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
Stock car racing wasn't exactly a part of everybody's household back then, especially since it wasn't on TV a whole lot early in his career. But, everywhere we went, people knew who he was. He was The King - and he still is.
The demand was really for the night race. You could always get tickets to the day race up here in the spring. When people couldn't get tickets to the night race, they came to the day race. TV did a lot for the night race. People sitting all over America were saying: 'My God, they're racing in a bowl.' They were used to Daytona and Charlotte. I think it's the curiosity as much as anything.
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.
I'm not sure anyone has ever done it there before.
I had to be the only child in this country who ever called his father 'The King.'
It's where we need to be as much as anything else.
It was a night race when nothing else was a night race,
We had a great, great run, ... I can't really complain. We've struggled all year. To come here and have a good run was good for us.
This was basically a tire-management race. I know some teams had issues, but we never had any problems.
Both cars had a good day, and Bobby drove his tail off. I think he's got something to prove.
Consistently running second or third gets you a championship every year in our series. That hasn't changed. You can talk about the Chase all you want, but . . . you're still going to get people who have a shot at the championship or are in the top 10 who haven't won races. There's nothing wrong with that.
A driver that you have to sell on safety shouldn't be driving. I don't want to drive with somebody that's crazy enough to throw caution to the wind. These guys that drive out here are professionals and they understand the consequences of every action they make on the racetrack.
Anything can happen here at Bristol, and when it happens it happens quickly. That's why it's hard to avoid wrecks. We just don't have enough time to slow down or make a move around them. You have a car spin . . . it can collect three or four other guys and block the track.