RAD Racer Jeremy Petty
Contact: Jim Petty (316)686-4646
jim@jeremypetty.com
RAD Racer and National Spokesman for
Race Against Drugs, Jeremy Petty, spends a good
part of his time speaking to children about the
dangers of illegal drugs. Petty’s passion for
racing and children led him to this unique civic
duty, which he began in 2003. Jeremy speaks to
schools, scout troops, dare camps and other
youth activities. When Jeremy isn’t racing he
will display one of his race cars at trade
shows, shopping malls or
race tracks
and talk to children and pass out racing theme
anti-drug literature in an effort to make a
positive difference in the world. Sometimes
Jeremy is flying solo, but other time’s members
of his racing pit crew can often be found
assisting him. Crewmembers will unload, display
and load the race cars, as well as assist
children in and out of the driver’s seat of
Jeremy’s powerful and colorful racers.
Jeremy and
the rest of the Petty Racing Team hope
that each and every child that they have
talked to will add their name to the
Petty’s RAD Pledge Book that now
contains thousands of signatures. A look
through the RAD Pledge Book will show
that this race team has talked to a
large percentage of very young children
that can barely sign their first name.
The reaction from the wide eyed children
is very enthusiastic. Jeremy’s message
is always well received by teachers and
parents.
Feb. 23rd & 24th, 2008
the Petty Team added over a dozen pages
of signatures to their treasured pledge
book and handed out over 500 Stay On
Track RAD Activity Books at the Towne
West Shopping Mall in Wichita, KS. The
Petty Racing Team was part of the mall’s
annual race car show with a total of 9
team members donating their time during
the weekend. At this show the team was
able to take advantage of displaying the
RAD TV Cut-Away Cup Car which allowed
other crewmembers to continue to prepare
for Jeremy’s return to the race track
when the ARCA ReMax series resumes
action in April.
On March 11th
The Petty Racing Team will be a part of
a Safety Fair that is being organized by
Americorps at Cessna Elementary School
in Wichita. Americorps is expecting
about 1,000 participants.
It
looks like the pledge book will need
some more pages added.
If you
would like to know more about Jeremy
Petty’s Race Against Drugs program
contact: Jim Petty (316) 686-4646 or jim@bookofchampions.com
Area fans
experience inside look at ARCA racing in St.
Louis
By Leslie Baker
Contact: Jim Petty (316)686-4646
jim@jeremypetty.com
\.JPG)
Area
racecar driver Jeremy Petty has been busy
keeping his racing skills honed, driving both on
dirt and asphalt raceways around the Mid-West. A
native of Smolan, Jeremy has many connections to
Minneapolis and has recently taken an
opportunity to expand that relationship by
giving two fans an inside look at ARCA racing.
Labor Day
weekend was filled with excitement for longtime
race fans Jayme and Leslie Baker as Jeremy
Petty's racing team allowed them to go behind
the scenes of racing in NASCAR's ARCA series.
Kevin Cline and his crew from C&R Plating were
once again sponsors for Jeremy's car and helped
in making this trip possible.
Friday, August
31 was a busy day at the Gateway International
Speedway in St. Louis. ARCA final practice began
at 10:30 a.m. and during this time the Petty #21
team was working on finalizing their car in the
garage. "It was exciting to be able to be right
in the garages and see the work that was going
on under the hood. With all of the ARCA cars and
the Craftsman trucks there too, it brought back
lots of memories of being in my dad's gas
station and I just loved all of those great car
sounds and smells," stated Leslie.
Petty's racing
team is short on financial backing, but big on
family and friend support. The crew is comprised
primarily of relatives from Missouri and all
over Kansas to help on race weekends. Also,
Minneapolis people participate by driving to
Smolan and working on the car throughout the
week.
Kevin's son Zach
enjoys working on the cars and Brian Hickman and
his sons from Minneapolis also help the team. "I
was surprised by how much money it takes to race
at this level," commented Jayme. A small family
operation like the Petty one is always working
at making their dollars stretch as far as
possible. In fact, they generally know they will
need their equipment to last because there is no
back-up car. Likewise, they know they have to
run on tires much longer than teams that are
sponsored by owners such as Ray Evernham, Jack
Roush or Chip Ganassi. Fortunately, Jeremy is
well liked by many competing teams and they make
deals on used equipment right in the raceway
garages. Increased sponsorship is one of the
team's major goals to help them compete better
in future race endeavors. They are thankful for
the support of Crosson Farms from Minneapolis
and also the contingency sponsors such as
Lincoln Welders, Motive Gear and K & N Filters
that put their logos on the front fenders.
Jeremy's
grandfather was a racecar driver that Joe Nelson
and his Ford business sponsored for many years.
