A mother's pain tempered by generosity

A mother's pain tempered by generosity

Pattie Petty makes emotional trip to N.H. to accept champ's offer
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
July 15, 2006
10:26 AM EDT (14:26 GMT)

LOUDON, N.H. -- Tony Stewart can take a racecar to the edge of control and back to Victory Lane and exasperate fans and foes alike to the verge of tears with his "no quarter" attitude in racing and in life.

But Friday morning at New Hampshire International Speedway, Stewart had a packed house of journalists and onlookers on the edge of their seats -- and many actually in tears -- with his latest benevolent act -- another million-dollar pledge to the children's camp the Pettys operate in the memory of their son, Adam.

For Pattie Petty, CEO of the camp, the tears and emotions flowed as freely as the cool New England rain that had filled NHIS's tunnel to a depth of more than 20 inches only the day before.

But the appreciation of she and her husband, Nextel Cup driver and team owner Kyle Petty, to Stewart Friday was deep enough to cover the region to an indefinable depth.

"I think that Tony has a heart that's bigger than his driving talent, if that's possible," Pattie said as tears began flowing. "I'm sorry -- I'm shaking."

Victory Junction came to be after May 12, 2000 -- an indescribably dark day on which their oldest son died on NHIS's Turn 3 in the opening moments of practice for the Mother's Day weekend Busch Series race.

Stewart compelled Pattie Petty to come to New Hampshire this weekend and in describing her walk of the track that took her son, on Thursday night, virtually seized everyone's hearts.

From the first syllable that exited Pattie Petty's mouth Friday morning, her feelings were apparent.

The trio was sitting on tall, bar-type chairs and Petty placed her hand on Stewart's knee to steady herself. Without hesitating Stewart clasped her hand and gave her the strength to continue with her heart-wrenching story of the years since Adam's death.

"He knew I'd never been [to NHIS] -- I'd never even been to the state of New Hampshire," Pattie said. "I had never watched even a race on TV, only heard it on radio.

"And Kyle was having a really hard time coming here."

Kyle Petty skipped New Hampshire's Cup races in 2000 -- though Petty Enterprises' racecars competed. Petty has done every event since 2001, but last fall only came to New Hampshire on race day.

"Last year, [Stewart] and Eddie [Jarvis, Stewart's business manager] helped me try to get Kyle out of the car, with [NASCAR president] Mike Helton's agreement, to just let him race the car -- but not be here for the three or four days because it was really hard to be here," Pattie said. "But that didn't work either, because that let our team down."

Pattie smiled with her next thought.

"So I think Eddie knew the only way that Kyle would be able to come back here was if I came, and the only way I would come is if he gave camp money."

Even as Stewart looked at her like a supportive son, Pattie gazed at him like the loving mother she was, and is -- not only to her children Montgomery and Austin -- but also in a surrogate way to hundreds of campers.

"With that being said, I'm honored that you would do that," she said of the third major donation to camp that Stewart's facilitated. "And I think Adam would be humbled."

From May 2000 to February 2001, when Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona, was one of the blackest years in NASCAR history, with Kenny Irwin and Tony Roper also being killed in racetrack crashes.

When Pattie Petty told a story of her son's last day -- and the time to date -- it simultaneously brought smiles and tears to many.

"I've talked to different people and I guess the last place that Adam was here, was in [the media center], to my knowledge. I didn't ask a lot of questions until Tony came a couple of weeks ago and I started asking what went on that day.

"What he was doing was a promotion -- which is funny, with Sprint Nextel -- because it was Mother's Day [weekend] and he was to call home and tell his mother that he loved her.

"But that didn't happen that day. I keep thinking he's going to, but that's in the movies and it doesn't help me a whole lot."

Despite being only 19 years old, Adam Petty had made a commitment to make a difference for children. When Adam died the Pettys built Victory Junction on family property as a year-round haven for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.

"So I feel like what [Adam] went and did was he went to God and banged on God's shoulder and said, `There's this guy down here in an orange car and he's really good.

