Petty Reaches 775th Career Start
Another Milestone Comes This Weekend at Richmond

This weekend, Kyle Petty and the #45 Marathon/American Spirit Oil Dodge team will head to the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) International Speedway for Saturday night’s Richmond 400.

Petty will be making his 775th start in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Petty is sixth in all-time starts in Nextel Cup. He is only 34 starts behind Darrell Waltrip who has 809 career Nextel Cup starts. Petty ranks fourth in career starts in the modern era (1972-Present). Richard Petty has the most starts all-timer with 1,185 starts.

Petty will be making his 50th start at Richmond this weekend. Petty has one win, three top-five and 12 top-10’s at the track. Petty’s win came in 1986 and it was his career first. He was driving for the Wood Brothers.

Comments from Petty as he prepares for Saturday’s Chevy 400:

What does it mean to reach 775 career starts?
“I guess it means I’ve been racing for a long time. I have been around this sport for a while and have been fortunate to have been in a lot of races. I started at a pretty early age back then, but it’s not like that today. You look at guys like Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson and some of these other young guys. They have the potential to have a lot more starts than I have. I don’t know if they will choose to drive as long, but they can run a lot of races in their career.

“I don’t think of this weekend any differently than any other race. It’s just another start. The goal is still to run up front and try to win races. I guess when you retire you look back at things like this, but not when you’re racing. We’re just concentrating on getting better each week.”

Is it special to have another milestone come at a track like Richmond?
“Richmond is a great track. I think getting my first win there, yea, it’s always going to be a special track. Petty Enterprises has had a lot of success at Richmond in the past. My grandfather and father have won a lot of races there. My father won a bunch of races in the early 70’s at this track. It’s been a track that has really been good to us.

“I really like going there. It’s a great track. The racing is great and all the drivers like coming here. It’s a good place to decide who will be in the ‘chase’. The driver and how well your car is setup make all the difference. It doesn’t come down to just drafting, aerodynamics, horsepower or anything like that. This is just a great short track with great racing.”

Are you excited to have Marathon/American Spirit Motor Oil on the car this weekend?
“We are. This is the third time this season that they will be the primary sponsor on the car. They were the primary sponsor on the car at Michigan earlier this year. They have been a great company to work with so far. We’ll run their colors this weekend and we’re going to have them on the car again before the end of the season.

“They have come right in and really fit in with us. I think that has been great for us. We’re looking for partners that want to be a part of Petty Enterprises and this ‘45’ Dodge into the future. We feel like Marathon will be great partner for us moving forward. We’re all looking forward to the race this weekend with them.”