December 16, 2008
By Allen Madding
Born June 2, 1960 in Level Cross, NC, son of 7-time Winston Cup Champion Richard Petty, grandson of NASCAR racing legend Lee Petty, Kyle Petty began racing in 1979, his senior year in high school, when he finished first in the ARCA Series ARCA 200 at Daytona International Speedway. He made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in the same year in the Talladega 500 finishing ninth. He made five Winston Cup Series starts that year and scored one top ten finish.
In 1980, Petty made 15 starts in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series driving Petty’s Enterprises No. 42 STP Chevrolet and Oldsmobiles in 14 events and Rahmoc’s No. 75 STP Chevrolet recording six top ten finishes.
Kyle began competing on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series fulltime in 1981 driving for Petty Enterprises. He scored a fifth place finish in the World 600 at Charlotte. Petty accumulated one top five and ten top ten finishes for the year, leading 20 laps and finishing 12th in the championship standings. Petty logged two top fives and four top tens in 1982.
His performance fell off in 1983 recording a mere two top tens.
One top five and six top tens followed in 1984.
Kyle left Petty Enterprises in 1985 to drive for the Wood brothers. The pairing clicked quickly, and the Seven-Eleven No. 7 team recorded seven top five and 12 top ten finishes. Kyle led 75 laps during the season and finished ninth in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Championship.
Petty’s first win came in 1986 in the Miller High Life 400 at Richmond on the old half-mile fairgrounds track. With his win, Kyle became the first third-generation driver to win a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event. He closed the season with one win, four top fives, and 14 top tens to finish tenth in the points.
Kyle struck pay dirt again in 1987 winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in the Wood Brothers No. 21 Citgo car. He accumulated one win, six top fives, and 14 top tens finishing seventh in the point standings. In,
1988, he recorded two top fives and eight top tens. In 1989, performance on the track continued dropping off with one top five and five top tens.
Dissatisfied with the results over the prior two years, Kyle left the Wood Brothers at the end of the 1989 season to drive for Felix Sabates and SABCO Racing in 1990. He quickly scored a pole and the victory at Rockingham in March and a second win at North Wilkesboro that September. He recorded two poles, one win, two top fives, and 14 top tens finishing 11th in the points battle.
In 1991, Petty repeated the pole and victory at Rockingham in March, finished second at Martinsville in April, and he qualified on the pole again at Rockingham for the October event but finished 9th. He charted two poles, one win, two top fives and four top tens.
In 1992, Kyle grabbed the pole again at Rockingham’s March event but fell out of the race with a broken camshaft. He qualified second and won the road race at Watkins Glen. He qualified on the pole at Martinsville and finished fourth. He took the pole again for the October race at Rockingham and once again won the event. He recorded three poles, two wins, nine top fives, and 17 top tens to finish fifth in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series standings.
In 1993, Petty qualified on the pole for the Daytona 500, but an accident left him with a 31st place finish. In June, he won the Champion Spark Plug 500 at Pocono. For the season, he had one pole, one win, nine top fives and 15 top tens once again finishing fifth in the points.
Petty struggled in 1994 recording two top fives and seven top tens falling to 15th in the Winston Cup points.
In 1995, Kyle established the Kyle Petty annual Charity Ride Across America. Since its formation, the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America has raised more than $4 million for various children's hospitals and charities. On the racetrack, he put the No. 42 Coors Light Pontiac in Victory Lane at Dover in the Miller Genuine Draft 500. He added one top five and five top tens.
In 1996, Petty recorded only two top ten finishes and failed to qualify for the NAPA 500 at Atlanta. His disappointment with performance led him to leave Sabates Racing at the end of the season.
Kyle started his own team PE2 for 1997 and recorded two top fives and nine top tens. In 1998, he merged PE2 with his father’s operation, Petty Enterprises Inc. He recorded only two top tens for the year.
In 1997, he was named True Value "Man of the Year," and was named NASCAR Winston Cup Illustrated's "Person of the Year" in 1999. Both honors were as a direct result of his hundreds of hours in charitable works.
In 1999, Petty recorded nine top-tens in the Hot Wheels No. 44 Petty Enterprises Pontiac.
In April 2000, Kyle’s grandfather, racing legend Lee Petty died and in May, some 5 weeks later, Kyle’s son Adam was killed in an accident while practicing for an event at New Hampshire International Speedway. The emotional impact drained on his on-track performance during the year, only competing in 19 of the year’s 34 events and recording one top ten failing to qualify for four events.
Kyle elected to run his late son’s number 45 with Sprint sponsorship in 2001 but continued to struggle competing in 24 of the season’s 36 events failing to qualify for 12 events and failed to record a top ten finish.
Petty suffered an engine failure in the season opening Daytona 500 and the 2002 season did not seem to improve from there on out. Petty recorded a single top ten finish. Petty signed Georgia Pacific as the sponsor for the No. 45 for 2003 but failed to record a single top ten finish.
Kyle and his wife Pattie founded the Victory Junction Gang Camp for chronically ill children, which opened in 2004. The camp is located in Randleman, North Carolina, approximately 15 minutes outside of Greensboro, on 72 acres of land surrounded by hardwood forest offering a rolling terrain with several creeks and woodland streams. The camp hosts children ages 7-15. The summer program consists of eight, week-long sessions, each with 125 participants. For the remainder of the year, the camp host family retreat weekends, specialized programs for smaller disease groups, sibling weekends and camper reunions. A fully-equipped medical center staffed with Pediatric specialty doctors and nurses on site provides 24 hours a day medical care, ranging from bandaging a minor cut to providing chemotherapy.
On the track in 2004, Petty continued to struggle failing to chart a top ten finish. Petty enjoyed a mild improvement in performance in 2005 recording two top tens. Georgia Pacific discontinued their sponsorship at the end of the 2005 season.
Petty brought Wells Fargo on as the sponsor for the No. 45 Dodge along with Schwan’s Food Service, Tire Kingdom, and Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil. But, 2006 brought very little more joy with two top ten finishes.
Petty competed in 29 of the 36 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events recording one top five and one top ten finish. He started in only ten events in the 2008 season. At season’s end, Petty Enterprises announced that it would not be fielding a car for Kyle in the 2009 season.
Kyle’s straight shooting style with the press has made him a hit with the fans. One of his more colorful moments came in an on-camera interview at Darlington. His comments were, "I can't stand this track. I think they should just fill this place up to the retaining wall with water and hold bass fishing tournaments here."
Recently, Kyle discussed Dover Downs Raceway, "If somebody was building another Dover today and the word got out, I'd bet at least three of four drivers would chain themselves to the bulldozers in protest."
Kyle’s response on why he got involved in racing, “Why did I take up racing? I was too lazy to work and too chicken to steal”.
In 30 years of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series, Petty recorded eight poles, eight wins, 52 top fives, and 173 tops tens in 829 starts.
In nine years of competition in the NASCAR Busch Series, Petty charted five top fives and 11 top tens in 55 starts.
Kyle has made one start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 1997 driving the No. 42 Hot Wheels Chevrolet to a 11th place finish at California Speedway.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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