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Kyle Petty Gives Amazing NASCAR History Lesson | Coffee With Kenny · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Happy Friday morning, everybody. He said it right.
• 0:03
  All right, everyone, So as you can tell, it's coffee with Kyle
• 0:07
  and Kenny on this Friday morning.
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  Where we at? We're in Traverse City, MI
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  getting ready to ride motorcycle you've already ridden.
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  Like how far have you ridden so far?
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  Like 600 miles. He's already put in a whole
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  charity ride. But it's awesome I I love the
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  Kyle Petty charity ride and and met his wife Morgan and all the
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  kids but so total people with 125 riders a. 125 bikes, about
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  280 riders, 240 people, I think right along in there because,
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  you know, you got the doctors and the nurses and the cops and
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  are the state patrolman, the motor marshals and the luggage
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  team and the hotel team and the PR team.
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  Yeah. It it takes a lot of people
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  because, because as brother Rusty said, better safe than
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  salt. That's.
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  Exactly right. Safety never takes a holiday,
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  buddy. Remember that.
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  Before we talk about JD Mcduffie, you said something to
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  me on the very first ride. You said that you thought this
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  was about motorcycles. Yeah, but it ended up being
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  about people. It's about people, God.
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  We meet. I think that's why my wife loves
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  us so much. She loves people.
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  Yeah, and it's great Kim is riding this year.
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  I'm so excited to it's. All you.
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  Listen, I'm so excited. She rode in here raining
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  everywhere and she got off the bike with a huge smile on her
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  face. But it is about the people, you
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  know, it's George and DD from from Fort Lauderdale.
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  You know, it's, it's just people that you meet that you've met
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  and they become good friends, man.
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  And no matter where you see them, you see them in a
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  racetrack, you see them at the mall, you see them somewhere.
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  They're from all over California, Texas, Louisiana,
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  Connecticut. They're from all over the
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  country. Right.
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  OK, so before we talk about JD, one more thing.
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  OK? And this is just me being a
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  lover and showing respect. Where can we go to donate a
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  little bit of money? Because camp is incredible.
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  I've been there. It's the real deal.
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  Where can they go? Yeah, you.
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  Can go to victoryjunction.org or if you want to go through the
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  through the ride, just go to kylepettycharityride.com.
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  Follow us at child Kyle Petty charityride.com this year and
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  you're going to see plenty of pictures of my man here signing
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  all grass, talking to fans, making it happen for all the
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  kids at camp. Well, I'm a little shy, but his
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  wife, Morgan, she calls me and she goes, Harmon, you better get
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  on social media. And I said I will.
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  Yeah, he upped his game, man. We broke.
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  We're promoting because it's such a wonderful cause.
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  OK? Yesterday we were at Bailey
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  Land. It's John and Julie Bailey and
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  their children. And of course, if you watched
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  Coffee with Kenny on Thursday, it was all about he sponsored JD
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  Mcduffie it, said Bailey Excavating.
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  Excavating. When you said land, it threw me
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  off a minute 'cause it was a joke.
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  It was. Bailey land, Bailey land, Bailey
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  land. He's got his house, he's got his
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  pond and it's just Bailey land. It's like a lot of fun.
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  So anyway, I'm going to set you up and then I, I would like you
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  taught me a lot about independence and, and your
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  father, I guess you're. Richard.
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  And maybe your grandpa Lee, but JD Mcduffie was an independent.
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  And I just want you to explain to everybody what you saw,
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  because the reason we're doing this coffee with Kenny is if it
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  got way bigger than I thought. And everybody really likes
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  independence. What is your version?
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  So it's a petty of an independent.
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  So an independent was independents came along.
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  Really everybody was an independent in the beginning
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  because nobody had a deal, nobody had sponsors, nobody.
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  If you go back to the 50s, let's go back to the 50s.
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  And if you did have a sponsor, you'd come in to Traverse City
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  and race here and it would be the Grand Traverse Resort
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  because they'd give you free rooms and that was your sponsor.
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  Yeah, free rooms. Free rooms, man, that free meal.
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  You put somebody at a restaurant.
