“We all miss him”: Kyle Petty remembers Adam Petty on his 44th birthday

NASCAR vet Kyle Petty penned a heartfelt note on X (formerly Twitter), remembering his deceased son on the latter's birthday. Adam Petty, who would have been 44, lost his life at the age of 19 in a car crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on May 12, 2000, just 40 days after his first Cup start.

Adam Petty made his first NASCAR start at 17 in what is now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Adam's racing abilities showed itself right when he was a teenager. In just his 12th NASCAR start, he recorded a top-5 finish.

Just a few weeks later, he put up another top-5 performance. Adam was all set for a full-time Xfinity Series deal in 2000, and perhaps a handful of Cup Series starts. But unfortunately, he was gone soon after he made his Cup Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway.

As Adam Petty and his number 45 team did a few practice laps on the one-mile oval racetrack, the throttle on Petty's car got stuck around turn 3 and ran straight into the wall. His vehicle was battered, and he sustained a basilar skull fracture that killed him instantly.

Recalling his son's gruesome death, Kyle Petty wrote,

"There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of Adam. But today, on his birthday, all the memories come flooding back. My prayer is that Adam will always be remembered. We all miss him every minute of every day."

Kyle Petty's legendary father, Richard "The King" Petty too, remembered his grandson's birthday and uploaded a post on the same. He also reposted Kyle Petty's post.

Shortly after the tragedy, Kyle Petty changed the number on his car to 45, the number that Adam Petty's car used to have. Kyle Petty drove the #45 car for the rest of his career. However, that number didn't make its return to NASCAR until Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan formed 23XI Racing.

"It's a week of light"- Kyle Petty on the week that changed the narrative around his son's untimely demise

When Denny Hamlin asked if he could put the number 45 on the 23XI Toyota Camry, Kyle Petty approved. Former NASCAR driver and 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch wheeled the car to the victory lane for the first time in the 2022 AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Needless to say, it was an emotional win for everyone in the #45 camp and, of course, for the 64-year-old Randleman native as well.

It was also the 22nd anniversary of Adam Petty's death that year. Adam Petty's brother, Austin, and his wife, Sarah, welcomed their third child, a girl they named Ellington Montgomery Petty.

Reflecting on the good news, Petty said in an older interview (as reported by YARDBARKER):

"May 12 is just an incredibly dark day. I get to a dark place a few days before that and stay in a dark place for a few days after that. It’s just a dark day. Austin and Sarah having a little girl, that day wasn’t as dark. There was a light. For a change, there was a light in that day."

"Then to have Kurt (Busch) and that number in Victory Lane three days later … it’s a week of positive things. It’s not a week of negative things. It’s a week of light. Not a week of darkness. It’s a week of hope and not a week of despair. I think when you look at it, in 20 years I’ll look back and say this is the week that changed everything," he added.

Petty is currently a NASCAR analyst for NBC Sports. Following his retirement in 2008, Petty served as a racing commentator for SPEED TV, FOX Sports, and TNT. As of today, he is the Chairman Emeritus for Victory Junction, President of Kyle Petty Charity Ride, Inc., and a board member of the Drivers Advisory Council (NASCAR). He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina School of Arts.