Kyle Petty Charity Ride set for 22nd run across America

Rea White

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Kyle Petty Charity Ride set for 22nd run across America image

Kyle Petty seems a bit amazed to be getting ready to hit the road for the 22nd time.

Awed by the support he's received over the years and embracing the family nature of his event, the NASCAR driver turned NBC TV analyst is prepping to embark on the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America.

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Kyle Petty heads the charity ride across America for the 22nd time. (All photos via kylepettycharityride.com)

This year, more than 200 bikers will make the 2,150-mile trek for charity, specifically the Victory Junction camp founded in 2004 in honor of Kyle Petty's late son, Adam, and serving children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

A handful of riders will be making the run with Petty for the 22nd time, among them legendary driver Harry Gant and journalist Al Pearce. Petty himself has made every ride as well. But it's the tale of a couple who joined him from the start that exhibits what this ride means to the people willing to put in so many miles on a motorcycle in a short period of time in an effort to raise money and awareness for others.

The Bartels have made every ride with the group — but that first one was planned as a one-day outing. The initial ride started at the Sa Francisco 49ers training camp. David and Renee Bartels are owners of Piedmont Moving Systems in San Jose, Calif. They knew Petty from sponsor work in racing and decided to ride the trip's first leg. And just kept going.

"They wanted to ride with us, so they jumped on their motorcycle and they rode from San Jose down to L.A., Huntington Beach," Petty said. "So we got down there and they were just going to ride down, spend the night and ride back the next day."

The Bartels got then asked where the ride was going the next day. Las Vegas, Petty said.

"They said, 'Well, we'll just ride to Vegas and then we'll swing up to San Jose,' " Petty said.

They talked about it that day and discovered the next stop was Phoenix, so decided to ride there as well then swing back up the West Coast and head home.

"Every day they went to a Kmart or a Walmart and bought clothes and bought their stuff and the next thing I know, they're in Charlotte, North Carolina, with us," Petty said. "And they rode all the way across and had only planned on a one-day ride when they left home. They rode for nine days with us. They've gone back and for 22 years, they've been there and been a part of the ride."


On the road again: The Bartels have been on the Petty tour 21 times.

That 22 years of the ride — for all involved — still seems to stun Petty.

"I've got to be honest, I've talked about it before when we got to 20 years, I can't believe we've been doing it this long," he said. "Really, honestly, after we did it that first year we said, 'Man, it will never get any better than that, let's not do it anymore.' The next year we kind of did it again and just kind of fell into a routine and here we are, 22 years later and still doing the same thing."

He points out that a lot of things start out in life with someone thinking about something fun to do, then they kind of take off and become a tradition.

"It was like a one-time deal that you looked at and you thought, 'This is fantastic.' You never thought about it getting any bigger," he said. "But so many things played in to that," he said, things like drivers coming along and people wanting it to keep going. "… It kind of took on a life of its own. Where it's like if you don't do it, then people kind of question why."

This one, however, is a tradition that has helped children annually.

At first, the ride raised funds for various children's hospitals. That changed with the loss of Petty's son, Adam, in 2000 and the ensuing creation of Victory Junction, a stunning facility geared toward helping chronically ill children enjoy summer camp.

That quickly became the focus.

"It had become a family thing where Adam rode and everybody rode with us and guys on the ride — Harry Gant brought his daughters and people started bringing their wives," Petty said. "It just became more of a family thing and after Adam's accident, then the focus became the camp and once it became the camp, then that's the reason we ride and that became the focal point of everything. I think before that it was as much for us as it was for anything and after that it was as much for the kids."

This year's ride begins April 30 and concludes on May 6, a time of year that was initially picked to match the off weekend in racing and get riders home for Mother's Day, but has continued because of a variety of additional factors including weather conditions and how well it works without conflicting with family vacations.

For the 22nd annual ride, the bikers' trek begins in Palm Springs, Calif., with a final stop in Biloxi, Miss. On May 6. This year, seven-time champion Richard Petty, Hall of Fame nominee Hershel McGriff, former NFL star Herschel Walker, NASCAR star Donnie Allison and Gant are among those making the ride.

"This will be a fun ride," Petty said.

For Petty, the ride still seems to be a thrill. Times have changed dramatically. The ride requires in-depth planning for gas stops, hotel rooms and food stops. But it still holds that family atmosphere — and the chance to meet fans along the way. All for an outstanding cause — Victory Junction.

"It's really amazing," he said. "We'll go through towns where the population may be 1,000 to 1,500 people and we'll meet 200 people at a gas station in the middle of town, which just blows me away … We hang around and talk to them and take pictures.

"It's kind of a moving circus, is really kind of what it is."

Rea White