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  So everybody was an independent as the faction, as the
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  manufacturers got into it in the late 50s and 60s, 60s, you had
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  teams that were Chrysler teams, you had teams that were Ford
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  teams and you had teams that were Chevy teams, Pontiac teams,
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  Buick teams. All the manufacturers were in
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  it. And then you had guys that just
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  raced that didn't have a deal. So they were independents.
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  They, they were the independents and they were not going to race
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  against, They struggled to race and win races against the Bud
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  Moors, against the, the Junior Johnsons, against the Petty
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  Enterprises, The Wood Brothers of the 60s and only the said,
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  the home and the Moodys. They were anything but an
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  independent, you know, so, but during that time you had a group
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  of drivers and a group of teams that came out that were, and,
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  and kind of found their place in the sport, especially in the
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  late 60s, early 70s. And you mentioned JD, you had JD
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  Childress was an independent, Richard Childress.
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  Richard Childress was an independent as he rolled into
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  the 70s. He was an independent.
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  Cecil Gordon, John Sears, JCGC Spencer.
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  John Sears was that that. That's not that, Spears.
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  No, no. Sears was from.
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  He was from down around Elleby. He run the number 4 car and
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  Cecil run the number 24. Jeff Gordon can claim the number
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  24 car, but in my heart he's. Cecil Gordon is the 24 car guy
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  named Raymond Williams from He was from Pinehurst, Captain
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  America. He had his car painted up red,
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  white and blue and. Wore a cap.
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  I love it 'cause he was a kid at one time, that's what's burnt
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  into his brain and. James Hilton was an independent.
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  These guys were independents and what they did, they raced.
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  And when they went to the race, yeah, they wouldn't win.
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  They knew they weren't. Going to win, but they knew they
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  weren't going to win. So if they could run in the top
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  ten, right, Oh my gosh, it was the Daytona 500.
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  If they could run in the top 15, it was an amazing day and they
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  set their standards and they run.
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  It was a business model for them and they understood their
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  business model. The Petty Enterprise's business
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  model was to win. The Wood Brothers business model
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  was to win. Junior Johnson was to win.
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  These guys, they made a living. They sent their kids to college.
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  Independence, independence, Independence sent their kids to
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  college. Because they wanted their kids
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  to be better, to do something better, to learn, to have an
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  education. They had incredible houses
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  because they made good money. I mean, it was good money to
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  race it. It wasn't going to be, you know,
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  $100,000, a $150,000 because Richard Betty didn't win 100, a
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  $100,000 in in in the late 60s, early 70s, even if you won all
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  races you didn't win, there was not that much money.
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  But you're making 40 or $50,000 a year, which is a huge, huge.
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  Income so. And, and what what they would do
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  is, you know, Buddy Arrington was an independent.
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  Jimmy Means as he came along later would have been an
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  independent and they would take take off tires.
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  My dad would run, you know, 75 laps at, at at Dover, take the
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  tires off and roll them down the buddy's pit and he would put
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  them on. Hold on.
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  When Kyle talks, this is normal to him.
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  But for all of us, I want to emphasize this.
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  So was it 500 miles of Dover? Yeah.
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  OK, 500 miles of Dover. Cast iron heads, they're always
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  going to crack catastrophic blow UPS.
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  So your dad puts 5075 laps on a tire and you got factory
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  sponsored because your grandpa Lee and your dad were really
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  good and and they got the factory deal.
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  So you you would put those laps on those tires and did your, did
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  you and your team automatically know who did you guys have a
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  deal with? So so there were there were
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  everybody helped you helped different people.
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  Listen, Childress would take children on the three car.
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  He would take anything that junior had that the 11 car.
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  OK, So he and Junior were together, he and Junior.
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  It was children, junior. Chevrolet So we we had we helped
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  Jimmy Means, we helped Buddy Arrington.
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  Jade Thomas was another great independent from the late 60s,
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  the Clown Prince of Motorsports. That's a whole episode I'm.
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  Talking. I think I've heard a little bit
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  about this. You and I fall.
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  Right in the Jay Thomas. Well, we got a little John
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  Force. That's it.
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  You're a winner. You're a winner.
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  So you had you had those guys. So you had three or four teams
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  and, and, but more and The Wood Brothers had three or four
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  teams. Elmo Langley, who came along, he
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  was a, he was a major independent, major independent.
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  So you look at those guys and they made it work.
