Kyle Petty has been named the 4th quarter True Value Person of the Year: In recognition of his compassion and endless effort in serving the community with charitable projects, Kyle Petty has been named the fourth quarter recipient of NASCAR’s True Value Person of the Year. True Value, the Official Hardware Store of NASCAR, sponsors the award, which is designed to honor NASCAR drivers for their community service contributions and charitable efforts. Petty, a second generation NASCAR driver, is involved in a number of charities, including Kyle Petty’s Charity Ride Across America, Race to End Hunger, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary (WCRWA) and the Victory Junction Gang Camp for chronically ill children. Since the 1995 formation of Kyle Petty’s Charity Ride Across America, the unique fundraiser has raised nearly $3 million for various children’s hospitals, Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary. Petty and his wife, Patti, founded the Victory Junction Gang Camp for chronically ill children. Scheduled to open in the summer of 2004, the Victory Junction Gang Camp is located in Randleman, N.C. on 62 acres of land. Petty has been honored in the past for his many hours of charitable work. He was named the 1998 True Value Person of the Year and in 1999 he was named NASCAR Winston Cup Illustrated Person of the Year. For the purpose of determining the NASCAR True Value Person of the Year award, the NASCAR Winston Cup season has been divided into four quarters in which drivers are nominated for their off-track charitable efforts. Ricky Craven was the first quarter winner, Jeff Gordon the second quarter recipient and Ken Schrader was named the third quarter winner. An elite group of panelists will select one of the quarterly finalists as the True Value Person of the Year. The award and a prize of $100,000 will be presented Dec. 6 in New York City at the Meyers Brother Breakfast, which is part of the NASCAR Winston Cup awards weekend. The money will be divided evenly between the driver and the charity of his/her choice. In addition to the NASCAR True Value Person of the Year, True Value sponsors the Driver of the Race Award, which goes to the eligible driver who wins each of the 36 NASCAR Winston Cup championship events. Each True Value Driver of the Race Award winner receives $2,500 with an additional $2,500 going to the charity of his/her choice.(NASCAR PR)(11-16-2002)
