The Guy With The Pony-Tail On TV

12/10/2013

PattyKay Lilley

Decorations seen here are just a sliver from the "Monster Tree" that graced our living room in Toccoa. Crocheted ornaments were all created with these now arthritic hands. ~PattyKay

 

The Guy With the Pony-tail on TV

by: PattyKay Lilley

 

As you, the fans, have requested, Jim and I have begun filling our winter days with tales of the not so rich and famous in racing. With that said, I'm not sure if the gentleman I'm about to introduce is a perfect fit. He's not rich as in Kyle Busch rich or Jimmie Johnson rich, but I'd imagine he's fairly well off. Famous? Perhaps not so much in his own right, but assuredly, he carries the most famous surname in stock car racing... Petty... son of Richard and grandson of Lee Petty, one of our original pioneers of the sport. The man of whom I speak is Kyle Petty and as time has a habit of slipping by while we're not watching, it occurs to me now that most of our younger fans have never seen Kyle race or perhaps don't even know that he did... and so much more! He's not always been the guy with the pony-tail that you've seen on Trackside or Race Day. Oh no! Kyle, or KP as many have come to call him, has quite a history of his own, and one worth knowing.

 

Kyle was born to racing, much the same way that Bonnie Prince Charlie was born to Royalty.  It was simply in his blood. His grandfather was Lee Petty, one of those rough-hewn originals in NASCAR racing, who holds three Grand National (The forerunner of any sort of Cup) Championships. Kyle's Daddy needs no introduction.  He is "King" Richard Petty, whose seven championships have only been equaled by the late, great Dale Earnhardt, and whose 200 wins will never be challenged.

 

Don't think for a moment that Kyle had no other talents or opportunities.  When he graduated from high school, several colleges offered scholarships to the promising young quarterback and some others offered the same prize for playing baseball.  A few years later, his musical talents could have been rewarded with a career in country music.  True to his breeding, he turned them all aside to pursue a racing dream.

 

That dream began in his senior year of high school, when he entered an ARCA race at Daytona, the first major start of his young life, and brought his car home in first place.  He had arrived.  He was a Petty!  But as life will twist us sometimes, although he ran 5 Winston Cup races that year and finally came to Winston Cup full time in 1981, driving for Petty Enterprises (Who else?), there were no wins for Kyle.  During the same time-period, he and his young wife Pattie were busy raising their young children, who were three in number, Adam, Austin and Montgomery Lee.

 

Eventually, and still winless, Kyle left PEI in 1985, to drive for the famed Wood Brothers team out of Stuart Virginia, following in the footsteps of such notables as David Pearson and Cale Yarborough.  In the early spring of 1986, Kyle scored his first victory at Richmond's old Fairgrounds half-mile track.  Although it wasn't the prettiest of wins, coming about when Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip wrecked on the last lap, collecting Geoff Bodine and Joe Ruttman and allowing Kyle to take the win unchallenged on the lead lap, it was a victory!  He would later be far more convincing in the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he dominated the race and silenced any criticism.

 

The year 1990 saw Kyle move to Sabco Racing under the paternal type care of Felix Sabates, a wealthy businessman who had developed an affinity for stock car racing. What Felix lacked in racing knowledge, he made up for in willingness to pay for it.  Nothing was too good for his driver. Absolutely nothing!  Once, he promised Kyle a Rolls Royce for winning a race.  Kyle didn't win but he came close.  He got the Rolls anyway.  The two stayed together through 1996, winning their last race at Dover in 1995, and that remains Kyle’s last win.

 

In 1995, Kyle instituted his now famous "Charity Ride Across America” which benefits children's hospitals across the country.  Many drivers, team members, and others affiliated with the NASCAR Cup Circuit take part in the cross-country motorcycle ride, visiting children's hospitals and participating in fund-raising.  Each year the number of riders increases, as do the donations raised. Kyle also works with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Boy Scouts of America. In early 1998, Petty created an innovative program known as the "Race to End Hunger". In conjunction with Food Lion Markets, Petty invited fans to bring canned goods or non-perishable food to the Kyle Petty souvenir trailer. In exchange, they received a special Race to End Hunger T-shirt. The foods collected were then distributed through food banks, to folks who just might not have eaten otherwise. By the end of 1998, Kyle 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.

 

At the beginning of 1997, Kyle had started a Winston Cup team of his own, under the banner of "Petty Enterprises 2", and the following year it joined the original PEI under the control of his father, Richard.  It would only be about one more trip around the sun before King  Richard decided to abdicate that particular throne and hand the reins over to Kyle.  As we have seen with other driver-owners in the sport, that proved to be a monumental task, as he was not only driving his own car but responsible for two other complete teams.  Things were tough for this kindhearted man, but they were going to get much worse.