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  They made race and work because without those guys, and, and I
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  know this is going to sound straight crazy and, and, and I
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  hope it doesn't sound arrogant, but Richard Petty and David
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  Pearson and Kel Yarborough and all those guys, they're not who
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  they are without that group of independents because they've got
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  to have somebody to pass. They got to have somebody to
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  race. They got to make it look like a
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  race. It's got to be something out
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  there. You needed independents.
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  You need them to make the world full of this.
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  To make the show. We would go to Dover sometimes
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  and 40 car feel at the time and, and you go to Dover and they'd
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  only be 36 cars and Bill, Bill Senior or Bill Junior would call
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  up James or call up some of these guys and say, listen, I'll
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  buy you a couple of sets of tires and we'll pay your hotel
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  bill if you'll come up here. Boom, they're up there in the
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  next game. They qualify just to fill the
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  field. But they held NASCAR, helped
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  these independents because that was part of the NASCAR show and
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  that's part of what made things work.
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  So there's some particular things that I want you to tell.
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  OK? Yesterday I told the story that
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  you told me and I think it was a very respectful story because it
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  makes, you know, like those, you know, buddy Eric makes him look
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  good or, or, or JD, you told me that somebody at Petty
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  Enterprises said, take these leaf springs over.
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  Can you remember that story? Yeah, we took, So we take took
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  leaf springs up to Buddy Orintons because we run leaf
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  springs and torsion bars because that's what a Chrysler was, if
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  Chrysler was not Kohl's. Respond right here.
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  Kyle's telling you chassis setups.
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  Leaf springs and torsion bars and you would run them for a
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  while and then you just get new ones.
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  And when you got the new ones, you'd take what you had up to up
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  to buddies and they were new to Buddy.
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  You know, they were better than buddies.
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  And he would have. He had an.
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  You're a kid. You pull up and you're like, oh,
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  this guy's an independent, he's going to live in a something
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  cheap. Yeah, he's going to be in a
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  mobile home and he's going to be in A1 stall shop and you go up
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  there and he and Joey are working in an incredible place,
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  man. And Grow got one of the nicest
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  houses I've ever seen. And I go home and I'm tell my
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  dad I'm like Oh my gosh dude what about this?
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  Why are we giving our stuff to buddy?
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  Have you seen their place? And he's like, and James Hilton
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  was the same way his place was the same way.
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  He had he had a shop with all new equipment and all stuff.
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  And, and my dad said, yeah, here's what we do, 90 cent of
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  every dollar we put back in a race car.
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  OK, 50 Cent of every dollar they put back in a race car because
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  they know even if they put 100% of every dollar, they don't have
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  the factory backing, they don't have that factory support.
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  So that you're just not going to buy your way over the mountain.
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  And we're in that in the sport right now.
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  If you're some of these teams and you're not going to buy your
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  way over the Hendrick Mountain, you're not going to buy your way
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  over the Gibbs Mountain. Buy your way.
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  You're just not going to buy your way, man.
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  So you've got to know your lane, you've got to understand your
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  lane, and you got to maximize it.
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  And these guys knew it long before anybody else, long before
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  anybody else. So this is coffee with Kenny
• 11:06
  Connell and you and I have already done a a Kenny
• 11:09
  conversation. Go to go to YouTube, push in
• 11:12
  Kenny Wallace, Cal Petty. We have over an hour
• 11:15
  conversation with Cal. We love the sport.
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  We can talk forever, but we do got to wrap it up right now.
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  I just wanted to say that, you know, if you go to a casino, you
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  want to win the world. So the more money you gamble, if
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  you lose, you're broke. That's right.
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  And you're telling me that these independents, they knew how much
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  to gamble? They knew how much they could
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  gamble, and they knew what it took to make a living and what
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  it took to provide for their friends.
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  What was Dave Marcus and all that he?
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  He was, he was an independent, but Dave crossed the line.
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  This is the funny part about that.
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  Dave is that one magical guy who came South, and this fascinates
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  me, was a huge Richard Petty fan named his son Richard.
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  Did you know that Dave Marcus, Dave Marcus named his son
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  Richard because he was a huge Richard Petty fan.
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  He comes South and he comes as an independent and and then he
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  gets a ride with in the 71 car, which was a basic guy, Bobby and
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  it was the Harry Hyde car. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  The KNK insurance. Oh man.
