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[Kyle Busch] [Kyle Petty]
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[Kyle Busch] [Kyle Petty]
Generally, NASCAR drivers aren’t ones to hold back on their emotions and thoughts or, at times, their hands against their rivals. But while being angry or rude towards a competitor, an equal, is acceptable in the sport, what isn’t acceptable is them behaving similarly towards the fans. And yet Kyle Petty believes there is an explanation for it, a perspective to see it from.
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Kyle Petty’s admission hopes to paint drivers’ rude behavior in a different light
In a recent episode of the Gluckcast podcast, Kyle Petty was asked by Jeff Gluck about the true personalities of figures like Mike Helton and Matt Kenseth on his annual charity ride. Petty’s Charity Ride Across America is a yearly affair where the former NASCAR driver and his fans from inside and outside the sport take a road trip on a fixed route to raise funds for a cause.
And it is on that ride, it is during that time, that famous NASCAR personalities truly show their personalities. Because Kyle Petty believes what fans get to see them in a race suit on a weekend is simply a persona, a side of themselves.
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“They’re totally different on the ride than what they are at the racetrack. I think sometimes this is where people lose sight. The track is not a game. That’s where we work. That’s our office space. That’s our construction site. That’s our farm. That’s what we do,” he claimed.
Petty argued that drivers and NASCAR personalities are in work mode at a racetrack and when they’re away from it, they are their true selves like Matt Kenseth or Mike Helton or Kenny Wallace. The veteran further elaborated how sometimes, fans don’t see the differentiation between the two sides and often confuse their behavior for rudeness.
“So many times people think, fans come in the garage area and come in pits and they’re like, ‘Well, that guy was a horse’s rear end.’ Well, yeah. If you’re in your cubicle and you’re talking business and somebody comes up and taps you on the shoulder and wants something, you get a little teed off sometimes, too. So, you need to take that into account sometimes. They’re totally different people,” Petty explained.
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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Duck Commander 500-Qualifying Apr 5, 2014 Fort Worth, TX, USA Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart 14 talks with driver Greg Biffle 16 during qualifying for the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Stewart wins the pole position. Fort Worth Texas Motor Speedway TX USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJeromexMironx 7852984
To Petty’s point, there have been instances in the past where a NASCAR drivers behavior on the track totally contradicts a fan’s experience of encountering them outside a track. A big example of that could be Tony Stewart when he was approached by a fan after an SRX heat race.
While he was in conversation with a crew member and looked less than enthusiastic, a fan asked him for an autograph, to which Smoke said, “Read the f**king room!” However, there’s instances when the same driver, in this case Tony Stewart, when not on a racetrack, was kind enough to not only give an autograph but to also hug a young fan.
The case of Kyle Busch is an interesting one in this context as well. For the majority of his career, Busch was regarded and maintained the image of a NASCAR villain. But the accounts and experiences of fans who have met him in real life paint the driver nicknamed Rowdy in a completely different picture.
This NASCAR driver isn’t afraid of being deemed a villain
Denny Hamlin has had his fair share of incidents on and off the track over the years with some of the sport’s biggest names. Be it his Chase Elliott Martinsville incident or costing Dale Earnhardt Jr. a win, it’s safe to say that Hamlin has earned the boos.
But instead of being uncomfortable or apologetic about it, Hamlin is someone who embraces the hate. Because the #11 driver believes the fans need someone to root against.
“I thought I was really just sort of a middle-of-the-road guy when it came to who fans liked or disliked. You had like Joey Logano and the really popular drivers back in the day – Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – but as they retired, right, people wanted to root against someone. So, for a while it was Joey. But he hasn’t really had track stuff that’s really fueled it of late and I think I probably have. I’m just kind of the heel of right now,” he explained in a 2023 interview.
Hamlin explained that given his history of incidents with some of the sport’s most popular drivers, he has come to accept that a part of the hate and animosity from fans ‘will just never go away.’
And that perhaps is an example of a fan’s sentiment towards a driver that cannot be reoriented or looked at from a different perspective.
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Edited by
Suyashdeep Sason