FAYETTEVILLE, WV (WOAY) – Former NASCAR racer Kyle Petty made a visit to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, along with around 75 motorcycles and a crew of about 150 for the 2021 Charity Ride Revival.
“We had just picked places that we had been before that we had loved, Senaca Rocks, Bedford, here at the New River Gorge Bridge…what a great view…if you can walk to the bottom!”
While the even bigger ride, the annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America, was postponed due to COVID-19, it didn’t stop the crew from doing a smaller version of the ride for the same great cause, to honor his late son, Adam Petty, and to raise awareness and funds helping kids with chronic medical illnesses attend Victory Junction.
“Victory Junction is a camp we promote in memory of my son, Adam, who was killed in a racing accident, and it’s been about 22 years now, but we’ve seen about 90,000 kids and their families coming to Victory Junction, that’s what this ride’s about, sending kids to camp, kids with chronic illnesses, kids with serious medical conditions,” says Kyle Petty.
A year-round camp for these kids, Victory Junction is only functioning through charitable causes like this one, and because of these rides, well over 8,000 children have been able to attend the camp at no cost. And, despite this ride being half the time and size as usual, everyone was happy to come out and support such a great cause once again.
“It’s great, we missed it last year, but to get all of the people together who’s been riding this for years, coming from all over the United States, it’s just really been like a homecoming,” Kyle Petty’s father, Richard Petty says.
This year, the ride is being based in Hot Springs, Virginia, and for three days the crew has made their way around to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, Senaca Rocks, West Virginia, and right here in the New River Gorge before making their way back to Virginia.
