Skip to main content
Join Now
NASCAR Logo

Kyle Petty recalls grim reality of NASCAR racing in past eras

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•03/27/25•

brianjones_93

Kyle Petty (3)
Sep 28, 2007; Kansas City, KS, USA; Nascar Nextel Cup Series driver Kyle Petty (45) during qualifying for the LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Kyle Petty reflected on an era of NASCAR when it wasn’t as safe as it is now. While speaking to Kevin Harvick on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Petty talked about what drivers had to go through when his dad, Richard Petty, was competing.

“My dad and those guys, those generations were different,” Kyle Petty said. “They had a tremendous amount of respect for each other, and they had a tremendous amount of respect for their equipment because they only had one car. You want the same car at Martinsville you ran at Daytona. You’d thrash that thing everywhere.

“But they never got close to each other. They knew each other, but they didn’t get close. The reason they didn’t get close is because death was still a huge part of the sport in the ’60s. I remember being at Daytona and the way the score stand used to be. There was a playground where my mom would score for my dad.”

Petty continued, “I remember playing with kids there, and their mom would come get them, and you’d never see them again, because their dad had been killed at Daytona. Friday Hassler is a perfect example of a gentleman there was killed there. Never saw his kids again. It was almost 40 years before I ever ran into his kids again.”

Kyle Petty has experienced four different eras of NASCAR

Kyle Petty has been through four different eras of NASCAR. Along with seeing his dad dominate the sport, Petty competed as a driver in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He also experienced his son, Adam Petty, competing in NASCAR in the late ’90s before he died in 2000. Kyle Petty is also watching what the NASCAR drivers are doing now, which is much different from when he and his dad were on the track.

Petty competed in 829 NASCAR Cup Series races in his career. He won five races, including the Coca-Cola 600 in 1987, and earned 173 top-10 finishes. Petty’s last Cup Series race was in November 2008 when he finished 39th at Phoenix.

Richard Petty is considered by many as the greatest driver in NASCAR history. In 1,184 Cup Series races, “The King” earned a record 200 wins, including the Daytona 500 seven times. Petty has also won seven Cup Series championships, which ties him with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson for the most all-time.