Tropicana 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: Chicago 400
Big race in big market . . . but they are all big

Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team head to the two-year-old 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., this week, looking to make some noise at NASCAR’s newest Winston Cup speedway.

Besides the fact that this is another nearly brand-new track for the competitors - the fifth since 1997 (Kansas City became the sixth in September of 2001) - major league stock car racing made its first foray into the Chicago market since running short tracks around there 35 years ago. Petty accentuated the need for a solid run at the facility, citing that infiltrating a newer market is always first and foremost in regards to impressing sponsors and fans.

Petty, 43, will be making his 662nd career start this weekend. He is 11th on the all-time list in NASCAR Winston Cup career starts, and fourth among active drivers. His eight career victories place him 45th on NASCAR’s all-time list in Winston Cup wins. One of the most recognizable names in international motorsports, as is his sponsor, Georgia-Pacific, Petty’s driving career began with a five-race season in 1979. The native of Level Cross, N.C., has won over $16 million.

The thoughts of Georgia-Pacific Dodge driver Kyle Petty heading into Chicago:

“There isn’t any such thing as a ‘small’ weekend in racing. They are all big weeks. They are all important.

“But if you start with the premise that every race is vital, then you have to look that some are more important than others in different ways. This week, it’s obviously the competitive standpoint - it’s always the competitive standpoint - but it’s also the marketing standpoint. The Chicago area is pretty huge in terms of marketing, and even moreso because we only race there one time each year.

“We need a good weekend for a lot of reasons, but the fact we are running Chicago is certainly one of those. Besides giving General Mills and Georgia-Pacific a nice boost, it would give everybody at Petty Enterprises a pretty nice boost too. You want to run well everywhere, but running well in front of a Chicago audience sure wouldn’t hurt any.

“For the most part, the sport is pretty close to where it needs to be in regards to the big markets. We’re not everywhere but we are close to everywhere. NASCAR has done a pretty good job in getting us where we need to be. We’re close to New York City with Pocono and Watkins Glen, we’re right there in Los Angeles with California and recently we’ve added Kansas City and Chicago. Those are big, big markets. That’s a lot of people we haven’t touched in any way except through television races, and now they have a chance to see what we do live and in person and without driving 500 miles or more to see it.

Just about every major market in the country has something. New Hampshire is in New England. Atlanta, Charlotte. Detroit is covered by Michigan. Indianapolis covers a lot of the Midwest. Dallas, San Francisco. Just about all that is left is the northwest and maybe a Denver.

“I’ve said it before, you’re either moving ahead or you’re falling behind. You can’t sit still. There is no such thing. You have to keep building on what you have, and NASCAR has done that with these new speedways this year.

“These bigger market races, and taking the series to different parts of the country, help in so many ways. The television situation is a great example. We start running in Chicago and, especially with the promotion FOX and NBC are putting behind their programming, our numbers are going up in those markets. That’s important for all of us, and especially for our sponsors.

“The television deal has been a ‘growth deal’ for all of us, and it has paid off for all of us. The ratings are the best they have ever been and continue to get better. More people have seen us on television than ever before. And that is going to continue translating into more attention - good attention - being paid to our sponsors, more people wanting to buy tickets, more people wanting to buy souvenirs, and all of that.

“That’s the kind of thing that has happened all over. Bring the races in, and the interest really grows. And as the interest grows, that media responds. And when that media responds, it generates even bigger interest.

“Even today, lot of fans are still ‘discovering’ NASCAR Winston Cup racing. Fans are starting to be picked up by these companies, the ones who are ‘discovering’ stock car racing. This is another opportunity for more fans to ‘discover’ our sport.

“As for our performance in Chicago, we’re going to work hard to give this Georgia-Pacific Dodge a big run. There are a lot of new fans sitting out there for all of us, and we want them coming over to our side.”

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