That relationship has made the Petty family feel
like long time friends with many in the area.
Joe Petty, Jeremy's father, also a former racer
said much of what they do now is because of the
help and support of many people in Minneapolis.
"This weekend we have several people in the pits
that are from Minneapolis and we are using Terry
Robin's car hauler. Of course Kevin and the C &
R Plating support are invaluable."
The team spent
Thursday at the Gateway Speedway, changing the
transmission and the rear gear unit. The garage
closed at 6 p.m. and once the garage opened on
Friday the work picked right back up again
preparing for the final practice session.
After the final practice, pit row was opened to
the public for an autograph session. During this
time, Brooke Eckert of Minneapolis passed out
publicity information about Petty and his
website as Jeremy signed autographs and took
pictures with fans. Many various press
organizations, including the Messenger, used
this time to capture the drivers in contact with
fans, taking pictures and asking drivers for
quotes about the upcoming race.
Jeremy shared
that he was excited to be racing in the ARCA
Re/Max 150 and he described the track as two
long drag strips with hard, tight corners. He
also made it clear that race car drivers are
very superstitious and that it was a total faux
pas for Leslie to be wearing green. Fortunately,
Cline came to the rescue with a red C&R plating
shirt. Likewise, Petty informed everyone in his
garage to avoid eating any peanuts until after
the race was over.
Next, the car
was prepared for qualifying and each car got two
laps. Jeremy qualified on his lap time and he
did not have to use a provisional to get in to
the race. Following the qualifying sessions, the
cars were topped off with fuel and taken to
"tech" for one final check by NASCAR officials.
The race car templates were placed on the cars
and the inspections were made.
Petty's car did
not have any issues with this and once they were
finished the cars were parked in their pit
stalls and could not be worked on until race
time.
After the
Craftsman trucks were cleared off the track, the
race excitement increased even more. The Petty
team used Leslie to be the official timer in the
scorer’s booth and Jayme was allowed to help in
the pits. Unfortunately for the team, Jeremy's
brakes became a safety issue going completely to
the floor, not working. After taking an
unexpected little spin through the grass, the
team called an end to their racing. Petty was
able to complete only 40 laps. However, instead
of loading up early, the crew began working on
changing the car from their asphalt set up to
their dirt track set up, making necessary
changes in preparation for the Southern Illinois
100 at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on September 3.
Earlier in the
summer, teaming up with Steve Stride of Salina,
Jeremy raced at the Minneapolis Raceway. It had
been three years since Jeremy had driven
modifieds on a dirt track and he enjoyed the
return. Race fans should make every opportunity
to follow Petty's racing career, whether he's
working on his racing skills again locally or on
Speed Channel in his ARCA car racing on the
asphalt.
Changes For
Jeremy Petty Headed To DuQuion
Release
date: September 1, 2007
Contact: Jim Petty (316)686-4646
jim@jeremypetty.com
Labor Day will be a day of changes for Jeremy
Petty of Smolan, KS. Petty's ARCA Re/Max race
car changes from #21 to #07 for the C&R
Plating/Ground Round Dodge Charger. The track
surface changes from the asphalt at Gateway
International Raceway in Madison, IL to dirt at
the Magic Mile in DuQuion, IL. Petty is looking
for a change in racing luck after an early exit
from the ARCA Re/Max Gateway 150 do to a
mechanical failure. One thing that won't change
is Petty's excitement for getting back to
DuQuion where he started his first ARCA race in
2005. Petty and crew have made the necessary
changes and repairs in preparation for the
Southern Illinois 100 at DuQuoin State
Fairgrounds on September 3. Race time for the
Labor Day race is 1:00 pm.
Said Petty, "I’m very excited to get back to
DuQuion and run the 07 Dodge on dirt."
Jeremy Petty of Smolan,
KS will be racing the #21 Ground Round/Billet
Race Products Dodge Charger
in the Gateway ARCA 150 at Gateway International
Speedway this Friday, August 31. The race will
begin at 8:00 pm central time, and broadcast
live on the SPEED channel. Jeremy will once
again be driving the prestigious number 21,
owned by Julie Bowsher. Petty feels very
privileged and honored to have the number on his
car once again, with the number 21 having such a
long standing tradition in the ARCA/REMAX
series, dating all the way back to ARCA Champion
Jack Bowsher.
After the completion of Friday’s race, Petty and
crew will make necessary changes during the
weekend in preparation for the Southern Illinois
100 at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on September 3.
Race time for the Labor Day race is 1:00 pm.
This will be Jeremy’s second start at the famous
mile dirt track.
Said Petty, “I’m very excited to get back to
ARCA/REMAX series racing.