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  Drove the 71 car, drove for Jim Stacy, drove for Rodger Penske,
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  drove that freaking Matador Javelin, whatever for Penske
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  before, really before Donahue and those guys drove it.
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  He was one of the guys drove there, had opportunities to step
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  across that line and work for teams, but always went back and
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  drove a car, drove his own car. He won a race at Richmond, early
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  80s, eighty 182 in a little blue Malibu.
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  I will never forget this. And he kicked their butt that
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  day. Man, he can.
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  And that was such a huge upset. And, you know, everybody goes
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  back and and I say this, and this comes from being an old
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  school. Everybody goes back when I think
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  Tony won a race and it was like the first owner driver to win a
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  race and all that stuff. And I'm like, yeah, Marcus is
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  like the guy. He's the guy.
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  Marcus is the owner driver that wins races, you know, the guy
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  who who had nothing, who put it all together, who threw it out
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  there on the line on a Sunday at Richmond and kicked all the big
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  boys butts. And when it was all over with,
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  you know, Marcus still went back and jumped in his truck and
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  drove it home himself. And snatched that motor out on
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  Monday morning all by himself and did it all by himself.
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  And Tony didn't do that. Yeah, right now I appreciate
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  Tony. Yeah, that's not what I'm
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  saying. And it's not a slam against
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  Tony. No, it's just a different view
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  of what an owner driver was. And Marcus was was the greatest
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  as far as I'm. Concerned.
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  Really good stuff. I hope you all enjoyed it and
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  this independent story is a follow up to yesterday because
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  we've got so many. Somebody in the lobby said.
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  Man, I love that story. So I want to say this massive
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  respect to Kyle. I always tell Kyle, I say, Kyle,
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  I'm afraid of Richard. You said to me, so we were you.
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  I said. I said, Kyle, I'm afraid.
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  I'm afraid of your dad, Richard. He's so famous that Kyle said
• 14:02
  I'm afraid of him too. But all my respect to Kyle Petty
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  and the Petty Enterprises. If you had told me years ago I'd
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  be sitting next to Kyle Petty, I said, ain't no way.
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  He's too famous. But.
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  If you'd told me last month I was going to be sitting next to
• 14:15
  Kitty Wallace, I'd say no way. He's too famous.
• 14:17
  I can't sit next to him. Stop it.
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  But but I really feel like I I'm a little controversial at times,
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  but I'm going to say it like this.
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  Kyle is number one at great memory in history.
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  I think. I think Dale Earnhardt Junior is
• 14:31
  number 2. That's just respond right here.
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  But you're #1 because you were born before Dale Junior and Dale
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  Junior sees what you're doing. But you 2, you 2 would be
• 14:42
  incredible to see you guys get together one day about cars
• 14:46
  because junior studies. Do you watch YouTube videos?
• 14:49
  Yes, I watch. It and here's and here's This is
• 14:51
  the funny part. And listen Junior's knowledge.
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  Is we're trying to stop but. I'm going to say Junior's
• 14:57
  knowledge is phenomenal because he's gone back and researched
• 15:01
  and. He's a researcher.
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  Yeah, and and here's the problem is I'm not.
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  Yeah, and right here I'm not. I just live this.
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  I lived seeing Cecil Gordon at the race track and seeing JD
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  Mcduffie at the race track and watching him race and was there
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  when JD was killed was just part of it, you know?
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  I mean, so it's just just those are memories that are personal
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  memories, not book memories, not TV memories, not YouTube
• 15:24
  memories. Those are memories that are
• 15:25
  personal memories. So I may see it a little bit
• 15:27
  different. You say you're controversial.
• 15:28
  I may see it a little. Bit different.
• 15:30
  He's more controversial than me. I may.
• 15:32
  See it a little bit different? You don't want me but.
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  It's fascinating because the sport tries to rewrite its
• 15:37
  history sometimes and make everybody think everything was
• 15:40
  sunshine and roses and at what it was.
• 15:43
  It was tough sometimes. You already said some things
• 15:45
  that make me go. Oh my God, you know, we're doing
• 15:48
  the same thing right now. OK, Everybody follow along.
• 15:52
  Kyle Petty charity ride on all social medias and all our stops
• 15:57
  are there. Say goodbye, Kyle.
• 15:59
  See you later.