Kyle Petty putting it all into Victory Junction Gang Camp

[Schwartz Fan]

Kyle Petty putting it all into Victory Junction Gang Camp
By JIM PEDLEY
The Kansas City Star

The last couple of months have not been wonderful for Kyle Petty.

Not only has progress on the track been slow for his Petty Enterprises team, but last week it was announced that NASCAR’s oldest and most victorious organization was being acquired by Boston Ventures, a private equity firm.

There could be a good side to all of that, however, and the beneficiaries may be critically ill children.

Petty said Monday that Boston Ventures’ acquisition of Petty Enterprises probably will free up more time for him in his efforts to build a Victory Junction Gang Camp near Kansas City.

“It helps a lot,” Petty, who stopped in town to talk to local organizers of efforts to build the camp in Wyandotte County for ill children, said of effects of having equity-firm personnel begin making decisions about the team. “Especially for me. I think the Boston Venture (deal) can be good.”

Petty and his wife, Pattie, are the driving force behind the original Victory Junction Gang Camp. They built that camp, which is located near their home in North Carolina, to honor the memory of their son, Adam, who died in a crash during practice in New Hampshire in 2000.

The camp offers an experience like summer camp to children with severe illnesses without charge to the children’s families.

It is supported by donations — some from race fans and some from inside the NASCAR community. It has become, in fact, the unofficial charity of NASCAR drivers and teams. Two weeks ago, driver Tony Stewart gave Petty a check for $1 million — all of it earmarked for the Kansas City camp.

The original camp became so popular since it opened in 2004, that it now cannot serve all of the children who would like to attend. So, the Pettys began to explore the idea of building a second camp. They have picked the Kansas City area as the best place for it.

In addition to driving in the Sprint Cup series, Petty has had to help run the team founded by his grandfather and owned by his father, Richard “The King” Petty until last week. That’s all on top of working as a television analyst and overseeing the Victory Junction program.

“I think that my husband set the tone years ago being a hero, showing that it’s not all about you,” Pattie Petty said recently, “There are bigger meanings than just riding around in circles.”

Petty said Monday that probably the only reason he keeps doing all those things, as well as playing an active part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience performance driving schools, is to benefit the camp. He uses all of that, he said, as a “platform” to help children.

Now, much of the burden of running Petty Enterprises has transferred to Boston Venture.

“Oh yeah it does, it does free up time,” he said.

And for Petty, time is money for sick children.

www.kansascity.com | 06/16/2008 | Kyle Petty putting it all into Victory Junction Gang Camp