200 races, including seven Daytona 500s.

Also in the Hall from the Petty Enterprise dynasty is patriarch Lee Petty, and the Petty boys’ cousin and crew chief, Dale Inman.

Continuing the family theme, three-time Daytona winner and 1999 Cup champion Dale Jarrett joined his father, Ned, as just the second father-son combination with NASCAR championships inducted into the Hall.

The Jarretts join Lee and Richard Petty.

Also inducted were 1950s pioneers Fireball Roberts and Tim Flock and 1970s star Jack Ingram.

ELSEWHERE

Rams fire defensive coordinator Walton

The St. Louis Rams fired defensive coordinator Tim Walton after finishing in the middle of the pack in his one season.

The Rams were third in the NFL with 53 sacks and finished with the 15th overall defense, allowing 345 yards per game. They were 13th in points allowed (22.8). The team finished 7-9, but was just 1-5 against the rest of the rugged NFC West.

– The Baltimore Ravens hired Steve Spagnuolo to be their secondary coach and assistant head coach. Spagnuolo became Baltimore’s senior defensive assistant in 2013. Before then, he was defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints in 2012 and head coach of the St. Louis Rams from 2009-11.

Soccer: High-scoring Manchester City moved into the English Premier League lead, scoring four times in the second half to rout Tottenham 5-1 Wednesday night.

Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Vincent Kompany scored for City (17-4-2), which moved one point ahead of Arsenal (16-3-4) and three in front of Chelsea (15-3-5), which was held to a 0-0 tie at home by West Ham.

Also, Aston Villa and U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan defeated West Brom 4-3.

– Barcelona beat Levante 5-1 to gain a berth in the Copa del Rey semifinals on 9-2 aggregate.

– Thiago Alcantara scored with a scissor kick in injury time, giving Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Stuggart that opened a 13-point lead in the Bundesliga.

High schools: Three Bay Area girls were selected to the McDonald’s All-American team, including reigning Chronicle Metro Player of the Year Mariya Moore (Salesian-Richmond). Saint Mary’s-Berkeley and future Cal Bears Mikayla Cowling and Gabby Green, 6-1 seniors, were also selected for the April 2 game in Chicago. No Northern California players were selected to the 37th annual McDonald’s boys’ game.

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