Kyle Petty

 

 Kyle Eugene Petty was born on June 2^nd 1960 in Randleman, North Carolina. He is currently a NASCAR broadcaster for TNT, and an all around American NASCAR driver. He began racing at a very young age, and by the age of 18 he made his debut in stock cars. He won his first race in a Dodge Magnum in 1979 at the Daytona ARCA 200!! The following season at the young age of 20, he ran in five races and finished in 9^th place at his first series race at Talladega. In 1981 he began the season by driving his father’s #43, before racing his own #42 for his full schedule. Then in 1983, after his funding from 7-eleven came into play he switched to a #7 car! The following years he continued to compete, however he did not have any big wins. In 1989 Kyle signed to SABCO Racing with a part time schedule. During his racing career in 1992 he had two wins and finished 5^th place in point standings for that season! Through the years of 1992-2002 he competed in several races, however in 2000 his son Adam passed away and he had an emotional set back. Adam was involved in a crash during practice at New Hampshire International Speedway for the Busch Series and did not survive the devastating episode. Kyle did not compete in the following two races however he returned driving the #44 for the rest of the summer. Later that season Kyle raced with Adam’s 45 Sprint Chevrolet full-time in the Busch Series in honor of his son!! On the up side of things in 2007 during the Coca-Cola 600 he finished 3^rd in the Coke Zero Dodge. This was the first season in ten years that he finished in the first top-five! However even with that comeback Kyle ended up taking the next several races off to work for TNT’s Nextel Cup coverage as a commentator where he replaced Benny Parsons!! Then in the early season of 2008 after racing in 14 races, his best finish was in Richmond finishing 24^th! During a fall race at the end of his season he was in a multi-car crash at Phoenix International Raceway. With all this said it was on the yahoo sports blog that he was being pushed out the door by Petty Enterprises! However he stated that he did not work for Petty Enterprises, as he felt like when they sold to Boston Ventures he knew there was no place for him!  Currently he appears on Speed television where he wears a hat with the #45 on it and a patch over the number. Kyle does this as a memorial nod to his son Adam and to also signify that he no longer uses that number. You can also see Kyle on Trackside and NASCAR Smarts as a television personality!