Brickyard 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: Brickyard 400
A big race for a lot of reasons

Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team head to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week for Sunday’s Brickyard 400. Petty has been a mainstay at the speedway since being one of the original drivers to test for NASCAR there.

Petty, 44, will be making his 699th 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 $19 million.

The thoughts of Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge driver Kyle Petty heading into the Brickyard 400:

“This is a big week for the NASCAR series. Besides the fact the Cup guys are running the Brickyard 400, which has to be considered one of our bigger races, the Busch guys and the Truck guys are running in Indianapolis too, even though they are over at IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park).

“No doubt Indianapolis is a racing town. They are the only city in the country to host the top three racing series – NASCAR, Indy cars and Formula One – and the people in Indianapolis live, eat and breathe racing. The fact that Indianapolis is such a big sports town period, and that motorsports is so high on the list, makes it unique. The Colts, the Pacers, college basketball – it seems that everything sportswise is big in Indianapolis.

“The Brickyard 400 gets more important as far as the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series is concerned every year. The first year we ran there, it was a big deal. But I think it becomes more of a big deal every year. As Tony George said when he started the race, he wasn’t looking to replace an old tradition but start a new tradition. I believe he can say he met his goals with that.

“The Brickyard 400 is not the biggest race on our schedule but it is sure big. Where it ranks depends on how you rank them. If you rank races financially, yeah, it moves right near the top. If you rank races in order of their places in the history of our sport, it moves to the middle or the bottom. As far as tradition, Darlington, in my mind, still ranks over Indianapolis. It doesn’t pay as much but to win at Darlington – where guys like Richard Petty and David Pearson and Fireball Roberts and so many other great names have won – makes it a big, big race. Sure, Daytona is always going to be big. The Coca-Cola 600 is always going to be big because of the history. But the Brickyard 400 is not there yet from a traditional standpoint as far as stock car racing is concerned . . . not yet, anyway.

“An overall ranking, taking everything into account? Sure, Indy is in the top four or five, and maybe better.

“That’s not saying it’s not an important race because it is. Every race is important but some stand out for various reasons. Because of where it is and what it is, the Brickyard 400 is one of those races that obviously stands out. It’s important from a prestige standpoint, and it’s important to the sponsors. It’s a race where you want to be at your absolute best all weekend long.

“Plus, there are just some races where you know everybody comes loaded for bear. Everybody brings their best stuff to Indy. If you run well at Indy, you have beaten everybody’s best. Maybe not everybody is the best flat-track racer in the world but you know the equipment is top notch.

“We’re looking forward to it. The whole Georgia-Pacific/Brawny crew is fired up over the chance to do well at Indianapolis. There may be a lot of reasons it’s a big race but it’s still a big race.”