UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
Petty Enterprises, sport moving forward

Kyle Petty

Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team hustle to the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at the 1.5 mile, 12-degree banked Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway this week. Known as one of the better flat-track drivers in the sport, Petty will head to the speedway knowing both Petty Enterprises teams have shown tremendous promise in the early part of the season.

Because of the Las Vegas market and the fact this race is the first of the year west of the Mississippi River, Petty emphasized the need for a solid run, citing the importance of the market. This marks the sixth time NASCAR’s Winston Cup teams have competed at the Las Vegas speedway.

Petty, 42, will be making his 648th 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 nearly $16 million.

The thoughts of Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge driver Kyle Petty heading into Las Vegas:

“You are either moving ahead or falling behind in this sport. There isn’t a whole lot of standing still. Whether you are talking about what you are doing on the track or off, you had better be improving and progressing. You take what you have and make whatever changes you need to make.

“We’re seeing good movement for Petty Enterprises right now. Everything we are doing is with our sights set on getting us back to the top. Winning poles, winning races and winning championships is what this sport is all about, but it is especially what Petty Enterprises is all about. Seeing that Georgia-Pacific Dodge in Victory Lane is what this team is all about.

“When that time comes, there may not be enough Brawny paper towels on earth to clean up the Coca-Cola we will be spraying all over each other. But we feel that time is coming, and that is what we are working towards every day.

“This sport has moved ahead, and we’re moving with it. We have big plans at Petty Enterprises, just like everyone in our sport has big plans for our sport.

“That’s what these tracks we’ve added the past several years are all about. Whether it’s Las Vegas this week or Chicago or Kansas City or Homestead or whoever, these tracks are in big markets and they are important to all of us. Sure, drop the green flag and a race track is a race track, no matter what city or state it might be located in, but the colors on the side of that car are dependent on us not just being in these markets but being successful in these markets.

“See, it doesn’t mean anything if you run in Las Vegas and nobody cares. You could run a race in downtown Manhattan or downtown Los Angeles and if nobody came to see it, it wouldn’t mean a thing. Adding markets without adding interest doesn’t do much for you. What the Georgia-Pacifics and the General Mills and other sponsors are looking for is being in these big markets but being there with a lot of fanfare. The fact they sell 100,000 tickets for this race in Las Vegas means a lot. The fact they have all kinds of media coverage means a lot. See, we not only hit the Las Vegas market every March but we don’t necessarily leave it after the race is over. Those 100,000 people who come to the race Sunday, you figure they aren’t going to lose touch with us once we leave town. They are still going to turn on the television every week. They are still going to read about us in the newspaper. They are still going to want to know what’s going on in the sport.

“That means, too, they will be doing business with the sponsors and buying Cheerios and buying Brawny paper towels. That’s important to our sponsors. That’s why the big markets are important - not because you are there for a short period of time but because you are there and everybody remembers you were in town.

“We’re here to race, to give the fans a good show and to make some friends for Kyle and John (Andretti), to make some friends for Georgia-Pacific and Cheerios, to make sure people know about Wells Fargo and Polaris and Victory motorcycles, to let them know about Ferguson and Coca-Cola and Dodge and everyone involved with Petty Enterprises. NASCAR is building something for the sport; we’re building something for Petty Enterprises.

“Every team out there is looking to make a statement. The first statement is showing how well you can run. You don’t travel a couple thousand miles without some pretty big hopes. But we know we’re in a business too and the marketing is important to all of us, not just the sponsors.

“As for our performance in Vegas, we’re going to work hard to give this Georgia-Pacific Dodge a big run. We have a lot of potential with this race team, and we have the stuff we can turn into big competitive dividends.”

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