TRAVERSE CITY — Start your engines.
The Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America kicks off May in Traverse City.
The annual ride — aside from during the 2020 pandemic, of course — is making its second start in Traverse City, after participants from the previous 28 rides insisted on returning to the Cherry Capital.
Each year, the event surveys riders for suggestions for future rides. Some of those including naming places they’d like to start, finish and visit in between.
“Traverse City is constantly on about 30 percent of the surveys — and it has been for years, since we came up there,” said Petty, an eight-time winner in NASCAR and 173-time top-10 finisher in 829 races. “We had so much fun. The weather was nice. We had a cherry pit-spitting contest at the hotel. We did all kinds of crazy stuff, but it was a fun three or four days leading up to it.”
The seven-day trip — which raises funds for Victory Junction, a camp for children with chronic and terminal diseases established in honor of Ketty’s son Adam, who died in a 2000 practice accident at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — ends in Hot Springs, Virginia after 1,400 miles.
“It was cool when we called and said we’d like to come back, and they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, we remember you guys,’” Petty said. “Our people had so much fun, they want to go back.”
The 2008 charity ride started in Traverse City and ended in Mississippi.
Petty arrives at the Grand Traverse Resort on April 26, with most of the other riders getting to TC several days before the ride leaves the morning of May 3.
The event features two fan pit stops in northern Michigan, one at 6:30 a.m. May 3 at the GT Resort, just before departing, and another at 10:15 a.m. at the Shell gas station in Benzonia.
Spectators along the route can purchase memorabilia (T-shirts are $20, hats $20; cash or check only) or contribute to the Ride’s “Small Change Big Impact” program, which accepts donations at each stop.
The ride features several celebrity riders, including Kyle Petty, Richard Petty, Herschel Walker, Hershel McGriff, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Max Papis, Rutledge Wood, Rick Allen and Bill Davidson. Fans can meet the celebrities for photos and autographs (limit of two autographs per person) at the tour’s stops.
Petty dubbed the 2025 edition as the “Tour of Wonders,” an ode to the stops during the trip, including Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls and Virginia’s hot springs. The tour is also visiting destinations such as the Henry Ford Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and doing laps at Watkins Glen International.
“I love the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,” Petty said in an interview with the Record-Eagle. “I’ve loved it since I was a kid.”
This year’s ride has 125 participants. The 225-bike procession as a whole includes about 250 people, including security, a medical team, personnel for luggage, public relations team and more among the support vehicles.
Kyle Petty said there’s three who have done all 28 previous years and another 8-10 completed 25 or more. They usually shoot for 15-20 new riders a year to keep things fresh, but have 25-30 new riders this time around.
“They’ve become family, more so than friends,” Petty said. “These are people I’ve known 20 and 25 years now. They’re my family now, not my friends.”
Petty said initially he had trouble finding people who wanted to ride that distance.
“There were about five of us that wanted to ride motorcycles from California to North Carolina,” Petty said. “Everybody we told that we were going to do it, told us we were crazy.”
Then he added the charity aspect.
“Then they were like, ‘Man, what a fantastic idea,’” Petty said. “’That is a great idea. We’ll go with you.’”
The first ride has about 25 participants. They rode home from a race in California to Charlotte, North Carolina, stopping at a few children’s hospitals on the way and donated money.
Riders pay a fee, most of which goes to the camp. The rest pays for fuel, lodging, food and staff along the trip.
The money left over from each rider’s fees pays for about two kids to attend camp at around $2,500 each. Donations they collect at stops along the ride pay for an additional 10-12 camps, Petty said. The ride also has corporate sponsors.
Since it first began in 1995, the Ride has raised more than $22 million for Victory Junction and other children’s charities.
Victory Junction, located in Randleman, NC, has a sprawling campus of buildings housing various activities from archery and bowling to theater and horseback riding. Many are auto racing themed, as several of Petty’s driver friends also donated substantial sums of money to build the facilities, one of which has a wing shaped like Petty’s No. 45 race car. There’s a fully-operational hospital on campus that can even administer chemotherapy treatment.
“If you walked on the campus, you would think, ‘Oh, this is just a regular camp,’” Petty said. “Then you see the kids that come, and you say, ‘OK, it’s a little different than a regular camp.’ The camp is the same, but the kids who come are truly special kids.”
The 25th ride was Seattle to Key West, around 3,800 miles over nine days. Petty wants to top that one next year for the 30th.