Kyle Petty: Full Biography
Kyle Petty is an American former NASCAR driver and a racing commentator. He started 829 Cup Series races across thirty seasons, sixth on the all-time list, and won eight of them. He is the son of Richard Petty and the grandson of Lee Petty, and the founder of Victory Junction.
The Name He won the first stock car race he entered, the ARCA 200 at Daytona in 1979, at eighteen. The Cup wins took longer. Seven seasons passed before the first one, at Richmond in 1986, driving for the Wood Brothers rather than the family team; the Coca-Cola 600 followed in 1987.
The Forty-Two He joined the new SABCO team in 1989 and stayed eight years, taking five of his eight wins there. The best of it was 1992 and 1993, two wins and fifth in the championship in the first, fifth again in the second. His last victory came at Dover in 1995. He never won a championship, and never finished higher than fifth.
Randleman His son Adam, the fourth generation of Pettys to race, was killed in practice at New Hampshire in May 2000, aged nineteen. The family built Victory Junction, a camp for seriously ill children, in his memory; it opened in Randleman in 2004. Petty raced on until 2008, and has commentated since. The charity motorcycle ride he began in 1995 has raised more than twenty-three million dollars.
