#44 The History of NASCAR w/ Kyle Petty
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2017
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR in 1948, his goal was to turn stock car racing from an activity associated with bootlegging roughnecks into a successful spectator sport. To say he accomplished that goal would be an understatement, as the once-regional sport has become one of the most popular in the United States. How did this happen? And how did a competition once associated with outlaws and rogues become one of the most family-friendly sports in modern America? Anyone who knows NASCAR history will tell you that you can't answer these questions without talking a lot about the Petty Family, and in this episode we do just that. Ladies and gentlemen, in episode #44 of The Road to Now, we talk the history of NASCAR with NASCAR icon Kyle Petty.
Kyle Petty is an American Stock Car racer who earned 173 top-ten finishes and 8 wins in his three decades behind the wheel in NASCAR. The Petty family, which also includes Kyle's grandfather Lee, his father Richard, and his son, Adam, is unquestionably one of the most significant families in the history of NASCAR. Since retiring in 2008, Kyle began working as a race analyst for top networks, and currently works on pre- and post-race coverage for NBC. Kyle is also the founder of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America, which has raised over $17 million to benefit children's charities. Since 2004, the ride has benefitted Victory Junction, which was founded to enrich the lives of children suffering from chronic or life-threatening illnesses. Victory Junction was founded by the Petty Family in honor of Kyle's son Adam, who died tragically on the racetrack in 2000.
For more on this an other episodes of The Road to Now, go to our website: www.theroadtonow.com.
The Road to Now is hosted by Bob Crawford of The Avett Brothers and Dr. Benjamin Sawyer of Middle Tennessee State University, and produced by Bob, Ben and Ian Skotte.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR in 1948, his goal was to turn stock car racing from |
| 0:06.0 | an activity associated with a bootlegging roughnecks into a successful spectator sport. |
| 0:11.0 | To say he accomplished that goal would be an understatement, as the once regional sport has become one of the most popular in the United States. |
| 0:17.0 | But how did this happen? And how did a competition once associated with |
| 0:21.4 | outlaws and rogues become one of the most family-friendly sports in modern America? |
| 0:26.1 | Anyone who knows NASCAR history will tell you that you can't answer these questions without |
| 0:30.0 | talking a lot about the Petty family. And in this episode, we do just that. |
| 0:34.2 | Ladies and gentlemen, in episode number 44 of The Road to Now, we talked the history of |
| 0:38.4 | NASCAR with NASCAR icon Kyle Petty. |
| 0:49.4 | I'm Bob Crawford, and I'm Ben Sawyer, and this is the Road to Now. |
| 1:03.0 | Well, Bob, today's guest on episode number 44 of The Road to Now is appropriately a man who used to race under number 44. |
| 1:09.2 | The member of the very famous Petty Racing family, a guest is Kyle Petty. |
| 1:14.9 | Yeah, really just so great to have him on the show, and he was so nice to do it. |
| 1:18.7 | And here in North Carolina, he's a legend, just like his father and his grandfather. And it's one of these episodes that you kind of pinch yourself a little bit. |
| 1:26.6 | You know, we get to talk to, we want to talk about the history of NASCAR and racing, |
| 1:31.8 | and we get Kyle Petty and it just can't be any better than that. |
| 1:36.7 | I know, and it's great too because, I mean, for me, I don't know, I've 38 now. |
| 1:41.7 | I don't usually get, like, starstruck by anybody. But, like like I remember Kyle Petty watching it from the time I can remember. I can remember it all. I mean, he started racing like the year I was born. And I grew up watching him race. And it just was great because you get to meet one of those people you always knew and always watched when you were a kid and I used to always watch NASCAR with my grandmother |
| 2:01.5 | and it was just so cool and he's awesome and this is one of things I want to say right now if you're listening right now |
| 2:08.7 | and you're thinking I don't like NASCAR so I don't want to listen this episode or you're not interested |
| 2:13.3 | do not do not stop listening because this guy is i mean petty is clearly an intellectual he is |
| 2:20.4 | clearly smart and he has thought a lot about NASCAR and culture his family's relationship to that |
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