The crew has been working very hard the past
three or four weeks to get the car prepared to
go to Gateway. It’s definitely going to be a lot
of hard work to run two races in four days, but
it’s also something everyone has been looking
forward to all year.”
Jeremy Petty -
Post Race Report
August 7,
2007
After
talking a three year hiatus from dirt track
racing Jeremy Petty has returned to the
mentality that asphalt is for getting there and
dirt is for racing. Jeremy has teamed up with
modified owner Steve Strite of Salina, Kansas
and has been driving Steve’s number 719 modified
for the past three weeks.
The duos first
start came at Minneapolis Raceway, located just
north of Salina, Kansas. This being the first
visit for Jeremy to Minneapolis he had to start
scratch in his heat race. After a tough heat
race, run on a dusty one lane track that
included most cars that typically run at the
front of an A Main, Jeremy had his work cut out
for him in the Main feature, starting 22nd out
of 24 cars. Persistence, patience and some luck
missing several wrecks occurring early in the
race paid off as he slowly worked his way to
towards the front ending up in a hard fought
11th place.
The next weekend Jeremy and a several members of
the Petty Racing Team headed up north for a pair
of races at Norton, Kansas on Sunday and
Osborne, Kansas on Monday night. Sunday night
started off rough for Petty in the heat race
with two separate wrecks happening directly in
front of the bright yellow 719 Modified, thus
delegating Petty to a poor finish and a starting
spot in the B main. Although his skill
navigating the traffic was better this race, the
effort came up just short, missing the feature
race by one spot.
Monday night
Jeremy would turn in his best finish to date in
the 719 Modified, bringing it home with a top 5
A Main finish. Said Petty, "It was great to come
to Osborne and run in the top five. If we could
have gotten a late caution I think we would have
been able to challenge the leaders for a win. I
am really excited to be driving for Steve. I
appreciate him giving me the opportunity to
drive his car. It has been a long time since I
have had the opportunity to get in a dirt
modified. It has been really fun to get back to
the dirt tracks.”
Jeremy Petty -
Post Race Report
June 2,
2007
Newton, Iowa
Jeremy Petty and the number 21 Billet Race
Products/Ground Round Restaurant Dodge had a
promising finish come to an abrupt end after
breaking a right front ball joint.
He was going
into turn one on lap 198 of the scheduled 250
laps in the Prairie Meadows 250 causing his car
to veer into the turn 1 wall resulting in race
ending damage to the right side of the number 21
machine.
Petty and his team worked hard on the car during
practice to overcome numerous difficulties
changing springs, shocks - twice - and a broken
transmission all in the accident riddled two
hour practice session, and still winding up with
the team sitting 28th on the speed chart. During
qualifying, Petty was able to pickup seven
spots, improving nearly 4 miles an hour, putting
the #21 car in the 21st starting spot. Said
Petty of the race, "I am disappointed but very
happy at the same time, we ran in the top 20 all
night long and were poised for a top 15 finish.
Things break, that’s just racing. I am very
proud with all the hard work my guys did all day
long from practice to pit stops. They did a
great job for me. I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Mrs. Bowsher for thinking
of me when looking for someone to run the 21
number this weekend. I was very honored to have
such a prestigious number on my car. I also want
to thank Hixson Motorsports for their help over
the past two weeks and this weekend.”
Petty and his team are currently evaluating what
the next step for the season will be.
Jeremy Petty Racing @
Iowa Speedway, June 2nd
May 29, 2007
Jim Petty
Jeremy Petty of Smolan, KS
will be racing the #49 Ground Round/Billet Race
Products Dodge Charger in the Prairie Meadows
250 at the Iowa Speedway in the ARCA RE/MAX
Series on June 2nd. Jeremy's entire pit crew
from Kansas, Oklahoma & Missouri will be
present. Jeremy has spent the last 2 weeks in
Soddy Daisy, TN. at Hixson Motorsports preparing
the Dodge for the Iowa Race. Some of Jeremy's
Pit Crew have made the journey to Tennessee to
assist in the preparation.
Qualifying for the SIM Factory Pole Award will
take place Saturday afternoon followed by the
race at 8pm CDT. The race will be broadcast live
Saturday on the Speed channel.
The Iowa Speedway, which opened in 2006, is a
7/8 mile Tri-Oval with a qualifying record of
137 MPH for the ARCA RE/MAX Series Race Cars.
For more info about marketing opportunities in
motor sports contact:
Jim Petty at Petty Racing Team (316)686-4646 or
email at jim@jeremypetty.com
Jeremy
Petty Looking for
2nd Start
June 26, 2006
Roy Shipley
Hixson
Motorsports,
Public Relation
