If you caught last month’s Trackside Talks, you learned about Adam Petty and his dream of someday creating a camp for kids with serious medical conditions. After he lost his life in a racing accident, his family turned their grief into purpose by forming Victory Junction. Let’s take a closer look.
VJ hosts weekly summer camps, weekend family camps, day programs and specialized camp-style programming year-round through their outREACH program in NC, SC and VA. They have had campers come from all 50 states, as well as four different countries. More than 136,000 experiences for campers and their families have taken place thus far — and at zero cost to them thanks to charitable contributions from VJ supporters. Fostering Victory Junction has been a special way for the Petty family to manage their grief over the years of missing Adam. Richard Petty shared, “Every time we go there and see a kid, we see Adam. Every time you see one of those kids smile, it’s Adam smiling. We stay with Adam through other kids.” He went on to say, “Adam’s not here. God put him on earth to do one thing and we’re now doing what we think is right and what the good Lord has lined up.” The kids at Victory Junction have a way of stealing your heart. Petty stated, “Everything you read, everything you hear, everything I say comes alive when you walk in and see those kids”. Petty reflected on his four kids, fifteen grandkids and 17 great grandkids noting how they’re all without affliction, thanking God he’s allowed it to be that way. With that in mind he thought, “Okay God, you took care of me, how can I help other people?”.
As you may have read in last month’s column, legacy is something Petty is humble about, but there is no doubt his family has left a lasting one not just in NASCAR, but through Victory Junction. When digging more into legacy and what he hopes folks will remember his family for he shared, “I’m looking at VJ as being here forever. You’ll always have kids who are afflicted and this is something we can look back on and say the Petty’s done pretty good in racing but look at all the people their family has helped, even for just a little time.” He’s hopeful people will recognize their racing success but more than that, that they’ll remember the Petty family “as being able to leave some good back in the world”.
The Petty family turned hardship into a blessing for others and beyond that, started a movement for their peers in NASCAR to create their own foundations. When VJ first started, there wasn’t anyone else in NASCAR who had a foundation, besides the Petty Foundation. Petty said, “VJ opened up people’s eyes and made them think how they’re lucky to be racing” adding, “Foundations is a way for the drivers, owners and NASCAR to give back.” There are several in the sport now who give back in many different ways, which continue to bless many people. Specifically, The Petty Foundation works with paralyzed veterans in America, while also helping to support ball clubs and fields in their local community.
After our interview about Victory Junction concluded, I had just a couple more questions for Petty. The Petty Museum focuses partly on racing and partly on the family. Aside from race cars, fire suits, and other racing memorabilia, there are also items on display that his family has accumulated over the years. I wondered if there was something in the treasure trove that he was most fond of to which he quickly started walking me to where his Presidential Medal of Freedom was displayed. He was awarded it by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 for his contribution to racing and American culture. He is one of only 670 people to have ever received that award and the only person within NASCAR. I couldn’t leave without asking Petty if he had a favorite car that has come out of the Petty garage. He quickly quipped, “Any of ‘em I could win in… whichever one I was in that day was my favorite”.
Stay tuned for next month as the series finishes with a look into NASCARnival night at Victory Junction and an interview with Kyle Petty, father of Adam Petty.