 

On April 5, 2000, his grandfather, Lee Petty, the patriarch of the family passed away.  Lee was 86 years old and in failing health, but it is always a shock when a personality that strong takes his leave of this earth, and the entire family grieved his loss.  Then just 5 weeks later, on May 12, 2000, the unthinkable happened.  Kyle's oldest son Adam, who had already raced in ASA, ARCA and Busch Grand National series, plus once at Texas at the Cup level, was killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire International Raceway, when they say his throttle stuck open, taking him directly into the third turn wall at top speed.

 

The grief and horror this news brought to the Petty family are far beyond my descriptive powers, gentle reader. I’ll leave you to imagine what you might feel in the same circumstances.   What Kyle did, after taking a little time to adjust to the situation and console his family as best he could, was schedule a press conference from Petty Enterprises.  This man, who had done so much for others and lost so much himself, announced to the world while choking back tears, that if Adam couldn't drive the #45 "Sprint" sponsored car as he had been scheduled to, then his Dad would do it for him.  The #44 PEI car, which Kyle had been driving was given over to someone else... Steve Grissom, followed by Buckshot Jones, and Kyle took the wheel of his son's #45, which he drove exclusively from then on, in Adam's memory.

 

Even before Adam's premature death, Kyle and Pattie had become interested in a series of camps known as the "Hole in the Wall Gang", which were run by Paul Newman of acting and racing fame. These camps help children with terminal or debilitating diseases to cope with their problems and simply get more out of what life God has given them.  They are very extensive in scope, with full medical facilities and anything the mind can conceive these children might need to make life better.  The Pettys had visited a camp in Florida in 1998, and left with the desire to create one of their own.  They began working toward this goal, along with Paul Newman, and the plans for “The Victory Junction Gang Camp” were already on the drawing board, but were put aside temporarily when Adam was taken from them.

 

Time does somehow manage to heal, if only a bit, and their interest in the camp came back, accompanied by the donation of a large parcel of land in Randleman N. C. by Richard and Lynda Petty. The camp opened in the summer of 2004 and  was dedicated to the memory of Adam Petty.   Meanwhile, Kyle and Pattie continued raising funds to support the endeavor, and have received a vast amount of help from the extended family of racing in making the dream come true.

 

Where Kyle and his good works are concerned, the awards for humanitarian efforts continued to  roll in. In 2001, the “Sporting News” bestowed on Kyle their annual “Good Guy Award” and in 2002, he was once again named the True Value Person of the Year.  In this writer’s estimation, if Kyle Petty had never raced a lap in his life, he would still be a hero. If it’s true that God never gives us a burden that is too heavy to bear, then this good man, along with his lovely wife, have to be some of the strongest among us. And just when you'd think things could not get worse, somehow they manage to do so anyway. Pattie Petty now battles Parkinson's Disease and was removed last year from her position as CEO of Victory Junction Camp in order to concentrate on dealing with her illness.

 

Gentle readers, the next time you see Kyle on your TV, instead of thinking of him as the funny guy that hangs out with Rutledge Wood and tweets Twitter comments on Sunday mornings, think about the man, the son, the grandson, the husband and the father that he has been and continues to be. If you are lucky enough to call Kyle "Friend", then you are lucky indeed, because your friend is a true hero, in every sense of the word.

 

If you'd like to learn more about the camp, you may access the Victory Junction Camp Website here.

 

The following is a quick resume taken directly from the website:

 

Victory Junction has enriched the lives of more than 17,600 children and families since opening in 2004 and welcomed children from 50 states and four countries.

 

The cost of sending a child to camp is valued at $2,500, but no child or family incurs that cost thanks to generous donors.

 

Since 2004, 16,000 volunteer positions have been filled. Last year, volunteers sacrificed an estimated 47,156 hours to assist at Victory Junction.

 

Victory Junction serves 24 chronic medical conditions and serious illnesses such as, but not limited to, Cancer, Craniofacial Anomalies, Diabetes, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell and Spina Bifida.

 

Thirty hospitals partner with Victory Junction to deliver exceptional health care to campers with a variety of needs.

 

The camp, located in Randleman, N.C., is built on 84 acres and donated by Richard and Lynda Petty.

 

Note to Kyle: It's been said that the Lord burdens most those He loves the best. If that is true, then my friend, you are among His most loved! My prayers have been with you and yours for years, and with the reading of this missive, those of many younger fans that never knew you until now will join mine at His throne. God bless you Kyle Petty... a true hero!

 

Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!