NASCAR Legend Kyle Petty Rides for Charity
Eight-time NASCAR winner joins other racing and sports stars at Portland to Milwaukee ride supporting Victory Junction in North Carolina.
Anyone with the need to go fast ends up on a motorcycle. There’s nothing like having the wind pushing against you and the engine humming away below you. Kyle Petty, former NASCAR driver who won eight races during his career, is a huge Harley-Davidson fan and takes one epic journey every year to raise money for his charity via the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
As Fox 6 Now reports, for this year’s ride, Petty got on top of a Harley and rounded up some other enthusiasts to tag along in an amazing journey from Portland, Ore., to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wis., earlier this month. The large group of riders, which were led by Petty himself, left Oregon on May 13 and arrived in Wisconsin on May 19. The 2,400-mile journey wasn’t exactly easy.
“The ride was fun this year. A little challenging,” said Petty. “We got rain, some snow, wind. Saw some sunshine. Saw the sun set from Minneapolis and that’s the only time we saw the sun all week, but it was a fun ride.”
‘Rode a Sportster when I was in school. Been riding Harleys my whole life.’
The first trip started off as a single event that was supposed to be shared by Petty and his close group of friends. According to the report, Petty’s friends encouraged the NASCAR driver to ride a motorcycle from California to North Carolina and thus a tradition was born.
“Everybody called back next year and said ‘let’s do that again, man,’ so we did it again and here, 23 years later, we are still doing the same thing,” said Petty. This year’s expedition was the 23d for the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. And in that time, the charity has raised a large amount of money for Victory Junction in North Carolina, which is a camp that’s dedicated to children with chronic or life-threatening diseases, claims Fox 6 Now.
“We raised, I think, $17.5 million since that first one – not including this year,” said Petty.
Petty wasn’t the only NASCAR driver to take part in the charity ride. Richard “The King” Petty and Donnie Allison, two NASCAR legends in their own right, also attended. Former football stars Herschell Walker and George Rogers got on their bikes and completed the journey, reports the outlet.
While Petty is best known for his time on the track, he’s been a massive Harley-Davidson fan since he was young. “Rode a Sportster when I was in school,” said Petty. “Been riding Harleys my whole life. Kind of like my dad. He always ran those Dodges and those Chrysler products. I gotta ride Harley.”
Getting to join NASCAR royalty and see the world on a bike seem like two amazing reasons to join the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. But getting to help a great cause just puts the ride over the top. Here’s to hoping the charity, and the cross-country trip continue for another 23 years.
