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Back to the track Kyle Petty to drive for first time since son’s death
Posted: Saturday June 03, 2000 01:47 PM
DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Kyle Petty sat at the front of room, his head slumped, his voice breaking. He wiped his eyes from behind dark glasses. Exactly three weeks ago, his son was killed in a car crash, jolting racing's most famous family. Now the father was back at the track, drawing solace from the surroundings he knows best. "I've been totally devastated by this, and the only way for me is to go back and do this," Petty said Friday in his first public appearance since 19-year-old Adam Petty died. "I haven't been back in the car, so I'm looking forward to it to see if it takes my mind off it." Adam was one of Kyle's three children, the first fourth-generation NASCAR driver. He was killed May 12 while practicing his Busch Grand National car at New Hampshire International Speedway. Kyle Petty decided he needed to come to Dover Downs International Speedway. Staying at home simply was too difficult. The cars and crews and sounds of the track offered the prospect of comfort. "This is the furthest I've been from home in two weeks," he said. Petty, wearing a blue denim shirt, his hair pulled back in a pony tail, fought back tears at his news conference. His wife, Patti, was a few feet away, anguish lining her face. Kyle Petty turned 40 on Friday, a birthday with the trappings of a wake. After the accident in New Hampshire, Petty stayed away from the track, skipping NASCAR's annual all-star race and the Coca-Cola 600. He wasn't ready to go public with his grief. Now, at Dover, he was willing to try. "Driving up Thursday night was the toughest part," he said. "Adam would kick my butt if he knew we didn't go to Charlotte. Adam was going to drive the Busch and Winston Cup races last week. And I just couldn't bring myself to race at Charlotte." Kyle is the son of NASCAR great Richard Petty and grandson of Lee Petty, who won the first Daytona 500 in 1959. Lee died at 86, three days after Adam made his Winston Cup debut in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 2. Five years ago, Kyle Petty won at Dover in the MBNA Platinum 400. He will do double duty this weekend, driving his own Winston Cup car on Sunday and Adam's Busch car on Saturday. "We sat down with the crew and asked if they wanted to continue to race," Petty said. "They all wanted to continue, but didn't want to see anybody else in the car other than me." Racing will be the easiest part. "Just because something bad happens, doesn't mean you quit," he said. "As much as Adam loved racing he wouldn't stop, so we won't. This is what I do. This is what we've done as a family." He said his son's death and the outpouring of sympathy made him understand how important racing is to so many people. "I didn't realize how many lives we touch," he said. "The fans become part of your family." Petty is not certain if he will drive Adam's Busch car for the rest of the season. He'll decide week by week. "I don't know if driving is the best way to cope," he said. "But it's the only way I know." Pictures of Adam Petty are not hard to find these days wherever stock cars are run. Kyle Petty says he can deal with all the reminders, because he has the best picture of all. "He is still so fresh in my mind and in my heart that I can look out across the racetrack and see him," he said. "So I don't need a photograph."
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