Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: Carolina Dodge Dealers 400

‘Experience is big factor at Darlington’

Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team head to the 1.366-mile Darlington (S.C.) Raceway this week for Sunday’s Carolinas Dodge Dealers 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.

One of the oldest and most traditional speedways in motorsports, Darlington has seen its schedule change over the years. What was a Convertible division race at one point has become the spring NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event. The Southern 500, a staple of Labor Day weekend for nearly 50 years, is now the next-to-last race of the 2004 season.

Petty, 43, will be making his 683rd career start this weekend. He is 10th on the all-time list in NASCAR Cup career starts, and fourth among active drivers. His eight career victories place him 45th on NASCAR’s all-time list in 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 $18 million.

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

“Darlington is nothing if not tradition. Everything about the place says tradition and heritage. You can walk in there with a raw rookie driver, wave your hand and say, ‘This is where it all began,’ and it doesn’t look much different than it probably did back then.

“Darlington used to be the race track in stock car racing. If you were going to be anybody with the fans, then you had better be good at Darlington. A guy could win 50 races and nobody cared unless he had a Southern 500 or two to go with them. David Pearson was a great driver but his legend started because he raced so well at Darlington. The Wood Brothers are a great race team but, without Darlington and all the times they won there, maybe their legend wouldn’t be as great either. I think David Pearson and the Wood Brothers and a lot of other drivers needed Darlington, and Darlington needed them.

“Legends are built on legendary things. Names like David Pearson, Richard Petty, Joe Weatherly, Herb Thomas, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison . . . those are legendary names. But they did a lot of legendary things at Darlington, which has become a legendary place. There’s a magic to it, and not always good stuff either. Daddy (Richard Petty) and Cale Yarborough both won races there – but both had some pretty big-time wrecks there too. Cale left the ballpark (went over the first-turn fence) one time. That builds legends the hard way.

“How tough is Darlington? Well, Richard Petty won one Southern 500. That should tell you something. Dale Earnhardt’s car won the race one year (1979, when Earnhardt was injured and Pearson won the Southern 500) but Earnhardt didn’t win at Darlington until three years later, and it took him 10 years to win his first Southern 500.

“Even today, maybe especially today, it’s a track that takes a lot of experience. Sure, getting around the race track is really important, and things have changed along those lines this year with the new softer walls. Some lines are going to change. How you approach the corners could change. That could mean a lot of changes.

“But experience goes further than that. Experience tells you no matter how hard you are going, that track can bite you at any time. Experience keeps you from being lulled to sleep at the wrong time. Experience tells you trouble can come at any point; I’ve seen wrecks under caution at Darlington.

“Look at the list of guys who have won at Darlington, either race. Sometimes younger in age but usually guys with a lot of experience – a lot of Darlington experience. Knowing how to get around the place and knowing how races there tend to go can mean a lot in the long run. Even with the changes at the track, I’d be surprised to see anybody with less than 10 years’ experience at Darlington win the race.

“We’re going in with a good attitude and some high hopes. This Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team had a good car at Rockingham, and Rockingham is a lot like Darlington. We think some of that information can carry over, and give us another good finish. We have plenty of experience at Darlington. We just need to make it work for us.”