Kyle Petty: “I Think A Lot of Times We’re Mistaken For A Camp For Children”
Jun 02, 2007
How has VJGC grown with help from the NASCAR community?
“It’s phenomenal how it’s grown. It has grown because of the NASCAR community. I’ve been around to different places, but when you go around the NASCAR fans – because of Tony Stewart because of Michael Waltrip because of Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth and guys like that they think the camp is part theirs and it is theirs because they’ve invested in it. Obviously after Adam’s accident then we looked at it and said you know what can we do? And what do we want to do? And I think the camp was something that Adam had had a vision of, that we had a vision of and we have just been very blessed to be in the NASCAR community. So many people have believed in the project and because of that a lot of kids have benefited. We don’t really do anything. I just go over and play with the kids and hang out and ride around in circles on Sunday that’s basically all I do. But so many other people work really, really hard to make it happen. ”
What types of kids come to the camp?
“The kids that come to the VJGC are kids with chronic and life threatening diseases, not necessarily terminal diseases. I think a lot of times we’re mistaken for a camp for children with terminal illnesses. These are life threatening and chronic illnesses. And a chronic illness is something that they will fight their entire lives. Sickle cell, asthma, arthritis, hemophilia, we see kids that have been burnt, burned kids. We see full blown AIDS, we do see AIDS kids and we see certain blood born diseases. We see certain forms of cancer, cancers that have gone into remission and back, that these children will have their entire lives. Heart and kidney disease. Until they find a cure for these diseases, these are chronic illnesses and these are things that these children live with every day. It’s pretty phenomenal to hang out with some of these kids that are 12 and 13 years old and you understand their medical knowledge because it’s so far beyond anything that I know about. But that’s their world. The medical community is their world. And all we really do at the camp is give them the opportunity to play, to just be kids and be a kid without a disease. Basically it’s a hospital. We can do chemo there. We can do dialysis there. We can do certain other procedures there. We have a full time doctor and four full-time nurses, 365, but when camp goes on those numbers swell to something like sometimes 10 or 15 doctors and something like 50 or 60 nurses, all volunteer staff. So it’s a pretty phenomenal place and it just lets these kids be kids for a day. They’re Mike, they’re Kyle, they’re Billy, they’re whoever, they’re not ‘Oh you’re the kid who has asthma, oh you’re the kid that can’t play this can’t play that. These kids get to be the majority when they’re at camp. ”
How proud are you of the people who rally behind the camp?
“I think that’s the part for me that has been more gratifying than anything else. When it’s all said and done, like I said, we all kind of raised our hands and said ‘Hey this is what we want to do, this is what we’re doing for a personal reason. ’ And guys like Tony and I think Tony said it best and he does some of the stuff in our video and he said you know racers just help racers and that’s the way it is. And that’s the way it always is in this garage area. It seems like when a driver or a team or somebody has a tragedy in their life or something happens or something is said in the driver’s meeting or a flyer is past out from truck to truck, somebody’s always donating something for an auction or going on a toy run for I don’t know a motorcycle rider or something like that. That’s the part for me. I tell people I grew up in a strange world living a strange life. My community is this garage area. And that’s the way I truly look at it. I travel four days a week. I’m at this race track. I’m in the garage area with NASCAR officials, with team owners, with sponsors, with other drivers, with crew members from other teams and this is our community. You know, there’s 1,500 to 2,000 of us that travel around the country thirty-some odd weekends a year. I may live in Level Cross, N.C. or Trinity, N.C. or Randleman (N. C.) but this is my community. So I think any time you do something and your community really gets behind it then it’s a very gratifying experience. I’ve always said that racing people are the greatest people in the world. ”
How excited are you to participate in the event?
“You know when Nextel started this with Tony Stewart at Eldora it was one of those deals like ‘OK, I’ll come run around in circles so ya’ll can lap me every forty laps. That’s okay, I don’t care. I don’t know anything about dirt. I didn’t grow up on dirt. ’ But it’s been a lot of fun. To go there and be with Tony, to be with Denny Hamlin, to be with Matt Kenseth to see Matt drive for the first time; Bobby Labonte got so excited about it he went out and bought a dirt car. So he’s had a dirt car for a couple of years now. And I think when you look at Schrader and you look at Blaney and you look at guys like that who grew up on it, there’s an art and a talent to drive in dirt. And when you go see Tony Stewart and you go see these other guys do it, it’s pretty phenomenal. And they’re kind to us, they’ve been really kind to us. Kenny Wallace has gotten phenomenal at it recently, but they’ve been pretty kind to us. But when you look at the list this year, when you look at Jeff Gordon coming back to dirt, when you look at Juan Montoya never running dirt and some of that stuff and you look at the group that they have this year it’s definitely an ‘A’ list of Cup drivers that’ll be there that night. ”
What’s the biggest challenge to drive on dirt for you?
“Dirt’s a lot more forgiving – from a pavement standpoint. When you get out of shape at Talladega, you’re out of shape. On dirt you know you get out of shape you can stand on the gas or tap the brake or turn to the right and you know sometimes you can bring yourself out of it. Guys that really know how to do it look like they’re on the edge all the time. Guys like me are on the edge all the time when I’m on dirt. I think guys like Tony and those guys they make it look easy. There’s nothing, I don’t think there’s nothing…Daytona, Talladega places like that maybe there is, there’s a majestic look about seeing a couple of cars go off into the corner, backing in the corner and standing on the gas and throwing a rooster tail of dirt and doing 7 or 8 inches from each other and coming off and not running into each other and you say ‘My god, how did that happen? ’ But there’s an art to doing it. ”
How do you feel about bragging rights? Who do you want to beat?
“You know I think for…I’m probably a little bit different. Because I look at it and I say man you know you’d love to go beat those guys. To beat Tony Stewart at his own race track, he owns the place, you know what I mean? To be able to run with Jeff and beat somebody like that or Blaney and those guys like that, that would be phenomenal for a guy like me. Now those guys are in their own little world, they’re in their own stuff. But you look at it, and I think all drivers, you put ‘em in a car and whether we’re going down the street here to get a Coca-Cola or we’re going back to the hotel, they’re gonna race hard to get it. But for me I look at it and I can sit here and truly say today that because of Tony Stewart and because of Old Spice and because of HBO and everything that’s going on in this event, hey I’ve already won. I’ll walk away as a winner because of the Victory Junction Gang Camp. So I couldn’t be any happier to be a part of it. To be able to come in and drive the racecar is just icing on the cake. ”
Why should fans watch the event?
“When you tune in on June 6th you’re going to see some of the greatest drivers in the U. S. drive in an element that a lot of us aren’t used to. You got guys like Tony Stewart, you got guys like Schrader some of those guys. And guys like Jeff Gordon who have grown up on dirt, who know how to do it. You got guys like me, I’ve dabbled in it a little bit. I can’t say I’m anything special with it. Then you got guys like Juan Montoya and Matt Kenseth guys that have only done it once or twice or maybe never. But at the same time this will show the natural talent of what these drivers do. You see them at Daytona you see them at Talladega you see them at race tracks all over the U. S. You don’t usually see them on dirt, and I think it’s a huge event. It’s a huge event for a number of reasons because to bring that many Cup drivers together in a venue other than a Cup event but at the same time it’s a charity event and I think you’ll see the true essence of what Cup racing is all about what NASCAR racing is all about and what these guys are all about. They’re there giving back to the VJGC and other charities and I think that’s the main thing and the main thing you’ll see that night. ”
