Meet Rick
Born in Bartow. Still in Bartow.
A lifetime in one county. A family business, a cattle ranch, 206 races in NASCAR's top division, and eight years on the Polk County Commission. Roughly in that order.
Off the clock
He still lives on the ranch.
Land use is not a slide in a presentation to a man who runs cattle on it.
Rick Wilson is a second-generation cattleman and a second-generation business owner. The heavy equipment company his family started in the 1940s is still going. So is the family cattle ranch, and that is where he lives, in the same town he was born in.
That matters for a county commission seat in a practical way. Land use, water, roads and emergency response in Polk County are not abstractions to a man who has run equipment and cattle here for decades.
- Bartow, start to finish
- Born in Bartow on January 31, 1953. Raised there. Still there. Rick Wilson has never had to learn this county on the job.
- Second generation, both times
- The family heavy equipment business started in the 1940s. He is the second generation to run it, and the second generation on the ranch.
- Cattlemen and Rotary
- Member of the Polk County Cattlemen's Association, the Florida Cattlemen's Association, and Rotary International.
- Teresa, and three grown kids
- Wilson and his wife Teresa have three grown children.
Before the commission
206 starts. One hometown.
Petty Enterprises, 1993. Richard Petty picked the man who would drive it.
Across fourteen seasons, Rick Wilson ran 206 races in NASCAR's top division. In the summer of 1988 he ran side by side with Bill Elliott all the way to the stripe at Daytona and finished second. When Richard Petty hung up his helmet, Petty picked Wilson to drive the Petty Enterprises No. 44 in 1993. He won twice in the Busch Series in 1989, at Bristol and at Dover, and led 161 of the 200 laps at Bristol doing it.
Best points season: 17th, in 1989. One career pole, at Bristol. Polk County put him in its Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. And he never moved away.
206
Cup Series starts across 14 seasons
23
top-ten finishes
1988
second at Daytona, side by side to the line
2024
Polk County Sports Hall of Fame
Why he’s running again
Three things, in his own words.
Asked to name the three things he most wants voters to remember about this campaign, Wilson named these. They are his answer, not a summary of it. He is running on eight years of experience and deep family roots in the county.
Safety first
“My priority is now and has always been safety. I am a strong supporter of law enforcement, fire and emergency services. Our emergency responders know they can trust me to have their backs.”
Good jobs, and what makes them
“Each and every individual and family depends on jobs and job opportunities in order to thrive. A good quality of life for most families depends on knowing they can make a good living. I believe a positive business climate produces the kind of jobs we need.”
Responsible growth
“I believe in responsible growth. Growth that is manageable and makes a positive impact on our county. Responsible growth means supporting infrastructure needs and funding for them.”
“We currently operate with very little fat in our budget, so we would definitely have to roll our sleeves up and make hard decisions based on our priorities.”
Or see the record.