All-American 400 to be Renamed the Adam Petty Memorial All-American 400
Music City Motorplex President Joe Mattioli announced today that the 25th edition of the All-American 400, slated for Nov. 2-4 at Nashville’s Music City Motorplex, will be run in memory of the late Adam Petty. The season-ending event at the Nashville facility will be titled the Adam Petty Memorial All-American 400.Adam Petty was lost in a racing accident in May of 2000 at the age of 19, just over a month after competing in a NASCAR Busch Series race in Nashville.
“The All-American 400 is always a huge event for us everyone at the Music City Motorplex, the city of Nashville, competitors and fans from all over the nation,” Mattioli said. “It is quite an honor for us to name this event in memory of Adam Petty. The Petty name is synonymous with stock car racing and good works. The All-American 400 is the “Super Bowl of Short Track Racing”. This is a perfect, meaningful and worthwhile fit.”
The Adam Petty Memorial All-American 400 will benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp, which was opened in 2004 by Adam Petty’s parents, Kyle and Pattie, with their children, Montgomery Lee and Austin. The Victory Junction Gang Camp, located in Piedmont-Triad area of North Carolina, operates year-round serving children, ages seven to 15, with a variety of health issues. Victory Junction operates solely on the donations of corporations, organizations and individuals. The children who attend Victory Junction would likely not be able to attend other camps due to their medical needs, and it is free to all who come.
“We are honored that the Motorplex is doing this for Adam, commented Pattie Petty. “He loved to race at Nashville and we loved to watch him race there. Kyle and I saw him really get excited as he truly learned his skills and gained great confidence on that track. He grew up there when he was very young watching both his dad and his granddad race there. The Petty family truly has a lot of history at the short track in Nashville and many cherished memories,” Petty concluded.
“While what the Petty’s have accomplished and contributed to motorsports on the track is remarkable, it what they have been able to do at the Victory Junction Camp takes my breath away,” Mattioli continued. For all the Petty’s, especially Adam’s siblings, Austin and Montgomery Lee, their commitment to the camp and seeming endless desire to help others is an inspiration for all of us,” Mattioli concluded.
Adam Petty was primed to continue the Petty name is stockcar racing. His great grandfather, Lee, his grandfather, Richard, and his dad, Kyle, all preceded him in NASCAR racing action. Lee, Richard and Kyle visited Victory Lane 263 times with Richard collecting 200 triumphs and gaining the title as “The King.”
Adam Petty began racing go-karts at the age of six. He made his NASCAR debut in the NASCAR Weekly Series in 1997 and competed in 25 events.
Late in the 1998 season, Adam Petty made his initial NASCAR Busch Grand National Series start at Gateway International Raceway.
In all, he started 43 Busch Series events and recorded four top-10 finishes. His best run in the series was a fourth-place showing in 1999 in the Auto Club 300 at California Speedway.
Adam Petty also started in two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events in 1999 and he made his first appearance on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in April of 2000. That first and only start in NASCAR’s top division came just three days before the death of Lee Petty.
“Adam was carrying on a family tradition,” Mattioli said. “He seemed a sure thing to carry on the great racing tradition established by the Petty family before he died.
“Race fans will always remember the Petty name,” Mattioli added. “And, by naming the All-American 400 in Adam’s memory, we hope to ensure that short track race fans will always remember his contributions as well as those of his family members to the sport we all know and love.”
Source: Music City Motorplex