Friday, May 8, 2009

Kyle Petty Charity Ride Hits The Internet


Friday marks the beginning of Kyle Petty's well-known charity motorcycle ride. This season, Kyle's connections with the day-to-day grind of the NASCAR world are gone.

Petty seemed to be having a lot of fun this week as he posted a multitude of pictures to his Twitter page. That is Petty posing with his daughter Montgomery Lee above. He was riding out to meet his fellow motorcyclists in Washington state. Click here for Petty's Twitter page.

I would strongly encourage NASCAR fans to take a moment and sign-up for Twitter. It is fun, informative and easy to manage. For those already using this free service, use @kylepetty to get all the updates and send Kyle tweets.

Believe it or not, this is Petty's 15th season of the charity ride. This year the Chick-fil-A company is his official corporate sponsor. Petty and over 200 riders will be logging 3,500 miles as they trek from Stevenson, WA to the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Level Cross, NC. To date they have raised over 12 million dollars. Once again, the celebrities will range from charity ride regular Hershel Walker to golfer Davis Love III who may be riding his custom Orange County Chopper.

Perhaps, the biggest news will come along the way when the caravan stops in Kansas City, KS on May 13th. Kyle and Pattie Petty will be officially announcing the opening of a second Victory Junction Gang Camp and holding a groundbreaking ceremony. What an exciting moment for all those involved in this effort.

It's no secret that these last few years have been tough for Kyle where NASCAR is concerned. Looking at him strictly as a father who was motivated by the tragic loss of a son to help others really puts things in a whole new light. What he and his wife have been able to accomplish with the help of corporate sponsors and the NASCAR community in general is simply amazing.

This next week is a tremendous opportunity for NASCAR fans along the charity ride route to say hello and participate in the daily activities. Click here for the wonderful website that will keep Internet users informed of the ride from start to finish.

Each day's travel is listed, so take a moment to see if this year's ride comes through your town. If you take some pictures, please feel free to forward them to us for posting at editor@thedalyplanet.tv or on Twitter at @TheDalyPlanet.

Good luck and a safe ride to all who are participating. Both SPEED and ESPN will have updates on this trip and once again Rutledge Wood will be riding from start-to-finish and relating his experiences on both SPEEDtv.com and Twitter (@RutledgeWood).

TDP welcomes comments from readers. Just click on the comments button below to add your opinion on this topic. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been enjoying Rut's, Kyle's and Montgomery Lee's tweets! It's going to be fun experiencing with them this way!

It's going to be a great time :)

Anonymous said...

JD,
Reminder to everyone that NASCAR Day is May 15th. You can donate by getting your NASCAR Day pin for only $5 by going to:

www.nascar.com/nascarday

Victory Junction Gang Camps is one of the beneficiaries along with some other great pediatric hospitals.

Give if you can. Every pin helps!

Photojosh said...

I really wanted to truck over the mtns to eastern washington and se the kickoff of the ride. But job/wife/baby kind of 86's that idea.

I'm with them in spirit though. Way to go Kyle!

Lesley said...

I dont know how he does It But...I have a son..If I was to ever lose him I would never be that strong..Godbless you and your family Kyle..Screw Nascar!!Its really nothing!!

Anonymous said...

Go Kyle! I've always been a fan of his through the good and the bad. He's had a lot of things thrown at him and I admire the way he handles most of it.

I too have a son and couldn't imagine what Kyle went through nearly ten years ago now. RIP Adam.

Have fun KP!

glenc1 said...

I've been following the ride on the website for a few years now--last year we missed seeing them in person by one day when we were traveling; that was a bummer! Anyways, don't know if they're still doing it but last year I bought my pin at Home Depot (I hate paying S&H....)

50 yr. fan said...

Thanks JD for the great column
reminding us of the tremendous contributions made by the Pettys.
Also Chick-fil-A. I recently saw
them loading out large quantities
of food and drink for the firefighters at the North Myrtle Beach forest fire.

Vicky D said...

I was able to see the ride many years ago when they rode through Houston on I10. Like to follow their progress too but I can't seem to get into Twitter I'm more of a facebook person.

Lou said...

I did not get into this twitter much til recently when I started following Kyle on his trip west. Enjoy his comments and pics, It is fun to follow his adventure.