Kyle Petty Uses 7’6” Tall NBA Legend To Take a Sarcastic Dig at His “Blocked” NASCAR Career

He might have been the son of one of the greatest of all time, but Kyle Petty arguably did not have the best of careers in NASCAR. Of course, being Richard Petty’s son would add much pressure to anyone even before their career began. Petty even acknowledged not living up to his last name as he took a dig at himself using an NBA example.

The former Cup Series driver won 8 Cup Series races in his career which spanned almost 3 decades. He was never victorious in the championship and had a rather uninspiring end to his career. At the end of it all, he switched to a career in the media rather than on track, something he continues to do even today.

The highs and lows of Kyle Petty’s NASCAR career

In a recent video released by Coca-Cola Racing, Kyle Petty recalled the time when NBA legend Yao Ming visited Charlotte. Petty tried to shoot over the 7’6” basketball player’s head, but his efforts were thwarted much like what he believes happened to his career in motorsports.

“Yao Ming came to Charlotte, I tried to shoot over him a couple of times but that worked about like my racing career. It got blocked,” the 63-year-old said.

Kyle Petty’s career in racing started on an extremely positive note. He won his first-ever race in the ARCA Racing Series at the iconic Daytona International Speedway. In his first full-time season in the Cup Series in 1981, Petty did not win a race but had an impressive points finish in the championship in P12 after multiple top-10 finishes.

At the time he raced for Petty Enterprises but left the team after 1984, for Wood Brothers Racing. He stayed with the team until 1988 and won two races, including the 1987 Coca-Cola 600. Kyle then joined SABCO Racing in 1989, with whom he had his best moments. Six race wins and two P5 finishes in the championship characterized his time with the team that made him a Cup Series contender.

He was the owner-driver of PE2 Motorsports (1997-1998) which he merged with Petty Enterprises in 1999, but things only went downhill after that. The 63-year-old rejoined his family’s team to help his son, Adam, find his footing in the motorsports world. However, Adam Petty met with a crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and tragically lost his life.

Kyle Petty drove for Petty Enterprises till 2008, but he was not the same driver. His best result from 2000 to 2008 was a P22 finish on the points table, in 2002. In 2008, Petty Enterprises merged with Evernham-Gillette Motorsports and the new team did not carry Kyle Petty on, ending his career in the sport as he made the move into a media role.

He might not have been the greatest racer of all time, but Kyle Petty has established himself as one of the most credible and well-respected analysts in NASCAR today. His predictions are usually spot-on and he recently had some interesting thoughts about the Next-Gen car.

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Respected insider reveals “weak spots” in NASCAR today

On an earlier episode of The Kenny Wallace Show, Petty said that while the Next-Gen is in a good place when it comes to intermediate tracks, short-track racing still needs to get better. It is a sentiment that a lot of drivers and fans have shared over the past few months.

“I think there’s still some weak spots in it. I don’t think they’re short-track program, they don’t put on great short-track races. That’s not a good thing for this car. The Speedway stuff is always going to be whatever it is. As long as we run those, the engines and try to restrict them. That’s always going to be what it is,” the 63-year-old said.

It is incredible to see Kyle Petty fight through perhaps one of the most devastating losses a person can experience and still build a successful career in the media. His story isn’t short of inspirational.

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