One-on-One with Kyle Petty

The son and grandson of NASCAR legends, Kyle Petty is a well-known name in racing circles. Now a racing analyst for Speed Channel and TNT, he also is heavily involved in Victory Junction, a camp for children with chronic medical conditions and serious illnesses. Petty will be at Brittlebank Park at 5 p.m. Tuesday for Victory Junction Night at the RiverDogs. Tommy Braswell went One on One with Petty:

Give us a brief description of Victory Junction; how it came about and what it does?

"Originally, it was for kids from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, but we've seen kids from 50 states and five or six foreign countries. When our son Adam was killed 10 years ago (in a racing crash at New Hampshire), we decided we would build a camp in his memory as part of the Paul Newman Hole-in-the-Wall Gang group of camps. We see kids with 23 different disease groups. We've seen in the neighborhood of 12,000 to 13,000 kids, and it's totally free to the kids and the parents. We'll be raising funds for the camp Tuesday. We'll be cooking hot dogs, have a concert and the first 1,000 will get tickets to the RiverDogs game. It's going to be a big event."

Do you still have a place at Wild Dunes?

"Yes. We try to spend as much time there as possible."

You turned 50 this summer. Did you do anything special to celebrate?

"(Laughs). I don't remember. It was just another day. I've been traveling and going to races and stuff with my father since I was 12. I count race days more than anything, so I don't remember that much about turning 50."

Your father Richard and grandfather Lee are NASCAR legends. Was that a difficult role for a young man?

"I don't think it was. My father drove a race car. I thought everybody's father drove a race car until I was 9 or 10 years old. I never thought about them doing what they were doing. Driving a race car is what you do; it's not necessarily who you are. They were my parents. It just so happens that my parents, what most people saw of them, was very public."

Your wife Pattie was a former Miss Winston. How did you meet?

"We actually met through horse shows. My sister showed horses. That's really how we ended up together."

You won your first race, which was an ARCA event, at Daytona when you were 18. In retrospect, was that good or bad for you as a driver?

"A win is always good. You can't look at it any other way. I knew I didn't know how to drive a race car. I just happened to win a race. It's like people getting a hole-in-one who really don't know how to play golf. It helped to find sponsors and move my career along, so it's all positive."

How difficult was it to step into the broadcast booth and what are your strengths as an analyst?

"I have no strengths. I tell people I have a degree in BS. That's my strength. It was hard making the transition because I still wanted to drive a race car. That's all I ever wanted to do. I didn't grow up thinking 'Someday, I want to be an analyst.' Now, that's what I do in life. It's just a part of who I am."

You were a pretty good high school quarterback? Did you have any college offers?

"I played everything; football, basketball, baseball. I ran track for a while. I played golf one year. I was recruited (in football) by a couple of schools. Georgia Tech. Small schools like East Carolina. I never thought about football. I just thought about driving a race car. Football was a game. Racing was a way of life."

What's NASCAR's biggest problem today?

"I'm not sure we have problems per se. Where else do you have an event that people complain it's not sold out but you have 130,000 people there. People complain because TV ratings are off, but the ratings beat golf and other sports on TV. Sponsors are out there looking to get in the sport and continue to use the sport for promotion. I hear the naysayers and what they are saying, but I'm not sure I believe what they're saying. In my world, things look pretty good."

Who's your favorite all-time driver?

"Good question. I've got to say the King (Richard Petty) because I lived in that house. But (David) Pearson, I always liked Pearson. Matt Kenseth's my guy now."

Best driver today?

"That's a hard question. There are so many really, really good race car drivers. Kyle Busch has more natural talent than a lot of people. Tony (Stewart) is probably your best all-around driver. Look at Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) and the things they have done and the races they have won. They get the least amount of credit for that. Fans are so opinionated. They love their guy and hate everybody else."

Your most thrilling moment as a driver?

"I won a few races and crashed a few times. I still say my most thrilling moment in racing was watching Adam win the (1998) ARCA race in Charlotte. In all my years of racing and watching my father race, watching Adam win was the most thrilling. Your job was to go out and drive a race car and win races. When you didn't, you failed. When you did, that was your day. I've had good days and I've had bad days, and days I wanted to forget. But seeing Adam win that race is one thing I always want to remember."