Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Pettyis an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he formerly competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and is currently a television analyst for NBC's pre- and post-race shows. He formerly was a color commentator for TNT's NASCAR coverage from 2006 through 2014. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of Adam Petty. He and his ex—wife Pattie have two other children: Austin and Montgomery Lee. He last drove...
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth2 June 1960
CityLevel Cross, NC
You had life by the tail and didn't know it.
Why did I take up racing? I was too lazy to work and too chicken to steal
I never thought I had to live up to Richard Petty, ... I never had to live up to anything but what I expected.
In a lot of ways it's just like wine. It's aged very, very well. I just think everything about the place has gotten better.
I like driving the 45, ... That's the car I want to quit racing in.
The driver that you have to sell on safety shouldn't be driving.
The issue we were not going to get into was like when we put ourselves into a box with John Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi a couple of years ago, ... We wanted to keep three teams but we didn't have a sponsor. We went out and hired a driver but we couldn't find a sponsor for the team ... but had to pay a driver for a couple of years that we didn't have a car for. We're not going to put ourselves in that position again.
The loss of a child is totally different because it's contrary to nature, ... When it happens, you question everything you've ever known.
You know, that's a hard question. You can't say the sport expanded too quickly, because it didn't expand at all for 45 years. Was Japan a stretch for us, running an exhibition race there? Yeah, I think it was. Was Mexico a stretch? Hmmm ...