Swerve or Die, Kyle Petty
Swerve or Die, Kyle Petty
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Swerve or Die
Life at My Speed in the First Family of NASCAR Racing

Author: Kyle Petty, Ellis Henican

Narrator: Kyle Petty

Unabridged: 9 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/09/2022


Synopsis

This program is read by Kyle Petty and Includes his performance of his original song, "Under the Big Top."

Stock-car racing star, country singer, and sports broadcaster Kyle Petty shares his familial legacy, intertwined with NASCAR’s founding and history, in Swerve or Die—written with Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellis Henican, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of In the Blink of an Eye.

“Born into racing royalty. The only son of NASCAR’s winningest driver ever. The grandson of one of the sport’s true pioneers. The nephew of our very first Hall of Fame engine builder. It’s quite a family to represent, and through it all, I’ve somehow managed to keep being Kyle.”

Kyle Petty won his very first stock-car race, the Daytona ARCA 200, in 1979 when he was eighteen. Hailed as a third-generation professional NASCAR racer, he became an instant celebrity in circles he had been around all his young life. Despite being the grandson and son of racing champions Lee Petty and Richard Petty, Kyle didn’t inherit innate talent. Working in his family’s North Carolina race shop from an early age, he learned all about car mechanics and maintenance long before he got behind the wheel. And although Kyle continued the family business, driving “Petty blue” colored cars emblazoned with his grandfather’s #42—a number once used by Marty Robbins—his career took a different route than his forebears’.

In Swerve or Die: Life at My Speed in the First Family of NASCAR Racing, Kyle chronicles his life on and off the racetrack, presenting his insider’s perspective of growing up throughout the sport’s popular rise in American culture. In between driving and running Petty Enterprises for thirty years, Kyle took some detours into country music, voiced Cal Weathers in Pixar’s Cars 3, and started his annual motorcycle Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America. And when his nineteen-year-old son Adam, a fourth-generation racing Petty, tragically lost his life on the track, Kyle founded Victory Junction, a camp for children with chronic and serious medical conditions in Adam’s name—with help from Academy Award-winning actor and motorsports enthusiast Paul Newman.

Filled with NASCAR history, stories of his family’s careers, and anecdotes about some of stock-car racing’s most famous drivers, Kyle’s memoir also tackles the sport’s evolution, discussing how welcoming diverse racers, improving car and track safety features, and integrating green technology will benefit NASCAR’s competitors and fans in the future.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

About Kyle Petty

KYLE PETTY is a former American stock-car racer and current racing commentator on NBC Sports. He is the son of racing icon Richard Petty, the grandson of NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty and the father of rising racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash in May 2000. Outside of the sport, he is a musician, philanthropist, motivational speaker and TV host.

About Ellis Henican

ELLIS HENICAN is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a popular TV pundit, and a multi-New York Times bestselling author. His coauthored books include Michael Waltrip's In the Blink of an Eye and former New Orleans Saints football coach Sean Payton's Home Team.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Randal

If there is such a thing as Nascar royalty, the Petty family belongs on the throne! From his grandfather Lee, to his father Richard (he with the cowboy hat and sunglasses), to Kyle (and his pony tail wearing, motorcycle riding, wise-cracking persona). In this book, third generation Nascar driver Kyl......more

Goodreads review by Peggy

I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Kyle gives his account of the joy, pain, heartache & loss NASCAR brought to his life. It was interesting to read how the NASCAR family pulls together to support the cross country charity rides he puts together & the Victory Junction camp e......more

Goodreads review by Andrew

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley. Kyle Petty, now 62 years old, is best known for being a member of one of NASCAR's most prominent families. He is the son of Richard Petty, "The King", who won 200 NASCAR races, the winningest driver of all-time. Kyle had nowhere near that level of suc......more

Goodreads review by Marie

Thank you in advance to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing an advanced review copy. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own. Rarely do I read biographies or autobiographies (A). I have, since starting my blog, read four (including this one) – William......more