Kyle Petty Charity Ride Diary: Day 4

Greetings from Omaha!

It was another long day on the road as we traveled 494 miles from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Omaha, Nebraska.

Credit: Phil Cavali

We started our morning off, fueling up at a Kum & Go in downtown Cheyenne before getting on Interstate 80 heading east. I had the opportunity to meet two football coaches from the University of Wyoming during the gas and go.

They are huge race fans and have taken it upon themselves to educate the state of Wyoming on racing through a show on their local radio station. I think it was definitely the highlight of their morning when they got the opportunity to interview their favorite driver -- Ken Schrader.

As we continued down Interstate 80, we stopped in the towns of Sidney, North Platte and Kearney. The race fans we're definitely out in full force to cheer us on today. Kearney had about 300 fans out at our gas stop.

Credit: Phil Cavali

One of the doctors traveling with the Charity Ride is from Kearney, and I think he was the biggest celebrity there. All the local television stations and newspapers in Kearney wanted to interview him.

Upon fueling up at a gas station in Lincoln, we headed out to the Nebraska Raceway Park for a little dirt track racing. Did you really think we could go an entire week without a trip to the track? Nebraska Raceway Park is a half-mile dirt track in the middle of a big cornfield about 30 or so miles west of Omaha.

The stands were absolutely packed. The event kicked off with dinner and a meet and greet with a few Sprint customers. Following dinner, I did a parade lap around the track on a Polaris ATV to rev the fans up for the following race.

I was joking earlier that when Schrader found out we were going to a dirt track, he wanted to find out how long it would take to get his car up there. Actually, Kenny and I jumped into two borrowed Late Models and had a quick match race against local drivers.

Its great to go to tracks like Nebraska Raceway Park and meet these talented up and coming drivers. I think the crowd definitely enjoyed two Winston Cup guys running a race. Nebraska Raceway Park donated proceeds from the evening's tickets sales to the Charity Ride.

	Credit: Phil Cavali

I have to thank all the fans that came out to the track on Wednesday evening to support us and help raise money for the ride. We really appreciate it. Today was the last day of the ride for Matt and Katie Kenseth and Jeff and Michelle Green. This was their first year on the Charity Ride and I really think they enjoyed themselves. I'm glad they came along for the ride and hope to have them back next year. It's always cool to bring guys like Terry Labonte, Matt and Jeff along because it adds so much to the fans' excitement in all the towns we visit.

Tomorrow we'll be doing my favorite part of the ride - visiting Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago to participate in another STARBRIGHT World videoconference. I can't wait to hit the Windy City and cruise down Michigan Avenue on my bike.

Until tomorrow,

Kyle