Kyle Petty Recalls The Last Words Dale Earnhardt Said To Him At The 2001 Daytona 500: “He Came & Found Me, & He Hugged Me”

Two of the most tragic moments in NASCAR history.

On May 12, 2000, Adam Petty died during a practice lap at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he hit the wall and suffered a basilar skull fracture, the exact injury that caused the death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 in 2001.

Of course, Petty was a fourth generation NASCAR driver, the son of Kyle Petty, grandson of NASCAR legend Richard Petty, and great-grandson of Lee Petty, a pioneer of the sport who competed in NASCAR’s first-ever race and would go on to become the first three-time champion. He began his racing career in the ARCA Series at just 18 years old, and was poised to be the next generation of Petty greats.

He was an extremely talented, winning the first ARCA race he ever ran back in 1998 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while also running some races in what was then the NASCAR Busch Series (now known as the Xfinity Series).

In 1999, he moved to the Busch Series full time to drive for his grandfather’s team, Petty Enterprises. His best finish that year was 4th, but he finished a respectable 20th in the final standings during his rookie season (despite missing four races), and the team planned to have him run another full season in the Busch Series while running a handful of races in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Petty managed to qualify for the race during his first-ever attempt at a Winston Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway, and was having a solid run before suffering from a blown engine that left him with a 40th place finish. That would sadly turn out to be his only race in the Cup Series, because during practice for the Busch 200 Busch Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Petty’s throttle stuck while he was heading into the track’s third turn.

He died instantly, and after Adam’s death, his father Kyle chose to drive his son’s #45 car for the remainder of the Busch Series season, and in 2001 he would change the number on his own Cup Series car to the #45 to honor his son. He raced in that 2001 Daytona 500 with his sons Sprint 45 team, which would also ultimately result in tragedy when Dale Sr. passed during that race from the exact same injury as Petty.

The new Prime Video series Earnhardt, which focuses on the life and legacy of the late, great Dale Earnhardt, features interviews from Dale’s friends, family, and obviously his son, Dale Jr., the documentary also features never-before-seen footage of Dale during his racing career from both his personal and professional life.

It’s an incredibly interesting, and nuanced, look at Dale Earnhardt the race car driver, the man, the friend and the father, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  and his sister Kelley played a huge part in the production of the series, in addition to being heavily featured in it, telling stories about their dad and memories that were both good and bad. They show footage from an old interview with their father, where he explains why he never feared losing his life while racing:

“[The] cars are safe, and I’m safe in there and everything’s going to be okay. I don’t ever think about seeing another guy wreck, that I could be in the same situation.”

Kyle Petty is also featured talking about how most drivers feel invincible in their cars, which is how and why they continue to do it week in and week out:

“If you land up 60 drivers and brought them all in here, they’ll give you reasons why it happened to somebody else, but will never happen to them. You fool yourself into believing that it’s always gonna be somebody else, but it’s not always somebody else.”

It then cuts to the death of Adam, and Petty talks about how he found out about his passing:

“I got the news, there had been an accident. And he said, ‘It’s your son, and it didn’t look good. It was a bad accident.'”

Adam was one of three drivers who would pass away from the same injury in 2000, with one of each coming from a different level of NASCAR’s top three series.

Petty of course was devastated, and says he began to naturally “question everything.” The figurative needle hadn’t moved yet, and he knew it would take something bigger to create real and significant change:

“When Adam’s accident happened, you begin to question everything. You think, how many of these are we gonna have to go through before there’s a change? Before we all wake up. The needle was still just bouncing, it hadn’t moved anywhere. It was gonna take more than that.”

There was high emotion throughout the sport following that tragic incident, but Dale Earnhardt took it really hard, notably because of the similarities between the legacy families of the Earnhardts and the Pettys.

Kyle said Dale avoided him following Adam’s death, and he would turn around and go the other way if he saw him in the garage. Eventually, Petty went to find him and told him they could talk, and he didn’t have to keep his distance:

“Earnhardt, if we were walking through the garage area and he was 100 yards away and he saw me, he would turn and go the other way. He would not speak to me. So he’s walking back out to the bus lot. I see him, and I just run up to him. ‘How’s it going, man?’

And he never skipped a beat, and he said, ‘I am so sorry. I just don’t know what to say to you.’ And I said, I just want you to know, we can talk. You don’t have to keep avoiding me.'”

Nine months after Adam died, Kyle raced in that aforementioned 2001 Daytona 500, driving in his late son’s honor with his race team, saying at the time:

“To start this car, this is like the culmination of a dream to bring this team, the Sprint 45 team, to the Winston Cup level. Adam’s just not here to enjoy it, but you know, we were. It was just part of the dream, so for us, it’s pretty emotional. It’s been pretty emotional all week, to tell you the truth. And it is a little bit now, sorry about that.”

There’s a famous picture of Petty and Earnhardt on the track ahead of that race, where they’re embracing, and Petty recalled the moment and what Dale shared with him:

“He came and found me, and he put his arm around me and he hugged me. And he said, I’m thinking about you, and I love you. and I’m thinking about you, and I just want you to know that. And I know this is hard.’ And that was it, and he got in his car and I got in my car and we ran a race.”

That would ultimately be Dale’s last race too, and it’s honestly eerie to look back on no win terms of the timing, as well as how similar their death’s were. Both are horrific and tragic events, but ultimately led to real change when NASCAR started mandating the use of Head and Neck Support (HANS) devices, full-face helmets, and reinforced safety harnesses with fixed anchor points. Tracks also began installing SAFER barriers, and cars underwent redesigns for enhanced driver protection.

This comment sums it up well:

“Could you imagine those words being the last words Dale says to you, and then he dies in the same way that very day.”

Insanely sad, yet poetic in some twisted and dark way too. Since Dale Sr.’s death, thankfully nothing like that has happened since, but the story of two of racing’s most iconic and legendary families, the Pettys and the Earnhardts, remain connected forever through tragedy and loss that they will feel forever.

You can watch the interview here, which was also include din the Earnhardt documentary series:

@alectheflexerofficial Dale Earnhardt couldn’t  Even look at Kyle Petty  After the tragedy of Adam Petty #daleearnhardt #kylepetty #adampetty #tragedy #rip #dalesr #dalesr3 #dalesrtribute #dalesrfans #earnhardt #dalejr #hans #hansdevice #saftey #crash #2001daytona500 #2000 #newhampshire #newhampshiremotorspeedway #tragic #sadness #tears #dalejr #nascar #winstoncup #winstoncupseries #wow #vintagenascar #nascarstories #nascarcupseries #daleearnhardtjr #dale #richardpetty #theintimidator #themaninblack #junebug ♬ original sound – Alectheflexer

If you somehow haven’t watch it yet, you’re really missing out, and I’ll leave the trailer here:

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