Emotional Kyle Petty Drops Heavy-Hearted 5-Word Verdict Reminiscing Late Son’s Charlotte Victory

‘Gone Too Soon’ would be an accurate way to summarise the journey of Adam Petty. The promising 4th generation torch-bearer of the Petty bloodline, he didn’t have an extensive professional stint, but he sure did succeed in leaving a mark of his own. But do you know that Adam broke a record earlier held by his father, Kyle Petty?   

Records getting broken is no happy feeling, but the pride a father feels in losing it to their kids is larger than any sadness there is. Sitting alongside his father Richard “the King” Petty, Kyle opened up about the day his son won his first and only ARCA race at Charlotte. “I think the night that Adam won his ARCA race here. The biggest deal for me personally. And for all of us to stand in a victory lane,” stated Kyle in an emotional voice. Reiterating his content remembrance of the events, he said, “That was a big deal.”

Notably, Kyle held the record until his son, Adam, became the youngest racer to do so. Adding insights of his own from his recollection of the event and highlighting his grandson’s achievement, Richard Petty said, “Adam comes along, first race he runs in ARCA, he wins it. He becomes six months earlier than Kyle did. So he was the youngest winner. So that was a big night for the Petty family.” 

Although Kyle Petty switched his number multiple times across his career, not many people know the reason for his switch from 44 to 45 Chevy. It was in honor of his late son, Adam, who was supposed to drive number 45 at the 2000 NASCAR Cup Series season. 

Like Kyle Petty, Adam contributed significantly to NASCAR

Although motorsports has seen some rough patches throughout its stay, the year 2000 was particularly notable, and not for good reasons. Alongside Adam Petty, NASCAR lost two other promising young men in racing crashes, namely, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Tony Roper. Although one of the saddest moments in the sports’ history, these tragedies spearheaded a safety revolution in NASCAR. 

Nevertheless, as fate had it, it was another tragedy that acted as a catalyst in the entire process. It was legendary driver Dale Earnhardt‘s crash in 2001 that was the final nail in the coffin of unsafe NASCAR basics. His three-car crash at the Daytona 500 is still afresh in the fans’ hearts. Notably, Richard “the King” Petty had his own close encounter, where he almost lost his eyesight to a crash.  

Post 2001, NASCAR, in collaboration with manufacturers and academics, got into the very details of the vehicles and other associated gears and highlighted a few key points of concern. Head restraints, better seats, better belts, soft walls, and crash recorder boxes were the 5 major changes to be incorporated as a result. Had the safety tweaks come a couple of decades earlier, Adam Petty might have had many more records to his name, potentially surpassing Kyle Petty, Richard Petty, and many more. Gone too soon, indeed.