Raising the Red Flag

Third-generation NASCAR driver and dad Kyle Petty on receiving the heartbreaking news of his son's tragic crash

-  KYLE PETTY

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is an American institution. While NASCAR has struggled in recent years over issues such as lack of diversity among drivers and owners, its historic affinity for the Confederate flag and its weighty carbon footprint, it is still a wildly popular spectator sport, bringing in over $500 million in annual revenue. After a two-year dip in viewership, in 2022, NASCAR's marquee event, the Daytona 500, saw its audience nearly double to close to 8.9 million-though still down from its historic highs in the early 2000s like 2006's almost 19.4 million viewers. And among NASCAR drivers, Kyle Petty is known as "royalty." A third-generation driver, son of NASCAR's winning-est driver ever, Kyle won his first stock-car race at the record-breaking age of 18, only to be bested by his own son Adam 19 years later. Less than two years later, Adam died in a tragic training accident. In his memoir, SWERVE OR DIE (St. Martin's Press, August), Kyle shares his experiences on and off the track as a driver, CEO of successful Petty Enterprises, sports announcer and as a father-and talks about the past and future of NASCAR. The following excerpt lays bare when Kyle first heard about Adam's accident.

I WAS IN ENGLAND WITH MY daughter Montgomery Lee, looking at Welsh horses.

My son Adam was at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway with his red-and-black No. 45 Sprint PCS Chevrolet. His regular guys were at the track with him. A rising young racer and his crew, all good friends, doing exactly what they wanted to be doing with their lives. The Busch 200 was set for Saturday. Friday was for practice and qualifying. All of which just gave me another reason to smile.