Kyle Petty Biography

Kyle Petty (Born June 2, 1960) is an American NASCAR driver, the son of racing legend Richard Petty.

Petty originally did not intend to become a race car driver. He was a star in many sports in high school, including football and basketball and received scholarship offers from many colleges.

However, Kyle did eventually decide to follow in his father's footsteps and he would win the first-ever stock car race he would ever compete in, an ARCA event at Daytona International Speedway in 1979.

Petty would enter Winston Cup soon after that, driving as a teammate to his father at Petty Enterprises in the early 1980's.

Petty would leave his father's team in 1985 to drive for the legendary Wood Brothers team. His first Winston Cup win would come the next year at Richmond International Raceway.

Kyle Petty returned to driving for Petty Enterprises in 1996 and is now CEO of that team.

Kyle's son Adam Petty would get into racing as well, but he was tragically killed in 2000 in a practice accident at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Upon his son's death, Petty would finish out the 2000 season racing his son's car in the Busch Series.

Although Kyle has never been as successful as his father, he has had a decent career in Winston/Nextel Cup, posting eight career victories and 168 top ten finishes.

Kyle Petty is active in many charitable causes, such as the Victory Junction Gang Camp for terminally ill children, which he established to honor his late son Adam, as well as an annual charity motorcycle ride across the country.

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KYLE PETTY BIOGRAPHY