Ford 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: Miami 400
‘The 2005 season has already begun’

Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team head to the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway this week for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series finale – the Miami 400.

Petty, 44, will be making his 712th 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 $20 million.

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

“Just about every year, you get to the last race of the season and it comes down to two or three teams with a shot at the championship. The last race is pretty big for them. It will determine who is champion for 2004 and who isn’t. Sometimes the ‘who isn’t’ part is bigger than the ‘who is.’

“Things changed this year and they added the playoff, and it seemed to work pretty well. But here we are at the last race of the season, and it’s down to two or three teams with a shot at the championship. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

“There is something sort of melancholy about the last race of the season, whether you are in line for the championship or not. It’s like here is what you have been doing for the last 42 weeks and, all of the sudden, it stops. Sure, things are busy at the shop and you are doing your work for next year, but you still have this feeling of shutting down for awhile.

“There are a lot of races and it’s a long season but you end up with three groups this time of year. There is the group glad to see the season come to an end. There is the group that hates to see it come to an end. And there is the group that wants to race some more but not sure how much more.

“Keep in mind the season never really does come to an end. Yeah, we stop running races for this year but just about everybody has already started work on next year. That just makes it even more intense next week – not next year, next week. There was a time you could end the season, take a breather for a week or two and get started on the next year. No more. You start on the next year in earnest by July of the year before. If you don’t, you are going to be way behind when it comes time for testing.

“Still, you can’t come into this weekend thinking all about next year. There is one more race to run. There is one last chance to do something pretty spectacular. No matter what happened all year, Homestead can dictate a lot of how things start for next year. If you have a really good run, you can go through the off-season with a good attitude, feel like you have a little momentum and be chomping at the bit for Daytona. A good run in the last race can really fire your guys up.

“The key to this deal has always been taking it one week at a time, one race at a time. If you come into Homestead looking at doing as well as you can in this one race, you’ve kept that philosophy. If you come into Homestead thinking about 2005, it’s probably not going to be a such a great end to 2004.

“It’s important to end the year on a high note. I really believe that. Things don’t always work out that way and, sure, sometimes you really have to dig deep to find a high note. But you have to find the positives from this season and translate them into what you can do next season. The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup season has already begun, believe me.

“We’re looking forward to it. (Crew chief) Bill Henderson and the guys feel we can have a pretty good week at Homestead and end this year on a high note. That’d be a great way not just to finish the year for this Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team, but to get a great start on 2005.”