'He believes in my dad and he believes in Victory Junction. Would you bless him with enough money to give to camp.' I believe, in some way, that's how Adam called home.'"

Kyle Petty put a tear-moistened cap on the morning when he presented Stewart with a framed drawing of his orange, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet, side-by-side with a scrawly, crayon-etched letter akin to something a parent would attach to a refrigerator with a magnet.

Petty read the note, from a young North Carolina camper, which said, in part, "Dear Tony: I love that you bring a lot of money to Victory Junction Gang Camp. I love that you build playgrounds for little kids.

"I like that you're nice. Orange is my second favorite color. I just saw your wrecks at Lowe's Motor Speedway on TV. I hope you get well soon and hope that you're not in pain. Motrin helps for pain.

"Love, Jack Ray Messick."

"That's the impact that these guys have on camp," Petty said of his fellow racers. "I don't think people realize how big an impact; these kids know what camp's all about [and] Tony understands what camp's all about.

"These kids understand who makes it possible for them to come to camp. This is from a 6-year-old kid who knows what medicine is good for pain -- because that's the world they live in.

"Somewhere in heaven there's a special place for Tony Stewart, and that's for sure because kids like this more than likely will prepare that place for him [and] I just want to say 'God bless you, Tony' for all you do."

Friday, the defending Nextel Cup champion, through his Tony Stewart Foundation, pledged a second million dollar donation within the next five years.

Stewart had previously pledged a $1 million donation over 10 years, and on Friday, Stewart delivered another symbolic million-dollar check to Kyle and Pattie Petty and praised Jarvis, for attaining the initial goal in only five years.

And, the man whose driven personality has produced two Cup championships in the last four years said that through concerts and other special events primarily engineered by Jarvis, Stewart said he hoped to achieve the second million in less than three years -- though his pledge was for within five.

Stewart -- like dozens of others in and out of the sport -- had barely gotten to know the magnetically likable youngster. But he's embraced Adam Petty's legacy -- Victory Junction -- in a bear hug.

"Obviously, [making a donation to camp] is such a totally different emotion than it is winning a race, but it's more gratifying than winning a race," said Stewart, who easily described the joy he gets from frequent camp visits.

"This is something that, no matter how many race wins or championships I get in my career, the donations we made are a part of something that's hopefully going to last a lifetime.

"Being able to donate $1 million seems like a bigger victory and knowing that we're able to support Kyle and Pattie like that, and know how much it means to them."

For the Pettys, Stewart's kindness is leagues beyond the pure symbolism of a symbolic check. Their moving statements of endearment and appreciation were proof.

And Friday, the impact of Stewart's act, despite laying bare enough raw emotion to pack Bob Bahre's woodsy facility by rekindling memories of a kid whose potential as a racecar driver and a balanced human being were never realized, was obvious.

In November 2003, the Tony Stewart Foundation pledged $1 million to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

The Foundation met that goal by hosting benefit concerts at the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center in Paducah, Ky., and by staging the Nextel Prelude to the Dream -- a dirt track race among Nextel Cup drivers at the Stewart-owned Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

The benefit concerts featured recording artists Diamond Rio, Trace Adkins, Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar and Kid Rock, who made a surprise appearance at last year's event.

The 2005 Nextel Prelude to the Dream featured a who's who of NASCAR drivers as Petty, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Ken Schrader, Dave Blaney and Kenny Wallace raced in front of a packed crowd, who in addition to seeing a great race saw a portion of their admission fee go to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

This year's Nextel Prelude to the Dream was originally scheduled for June 7, but rain postponed it to Sept. 6. Drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley will join Prelude veterans Petty, Harvick, Kenseth, Labonte and others at the fundraiser, Stewart said.

"When it all comes down to the day we retire, when you guys retire from writing columns and I retire from driving racecars," Stewart said. "The only thing we have left is the relationships we've built along the way -- and they're [Kyle and Pattie] two people who are very, very important to me."