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| Kyle Petty |
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 Growing up in racing can be an advantage if you want to win in NASCAR Winston Cup competition, but when you grow up in Level Cross, N.C., and your father is casually referred to as "The King," your chances of becoming a NASCAR winner jump tremendously. Kyle Petty was able to productively use his family business and to take advantage of his incredible driving talents and people skills to continue building a racing business that has been the most successful in the history of motorsports.
Today Petty runs the day-to-day operations at Petty Enterprises, a three-car operation, but it’s his refocused determination to be a winner that he showed in 2002 that has the racing community looking at Petty as a serious threat in 2003. Petty will enter the season flying with new colors as Georgia-Pacific has teamed up with him to sponsor the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge. Petty will also oversee the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge with driver John Andretti and the #44 Dodge of driver Christian Fittipaldi.
Ever since he was a young boy, Petty has always been around racetracks, stock cars, and drivers of the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. His father, Richard Petty, is the most successful driver in the history of the sport, while his grandfather, Lee Petty, was one of the most successful pioneers of NASCAR racing. It comes to no one's surprise that in Kyle Petty's first time in a major league stock car race he crossed the line first, winning the 1979 Daytona ARCA 200. Winning races is just what the Petty's do, and in the year 2002 Kyle Petty led the charge to a new, stronger, and better Petty Enterprises for the future.
For the first time since 1963, Petty Enterprises, under the lead role of Petty, campaigned three cars in Winston Cup competition. Petty Enterprises also led the Dodge manufacturer in its return to NASCAR racing. Being a car owner for three teams, and one of the most accomplished drivers on the track, in 2001 Petty orchestrated one of the most challenging tasks in NASCAR Winston Cup history. Two years later, Petty continues to lead the organization back to the top of the stock car world.
A man with eight victories on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, Petty knows what it takes to be a winner. Having begun his career working for Petty Enterprises, and later running motorsports' most successful team, Petty has also driven for such successful car owners as the Wood Brothers and Felix Sabates, learning the "do's and don'ts" of NASCAR Winston Cup competition. In 1997 Petty opened pe2, and experienced first hand what it was like to be a car owner. Collecting two top-fives and nine top-10s in his first year as a car owner, Petty was moving to a new level in the business at Petty Enterprises while at the same time staying a fierce competitor on the track. The following year, Petty packed his bags - and everybody else's bag too - moving back home to Level Cross to become the CEO at Petty Enterprises and continue his driving career where it started.
The 2003 racing season will continue to see Petty as busy as ever as a driver, owner, and CEO. He will be paying close attention to his three-car operation, continuing his successes from 2002, his best season in five years, and also guiding world driving ace Christian Fittipaldi in his new career as a stock car driver.
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