Kyle is the son of the King (#43) Richard Petty, the Grandson of Lee Petty (#42) and the father of Adam Petty (#45). His father had given up on the Magnum midway in the 1978 season and parked them in the corner of his shop. When his son broke into ARCA in 1979, Richard duster off one of the Magnums for him to race -- and he took a first place at Daytona. In NASCAR -- he took the Magnum to a 9th place finish.

Marty Robbins gave up Lee Petty's old number 42 for Kyle to initially use -- but he later changed to #44 when it became available.