What Is Kyle Petty's Net Worth?
Kyle Petty is an American former NASCAR driver who has a net worth of $20 million. Kyle Petty earned an estimated $32 million during his racing career. This includes his winnings from races, sponsorships, and other earnings. He is the son of NASCAR legend Richard Petty and grandson of Lee Petty, both of whom were also successful NASCAR drivers.
Born into a racing family, Petty was around cars from a very young age. He made his major league debut just after graduating from high school, winning his first race. Throughout his early career, he raced in his father's and grandfather's hand-me-down cars, amassing a series of respectable finishes. In 1985, Kyle secured sponsorship from 7-Eleven and began racing for Wood Brothers Racing. He immediately began to climb the stock car ranks. Over the next 30 years, he had eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins, 173 Top Tens, and eight poles. He finished fifth in the nation in 1992 and 1993. After officially retiring in 2008, he began a career as a color commentator and currently serves as a co-host for "NASCAR RaceDay" and "NASCAR Trackside" on SPEED.
Early Life
Kyle Petty was born on June 2, 1960, in Randleman, North Carolina. He is the son of Richard Petty and Lynda Owens. He grew up with his three brothers and sisters in North Carolina. He was around racing all his life, as his father and grandfather, Lee Petty, were professional NASCAR racer. As a child, he grew up racing and made his major-league stock car debut at the age of 18.
Career
Petty won the 1979 Daytona ARCA 200, the first professional race he entered in 1979. He became the youngest driver to win a major league stock car race. Later in the season, he made his Winston Cup Series debut. At the 1979 Talladega 500, he finished in ninth. In 1980, he made a total of fifteen starts in the Dodge Magnum number 42 car, the same number used by his grandfather, Lee Petty. Kyle began the 1981 season driving his father's number 43 car but ultimately returned to racing in the number 42. However, he switched to the number 7 in 1983 after he picked up funding from 7-Eleven.
By 1985, Petty had taken his sponsorship to Wood Brothers Racing. There, he had seven top-five finishes and his first top-ten points finish. In 1986, he won his first career race in the 1986 Miller High Life 400. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Kyle continued picking up various sponsorships but then had a scare when he broke his leg in a crash in the 1991 Winston 500. He then missed the next eleven races while he healed.
By 1992, Petty rebounded to a career-best fifth-place finish in points and won two separate races – Watkins Glen and Rockingham. He came very close to winning the championship in 1992 but suffered a flat tire at Phoenix, the second to last race, and broke an engine during the season's last race. In 1993, he won the Champion Spark Plug at Pocono and duplicated his high-points finish. However, the following year, he failed to finish higher than fourth in any race and lost some sponsorships as a result.
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Coors Light became his new sponsor in 1995, and Petty won his final career cup race in the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Dover. However, he continued falling down the points ranking after only finishing in the top ten five times and then failing to qualify for the fall race at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Beginning in the 1997 season, Petty formed his own team, PE2. He had two top-five finishes and nine top-ten finishes. He returned to this family's company in 1998 and ran his team from their headquarters. He also became the Petty Enterprises' new CEO. Around this time, he had begun providing guest commentary for races at ESPN. Over the next few years, he continued racing but did not achieve the success he had once experienced. At the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, he had his first top-five finish in ten years.
Kyle then took a few races off in order to work as a commentator for TNT. Early in 2008, Petty Enterprises was purchased by Boston Ventures, and Petty stepped aside as the team's CEO. He continued broadcasting and participated in fewer and fewer races. His final race came in 2008 at the Phoenix International Raceway, where he was caught in a multi-car crash.
Throughout the 2010s, Petty appeared on various Fox Sports shows. Since 2015, he has worked for NBC Sports, appearing on all of their NASCAR-related shows and broadcasts.
Outside of racing, Kyle also briefly attempted a career as a professional country musician. He signed a record contract with RCA Records in 1986 and began to work on an album with Don Light. During this period, he released a single called "The Other Guy" and performed as an opening act for musicians like Randy Travis and The Oak Ridge Boys. However, due to disagreements with his record company and management, he abandoned the idea of producing an album. In 1995, he recorded a track called "Oh King Richard" that was a tribute to his father, Richard, and released as part of a NASCAR-themed country music compilation album. A music video for the song was also released that featured Petty playing an acoustic guitar in front of his father's former racecar. In 2017, Kyle also provided the voice for a character in "Cars 3."
Personal Life
Petty has been married twice. He married Pattie Huffman in 1979. They divorced in 2012.
In 2015, he married Morgan Castano.
He has six children – Adam, Austin, Montgomery, Overton, Cotton, and Davent.
Petty is active in a number of charitable causes. He has been involved with Victory Junction, a facility that serves serious illness and chronic medical conditions in children. He established Victory Junction to honor his late son, Adam, who had also been a professional racer. Adam had died during a practice racing session in 2000 when his car hit a wall and killed him instantly at the age of 19.
Real Estate
In March 2016, Kyle and his ex-wife, Pattie, listed a 380-acre estate they co-owned in Trinity, North Carolina, called Adaumont Farm. They listed the property for $5.5 million. In addition to a lakefront mansion, the property features a 25,000-square-foot barn/event/equestrian center. They sold the property in June 2016 for $5.3 million. Today the farm is also rented out as a wedding venue.
In 2001, Kyle built a beachfront home in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. He listed this home for sale about a decade later for $4.5 million, ultimately accepting $3.85 million.
