By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
The 29th Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America is in the books and as usual, it’s provided gratitude across the board.
Last month, Kyle led 125 motorcycles with more than 225 participants such as his father Richard Petty, Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, and VP & Global Brand Ambassador of Harley-Davidson Bill Davidson, on a seven-day adventure traveling over 1,400 miles and made stops at some of the finest venues you’ll find in the United States.
From its starting point at Traverse City, Michigan, to its final spot in Hot Springs, Virginia, the ride raised $1.4 million for Victory Junction, a camp in Randleman, North Carolina, which allows children with chronic medical illness to attend the camp at no cost to their family members.
“It was fantastic,” Kyle told Motorsports Tribune in a follow-up from our previous feature on the charity ride in April.
“We met some great people, had a great time and you know, we’re gonna be able to send a lot of kids to camp and we hope they have a great time a camp.”
Among the places they’ve stopped at ranged from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland to the Niagara Falls. Even if the weather varied, including some rain which they didn’t fret about, it was all smiles, enjoying the stops, and creating an incredible bond that’ll last beyond the ride last month.
One particular town stood out to Kyle was Clyde, New York, a village less than 50 miles east of Syracuse, where the riders were given a hero’s welcome and spent 90 minutes enjoying meals.
It also goes past Clyde, Kyle mentioned the hospitality of Bedford, Pennsylvania, where they were given the key to the city.
For the gearheads, they spent 4-5 hours at the Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan which featured many historic cars, including the 1956 “Full Jewelled” No. 300-B Kiekhaefer Chrysler stock car Buck Baker won his first championship in what is known as the NASCAR Cup Series.
They’ve also met guy who didn’t work at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but just sat the lobby who knew the history of each guitar at the museum. Even dabbling into a music jam session which Kyle is no stranger to with his known music background.
“That was the fun part,” said Kyle. “They have an area where we can play and there’s enough guys on the ride to play drums, guitars, and sing. We just got up and we had our own little live karaoke there for probably 30 minutes to an hour at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“When you walk through there and you see Elvis’s stuff, you see The Rolling Stones stuff, you see (Bruce) Springsteen, you see all these people who you’ve listened to your whole life. Then you see Chuck Berry and the people that formed the foundation of what rock and roll is, and you see and read about what they played and what they did.
“It’s just makes you appreciate the songs you hear on the radio a lot. It makes you appreciate the music so much more. I think that’s what we all took away from it because like I said, there’s a lot of people in that ride that play. Everybody listens (to music), but there’s still a lot of people that play.”
Each stop, no matter how big or small, resulted in a great and humble experience for Kyle and everyone in the charity ride.
“It’s humbling when these cities come out and the kids and the grandfathers, the parents and everybody and they come out, they fed us pasta in the town square, the office, the local families cooked. They did everything the mayor gave us to key to the city. It was small town America, but it was big heart America,” Kyle explained.
“In the end, that’s the way you look at it. But we just met great people along the way to kind of come into your life for a few hours, but you remember them forever.”
A venture that began with people arriving at the trek as total strangers, but in the end become a part of the family and it always rings true for Kyle.
Ranging from his family participating to even coordinating the event, he’s grateful to have them a part of the journey. Most notably, his wife Morgan and their three children Overton—which marked his sixth charity ride and already been in 27 states—Cotton, and Davant.
Petty explained the involvement of Morgan which also includes her mom Valerie Castano, one of the many people who keeps the KPCR afloat across the board.
Valerie’s responsibility is running the hotel crew and along with the luggage guys, who call her “mama,” they travel ahead of each day, so their belongings are already there at the destination they’re stopping.
“She’s amazing. She takes off as we lead up to the ride,” Kyle on Castano. “She and one of her friends, Audrey, they come into the office and help Morgan and try to box things up and get things to help her out a little bit. But they have become a huge part of the ride in the last, I don’t know, eight or 10 years and we couldn’t ride without them. Lemme just say that.”
With amazing partnerships such as Prevost, that provided a motorcoach for Kyle’s family, Coca-Cola, Dodge Law, and Harley-Davidson to name few. Along with the people who participate in the charity ride, it not only gives Kyle a unique perspective, but also showcases the passionate support.
“There’s so many partners that we have,” Kyle commented. “It’s like I say, you know when you call up and tell somebody ‘You’re coming to town with a charity, right?’ They say, ‘Yeah, you and a thousand other people.’
“But then you tell them Coca-Cola’s involved, Harley-Davidson’s involved, Dodge is involved, Prevost involved, Wiley X, Blue-Emu, Goody’s, so many sponsors and partners are involved.
“Then you bring Richard Petty and Herschel Walker, Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace, and Max Papis.
“They’re like, ‘Yeah, this sounds different, man. Let’s do it!’ So, it gives you credibility and I think that’s a big thing,” Kyle concluded.
Kyle explained that without any of them, there wouldn’t be a charity ride or Victory Junction.
“There’s no Kyle Petty without fans. There’s no Kyle Petty Charity Ride. There’s no Victory Junction,” he said. “There’s not any of that without the fans that support the camp, that support the ride, that support us all year long. So, thank you to everybody.”
While the event’s 30th renewal may seem a way’s away, the Petty family are well underway in the planning department with Morgan already putting the pieces together for next year’s charity ride.
Although Kyle commented that any form of announcements aren’t set in stone, they do have plans in correlating the charity ride with the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence in 2026.
“It might be a year away, but it’s here. It’s already here,” said Kyle. “For the 30th, Morgan has been working tirelessly on this thing and before we went on this ride and since we’ve gotten back from this ride, she’s working harder now. It seems like that she was when we started the ride, and I think the thing is we just gotta plan something big.
“Next year is America’s 250th birthday and it’s our 30th anniversary on of the ride. There’s so many things that we can incorporate and try to do together, and it’ll be a long ride. I’m gonna say that we’re going back across the country again, so we’ll figure it out. We’re still working on it. I don’t have anything to report on it, but it won’t be long.”
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