Kyle Petty night at The Opry
Bob Pockrass
Bob Pockrass began covering NASCAR in 1992, primarily covering short-track racing and events. He has worked for Street & Smith's Motorsports Group since 2003.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kyle Petty made his Grand Ole Opry debut Friday night.
From the ribbing he was taking from musicians at the Sprint Sound and Speed event, it’s unclear whether former Sprint Cup driver and current TNT analyst will get a return engagement.
Petty performed his own music during an event at the Ryman Auditorium.
“I figured you never have a shot to do something like that,” Petty said. “If I was going to go do it, I was going to sing and do my own stuff because then I can say I sang a song I wrote at the Opry. That’s how cool it was.”
Petty said he wasn’t too worried about making a mistake, joking that if he did, unlike in driving, he wouldn’t be hauled away in an ambulance.
“It was an incredible experience for me,” Petty said. “I’ve been very blessed to be able to go and do a lot of stuff.”
Petty was in a good mood Saturday because a portion of the proceeds raised through the preseason fan event will help his Victory Junction Gang Camps in North Carolina and Kansas.
He was in such a good mood, maybe some of us here are lucky he didn’t break out and sing a little more.
“It is an incredibly humbling place,” Petty said of the Opry. “I grew up on country music. Beating it up and down the highway with my father in station wagons, old cars, going to race tracks all over the country, listening to Floyd Cramer and Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Merle [Haggard], people like that on [the] 8-track.”
