Years after his retirement from driving on the NASCAR circuit, the miles keep coming for Kyle Petty, and so do the milestones. This year, both the miles and milestones are big numbers.
The Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America gears up this week for its 30th-anniversary edition, a cross-country motorcycle run scheduled May 1-9 that closely retraces the route and celebrates the roots of the fundraising initiative’s first voyage. The event raises both financial support and awareness for Victory Junction, a North Carolina-based camp that provides fun-filled experiences for children with serious medical challenges and their families.
RELATED: About the Kyle Petty Charity Ride
This year’s Ride will feature a group of approximately 150 motorcycle enthusiasts accumulating nearly 3,400 miles in a trek that runs from Sonoma, California, back home to Charlotte — same as it did in 1995. From where the Charity Ride began to where it is now, Petty says he still marvels at the event’s staying power.
“I have to admit that this one has kind of hit me,” Petty says. “I mean, we just kind of floundered along, and now it’s 15, and then it’s 20, and then it’s 25 and you think, man, 30 is coming, it’s just another date, but it’s not. It’s a big deal — 30 is a big deal, you know. I think there’s so many other things that have started and kind of fallen by the wayside, and we’ve done this … I mean, I told somebody the other day, I said they were racing at Rockingham when I started this thing, and then it went away — things you never thought would go away — and now they’re back again, thank goodness. But it is. This is a big deal.”
While some previous Charity Rides have crisscrossed major swaths of the country with regional routes, Petty and co. opted for a coast-to-coast haul through 11 states to commemorate the 30th. True to previous editions, the Ride visits several notable landmarks and roadside attractions: the Graceland museum in Memphis, the original Bass Pro Shops in Missouri, the winding Tail of the Dragon road in the Appalachian Mountains, and “Loneliest Road in America” Highway 50 and a portion of the iconic Route 66 — both celebrating their centennials this year.
As good fortune would have it, the anniversary-edition Ride serves up all that Americana while dovetailing with the 250-year celebration of the United States’ founding.
“It’s crazy the way things work out,” Petty says. “Nobody planned in 1995 when we started this thing that it was going to be America 250. You just never thought about that, and so we wanted to do something ‘America’ this year and embrace that, too.”
Many folks wanted in. The 150 slots quickly filled up less than 72 hours after applications went out, and riders from 35 states and two Canadian provinces answered the call. As usual, special guests are scheduled to make the trip – Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Matt Kenseth, plus former NASCAR veterans Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace. NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton will make a full-circle trip, bookending this year’s journey with his participation in the first.
Of this year’s participants, 26 are newcomers, while Petty estimates that nearly 50 riders have been with the Charity Ride for 20-plus years. It’s that blend that keeps the 65-year-old Petty going, with friendships and fellowship fostered on the open road.
“You don’t know how many times I’ve ridden a motorcycle in a pack with this group of people and just watched them as I drove by and looked at their face and looked at their smile and the bike they were riding, and I just think, ‘what keeps you coming back, man? Why are you here? This is your 10th year. This is your 15th year. You know? I mean, what keeps you coming back?'” Petty says. “And then you stop and you get off the bike, and you talk and have a Coke, and you’re in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere Utah or nowhere Oklahoma. And it’s just you and this group of people, and there’s a bond that is formed.
“Obviously, it’s helping camp,” he continues. “That is one of the big reasons, and that will always be the reason is to send more and more kids to camp. But I think for me, it’s also the people that ride and the people that we meet along the way. It is absolutely fascinating.”
At the heart of the ride’s cause is Victory Junction, which opened in 2004 to honor the memory and spirit of Kyle’s son, Adam Petty. Since the Charity Ride began in 1995, riders and donors have helped raise more than $23 million for the year-round camp and other children’s charities.
“Over 150,000 kids and their families have benefited from camp free of charge, which just fascinates me, and the charity ride is the largest continual donor,” Petty explains. “So we feel a huge responsibility that if we go out and raise $1,000, that $1,000 is going to camp. If we go out and raise a million, that million dollars is going to camp. That’s kind of the way it is. Camp just continues to thrive and to flourish and to just be something that’s just taken on a life of its own, but that’s because of these kids. That’s because of the kids, and I’ve said it before. People always point at it and say, ‘How’s your camp going?’ And I will say, ‘It’s not our camp. It’s the kids’ camp. We’re just the caretakers.’ We that donate, we that look after it, we that help support it, we’re just caretakers so that these kids have a place to come enjoy.”
