Jeremy Petty, left, and his grandfather, Jack Petty, share a passion for round-track racing, as evidenced by the race cars in the background at the Kansas Auto Racing Museum in Chapman. Jeremy bought and restored the yellow sprint car his grandfather drove in the '60s; Jack built the number 91 Hudson tribute car in honor of legendary NASCAR racer Tim Flock.
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Jeremy Petty says sponsorship will be a key to his working his way into the ranks of NASCAR racing. His ARCA stock car carries the logos of Crosson Farms and C&R Plating, two longtime Kansas backers of his career.
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Jeremy Petty won an amazing string of 17 straight feature races in this Modified car, culminating in the 2004 Missouri Cup at I-70 Speedway near Odessa, Mo. In the process he also claimed the JRP Speedway championship in Tulsa.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Jeremy Petty's daily driver is his unrestored 1947 Hudson pickup, which is powered by a 300-cubic-inch Ford 6-cylinder engine mated to a C4 automatic transmission. It replaced a fully restored '47 Hudson pickup that was totaled in a traffic accident.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
After buying his grandfather's old sprint car as a freshman in high school, Jeremy Petty spent the following year restoring the car with his dad, Joe Petty. He campaigned it in vintage races during his last two years of high school before moving on to Modifieds.
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Jeremy Petty hopes to be in the driver's seat of a race truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck series in the near future.
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Jeremy Petty uses his classic '47 Hudson pickup to tow his vintage #6 sprint car, formerly driven by his grandfather, Jack Petty.
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The Hudson hauler relies on Ford power, using a 300-cubic-inch 6-cylinder engine mated to a C4 automatic transmission. The truck is also equipped with modern disc brakes up front.
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The interior of the Hudson's cab is pretty basic, although a modern sound system has been added; the old 3-on-the-tree shifter controls the modern automatic transmission.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Left to right, a representative sampling of Jeremy Petty's progression through the ranks of racing: the #6 sprint car he drove in vintage races during high school, his championship Modified dirt/asphalt car, and his ARCA Dodge, which carried him to a 13th place overall finish in that series last year.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Racing definitely runs in the family -- from left, Jerry Petty, Jeremy Petty, Jack Petty and Jamie Helsel, Jeremy's brother-in-law -- all help out with Jeremy's racing equipment and his professional driving career.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The cockpit of the #6 sprint car is cozy, but nicely upholstered; note the single-speed in-and-out gearbox.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
A lineup any racing family would be proud to claim. The Kansas Pettys are well represented in a wide variety of round track fields.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
When a serious traffic accident compromised a promising baseball career, Jeremy Petty changed gears and focused on auto racing. Today, he is a professional, full-time driver working his way into NASCAR's ranks.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Jeremy Petty, in the No. 23 Dodge, leads a pack of stock cars out of a corner at the 1.5 mile Kentucky Speedway near Sparta, Ky., during the 2009 ARCA series.
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Jeremy Petty / Courtesy
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