Kyle Petty Quotes (38 Quotes)


    Why do I like racing I was too lazy to work and too chicken to steal.

    This time of year is like the reverse of Christmas. You automatically assume the worst of everyone and everyone's intentions.

    This sponsorship allows us some friendly competition, which is always fun. We are especially grateful to Checkers for their donation to the Victory Junction Gang, our camp for terminally ill children. We look forward to racing the Checkers Gator car at Miami.

    The guys at the shop were here when Adam's accident happened, the majority of those guys. So it's huge for them to think, OK, five years ago for us, where we were at, and then where we are at this year at Daytona is a huge difference.

    If Adam was here, I probably wouldn't be driving today.


    We can make tires safer. We can make walls safer.

    This was basically a tire-management race. I know some teams had issues, but we never had any problems.

    Robbie has been a part of our family for a long time, and we're happy to have him come home,

    You know, that's a hard question. You can't say the sport expanded too quickly, because it didn't expand at all for 45 years. Was Japan a stretch for us, running an exhibition race there Yeah, I think it was. Was Mexico a stretch Hmmm ...

    With these two working together, it'll take Petty Enterprises to another level, ... My job -- and it's been made clear to me by Robbie -- is to sit my butt in a race car and drive it and keep my mouth shut.

    I had to be the only child in this country who ever called his father 'The King.'

    The issue we were not going to get into was like when we put ourselves into a box with John Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi a couple of years ago, ... We wanted to keep three teams but we didn't have a sponsor. We went out and hired a driver but we couldn't find a sponsor for the team ... but had to pay a driver for a couple of years that we didn't have a car for. We're not going to put ourselves in that position again.

    It was a night race when nothing else was a night race,

    can't be penalized enough for doing that, money, points, everything.

    The demand was really for the night race. You could always get tickets to the day race up here in the spring. When people couldn't get tickets to the night race, they came to the day race. TV did a lot for the night race. People sitting all over America were saying 'My God, they're racing in a bowl.' They were used to Daytona and Charlotte. I think it's the curiosity as much as anything.

    In a lot of ways it's just like wine. It's aged very, very well. I just think everything about the place has gotten better.

    If you asked me four or five years ago I'd have said it wasn't important (to have a proven winner). If you asked me three years ago, I'd probably have said it was a little more important and if you asked me last year I probably would have said it's critical.

    It's a funny thing, because I thought the longer I went, the easier it would get. The truth is, the longer it goes, the harder it gets.

    I have to be honest and say I think NASCAR was a lot more proactive in this situation than anybody has given them credit for. Did Dale's accident speed that up Yes it did.

    A driver that you have to sell on safety shouldn't be driving. I don't want to drive with somebody that's crazy enough to throw caution to the wind. These guys that drive out here are professionals and they understand the consequences of every action they make on the racetrack.

    Anything can happen here at Bristol, and when it happens it happens quickly. That's why it's hard to avoid wrecks. We just don't have enough time to slow down or make a move around them. You have a car spin . . . it can collect three or four other guys and block the track.

    There's always only five or six guys, maybe seven or eight guys that can win. There's another 15 or 20 that can slide in and win. When you look at the consistent guys, I'm only going to pick the standard seven or eight.

    I run 20-25 miles during the week ... but you really watch what you eat, I think that's the main thing.

    What happens is the guys on the team hear what is going on, and it affects what they are doing. It can be a pretty big demoralizer. Sure, drivers come and go, but telling your crew that you'll be gone in 16-17 months can affect a lot of things between now and the time of your New Year's Eve party going into 2007.

    Obviously, keeping secrets in this garage isn't particularly a tradition or anything. You have the three main methods of communication ... telephone, telegraph and tell somebody in the Cup garage. Still, it could be done.

    Our focus has to be the 43 car because that's our brand. That's who we are. In a day and time when everything is marketing, we can't afford to let that brand go away.

    I never thought I had to live up to Richard Petty, ... I never had to live up to anything but what I expected.

    I look at it as smart growth. Smart marketing. Is there a case to be made that we're too many places and we're too many places too fast There probably is. But at the same time, there's not a seat to be had in the house, and people are tuning in all over the country. So you can't argue against it, either.

    The problem isn't necessarily the driver signing a contract in August of 2005 to race for another team in 2007,

    Petty Enterprises driverCEO Kyle Petty says both parties could lose. If McMurray pouts, it will hurt his reputation. But if Ganassi plays too hard a ball, ... Jamie signed a contract, and he should live up to his contract.

    From a company standpoint, the 43 is important. It has to win. That's who we are. That's who we'll always be. For longevity and for what we need, we need the 43 to win.

    It's no secret that I love driving sports car and especially racing in the Rolex 24. Brian has been generous enough to let me share this ride, and it's pretty cool to have Boris as a teammate as well. Boris is a tremendous road-racer and he has proved he can win in anything he races. Brian is a competitor, too, but more importantly, he's just a great guy. I'm excited about this weekend.

    It's a runaway. In 10 races, it can be close, but it also can be a blowout. And a blowout in the Chase is like watching San Francisco score four touchdowns against San Diego in the first 3 of the Super Bowl. Nobody stayed for the second quarter.

    Having Tony's support has been huge for Victory Junction. He was one of the first drivers to get on board with us, and beyond the money he and his foundation have donated to the camp, he's brought notoriety, which has helped fuel interest in the camp. It's just one more example of how when we're on the track we're fierce competitors, but off the track we're all united in trying to improve the lives of others, especially children. I've always admired his charitable work and it's an honor to have him as a part of the Victory Junction family.

    Consistently running second or third gets you a championship every year in our series. That hasn't changed. You can talk about the Chase all you want, but . . . you're still going to get people who have a shot at the championship or are in the top 10 who haven't won races. There's nothing wrong with that.

    When we looked at it, we'd made very little progress over the last four or five years. We weren't going in the right direction, so we had to look outside our own circle.

    The loss of a child is totally different because it's contrary to nature, ... When it happens, you question everything you've ever known.

    We had a great, great run, ... I can't really complain. We've struggled all year. To come here and have a good run was good for us.


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