[I Flip For Carl]

Kyle Petty, driver of the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge suffered a broken hand as a result of hitting the butt of his right hand on a door inside the hauler after a lap 69 incident in Sunday's Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International road course.
Petty was treated and released in the infield care center during Sunday's event. He flew back to his home in North Carolina, where he was treated by a doctor who determined that the hand was broken.(Moore Consulting PR)

[Racer Duck]

as I understand the incident, Kyle walked up to the door, but it wouldn't open. when he tried a little more force, the door bad mouthed him saying it was gonna kick his a$$. Kyle shoved the door and that's when the bone broke. unfortunately, cameras were on JPM dutifully recording his in race antics, so there's no film to be found on YouTube of the incident.

[wardfan]

sucks for Kyle, I read he will have a substitute driver for Michigan. If we are lucky TV will nab him to call the race. He beats everybody they have now.

[tkj24]

Originally Posted by wardfan

sucks for Kyle, I read he will have a substitute driver for Michigan. If we are lucky TV will nab him to call the race. He beats everybody they have now.

You don't think he would punch Rusty do you?

[wardfan]

that would be cool. Rusty wanted to see a fight last week. Maybe Kyle could give him a fat lip. Then he would be quite and Kyle could call the race. Works for me.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by wardfan

that would be cool. Rusty wanted to see a fight last week. Maybe Kyle could give him a fat lip. Then he would be quite and Kyle could call the race. Works for me.

Sounds good to me.

[wardfan]

Its still funny to hear Bobby Allison say Cale started hitting his fist with his nose anytime someone asks him about the fight.

[jks812]

Originally Posted by wardfan

sucks for Kyle, I read he will have a substitute driver for Michigan. If we are lucky TV will nab him to call the race. He beats everybody they have now.

They are putting Chad McCumbee in the car.

[Phils20]

It would be cool to hear him call the race! I'm not gonna count on it, but it would be great!

[jks812]

Do ya'll watch him on Tradin Paint? I love watching him on there. He don't hold back his thoughts.

[wardfan]

Originally Posted by jks812

They are putting Chad McCumbee in the car.

Actually I knew that, I was just to lazy to see how to spell his name right.

[jks812]

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Kyle Petty's done some stupid things in the past, like the time he crashed his motorcycle into a telephone pole guy wire and fractured his ankle, then had to crawl home, ring the doorbell and have his mother drive him to the hospital.
"Oh, I've done a lot stupider things," Petty said, showing off the white cast that covers his right wrist and last two fingers. "Believe me, I'm 47, so this doesn't even move the needle on stupid."
Still, hitting a cabinet door in frustration is a stupid way to end up with a broken hand, an injury that sidelined him for this weekend at Michigan. Chad McCumbee -- who subbed in Petty's No. 45 Dodge at Pocono -- had the slowest qualifying time (180.582 mph) of the 48 drivers but will start Sunday's 3M Performance 400 in the 42nd-position based on owner points.


"I knew it was broke as soon as it hit," Petty admitted. "It was just a freak deal.
"I've been a lot madder and lot more frustrated at other times. I don't mind punching cabinets, it's out of the public view. But this one was definitely stupid, but a freak way to do it."
Once he realized the hand was broken, Petty faced a difficult decision. He could have it reset -- and face four to six weeks of recuperation. Or he could have an operation to add a plate and screws and be back more quickly.
"They operated on it on Tuesday morning and put a plate in it and put four screws in it," Petty said. "It's doing a lot better, I'm a lot more mobile [Friday] than I was.
"The reason [the cast] is so big is because I've had surgery on it, so part of this is the bandage for the wound, more so than for the broken hand. Hopefully I'll be back in the car in 10, 14 days."
So would that mean driving at Bristol?
"At this juncture right now, yeah, Bristol is still on my list," Petty said. "But I'll be honest with you, until we really went in and put the plate and the pins in it, this place was still on my list. Because I didn't think this place would be hard on you at all.
"It's just the angle that my hand is set. Obviously I can't grab anything and I can't do anything. The open wound and the stitches become an issue for the safety of my hand as much as the broken bone did."
Petty said he wouldn't return to the cockpit until he's fully ready. He has no interest in winding up with a permanent disability.
Still, it's almost hard to believe that Kyle Petty would throw a temper tantrum. That seems as likely as Kevin Harvick and Juan Montoya exchanging Christmas cards.
"I've always been this way, ask my crew," Petty said. "Why do you think so many people quit working for me? Because I just scream at them all the time.
"I'm not a choir boy. ... That's the funny part about this sport. I think everybody wants everybody to be choir boys and when Tony [Stewart] speaks out and they speak their mind and you have instances that happened with Harvick and Montoya last week. That's just adrenaline, the passion of being in the moment and wanting to win a race."
Petty said, if anything, the incident proved to him that he still has the competitive fire.
"That's the funny part," Petty said. "People always say, 'How much longer you going to do this?' But obviously if I like [racing] enough to punch a wall then I'm going to be here a few more years.
"Like I said, one day I'll wake up and not want to ride around in circles anymore and I'll just quit."