Kyle Petty took the Grand Ole Opry stage on Saturday night to sing an original song called “Hard Times.”
Yes, Kyle Petty, as in the son of NASCAR great Richard Petty, and a former race car driver himself.
He told the Opry audience that it was a dream come true to be on that stage performing where so many country icons have stood before:
“I can’t tell you how big an honor it is to be here. It’s a humbling experience to stand in this circle. We came here the other night, my dad and I, stood here and had our photo taken.
You know my dad wore his cowboy hat, and cowboy boots, and glasses. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen him.
And I told him, I said ‘Man if I coulda taught you to play the guitar you could’ve been a superstar. You did pretty good with what you did, but you could’ve been a superstar.’ You know what I mean?”
Richard Petty as a country music star? I could see it.
We know there are quite a few drivers who can sing, seeing as years back a group of NASCAR legends got together and did an entire country album… even Dale Sr. showed off his singing chops on the honky-tonkin’ song “Hard Charger”.
Kyle compared his experience singing on hallowed ground at the Opry to legendary race tracks like Daytona:
“But it was humbling to stand here, just as it is to go to Daytona and some of the sacred places that we have in our sport.
To stand where so many greats have stood on this circle. And to be able to play here is a huge honor. My heart’s beatin’ a thousand miles a minute, man.”
He said he was inspired to write it after watching the news a few years ago:
“This was three stories on the evening news that night and it just struck me. And it’s still pretty relevant today.”
He’s dabbled in country music here and there over the years, but if you didn’t know he could sing, it’s because he always did it in the race car:
“I rode around in a race car all those years and sang to myself inside my helmet and nobody ever heard me, now you’re hearing it.”
Seeing as he played the show the night before Father’s Day, he spoke about his late son, Adam (who he tragically lost in a racing accident in 2000), and all the hardships he’s been through in his life that also inspired the song.
Check him out singing his original track, “Hard Times”:
Kyle also has a new Opry Circle TV series coming soon called “Dinner Drive”.
It will premiere on July 8th with guests like his dad Richard, Ric Flair, Darius Rucker, and even Dale Earnhardt Jr.
