Chevy Rock and Roll 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: Rock & Roll 400
Richmond – definition of NASCAR ‘passion’

Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team head to the .750-mile Richmond (Va.) International Raceway this week for Saturday night’s Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.

Petty, 44, will be making his 704th 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 Richmond: “When it comes to racing and tradition, sure, you have your Darlingtons and Daytonas, and for some it’s the Indys or whatevers. But it’s tough to find an area with more stock car racing tradition than Richmond and the raceway.

“My grandfather (Lee) raced at Strawberry Hill. My dad (Richard) raced on the old, thin, near-half mile track. I’ve done most of mine on the current track, the three-quarters mile. At times, everybody thought that particular track was one of the most exciting in racing.

“Frankly, I think we need more Richmonds in stock car racing. We need more three-quarter miles like this one – good banking, nice sweeping turns, a little ‘trick’ thrown in like the hard left off the second corner – but we need more Richmonds, as in the area, too. Man, that is a real hotbed for stock car racing. Those people are serious about their sport.

“A lot of fans pay close attention and a lot of fans are dedicated. But Richmond fans are absolutely, positively passionate about stock car racing. It’s like the old joke about the difference between involved and committed – it’s like bacon and eggs; the chicken is involved, the pig is committed.

“Not that they aren’t nice people because they are. Really nice people. Whether they are Kyle Petty fans or Jeff Green fans or Richard Petty fans or somebody else’s fans, they are super people who know a lot about what we do. As long as you don’t say anything bad about the race track or the Washington Redskins, you’ll never have a problem around Richmond International Raceway.

“These are the types of people who watch the race, and then make sure they buy Brawny paper towels next week, and make sure they stock up on Coca-Cola and Cheerios at the grocery store. They know Georgia-Pacific and General Mills and Coca-Cola and all of the sponsors in the sport are important – and they see that brand loyalty as their part of it. They love you not necessarily because of who you are but because you are there. It’s the only track where I’ve signed autographs and then turned around to see the PR guy signing autographs too.

“The crowd pumps you up. Sure, racing under the lights and the fact it is a fun place to race give you a great start, but you can really feel the electricity at the start of the race. Driver introductions are fun . . . walking out to the starting grid is fun . . . listening to the national anthem is fun . . . everything just keeps adding up and building the excitement. And the drivers feed off those fans.

“We have great fans everywhere we run but the folks at Richmond are just special. You see that same feeling not just for Saturday night’s race but for the Busch guys on Friday night and the Truck guys on Thursday night. Rookies, guys who’ve never run Richmond before, are cool to watch. They walk out to the car before the start of the race and they are almost wide-eyed. They always say something profound like, ‘Man, this is so cool.’ You have to laugh, especially knowing you did the exact same thing at some point.

“We’re pumped up. Everybody on this Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team is pumped up about Richmond. We’re excited to be there. And I know we’re going to be even more excited when that crowd starts jumping.”