The surreal sight was complemented by the first true sunshine the area has experienced in about a week and a parking lot full of fans, with the lot’s open parking spots almost being filled an hour before the group’s arrival. Later arrivals were allowed to get creative.

While the stop itself represented a small portion of a jam-packed week for the bikers, it was big for the fans that were getting to meet Petty, his dad, Richard, and the other celebrity bikers in attendance for the first time.

“I first started watching NASCAR in probably ’86, ’87 and I’m still a Kyle Petty fan,” said longtime fan Scott Henry while preparing for the bikes to arrive. “I’d seen him years ago when I was up in Michigan and he used to NASCAR race in Michigan but I never really got close to him. It’s just going to be cool.”

More notably, it was another great opportunity for people to come together in support of a great cause.

Richard Petty signs autographs for fans at the Flying J truck stop in Mill Hall Thursday afternoon during the first stop of the day by the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
Petty and his father Richard as well as other former NASCAR drivers are part of this leg of the 2025 ride.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Fans showed up in droves to meet their idols, get merch and memorabilia autographed or buy new merch, with all proceeds going to Victory Junction — a year-round camp established by Petty and his family for kids dealing with serious ailments. While expected to be short and sweet, Petty and other celebrity riders — such as Ken Schrader and Herschel Walker — ensured most — if not all — autographs were signed.

“What it does for the camp is huge,” said Schrader on the cause. “I’ve had the opportunity to go to the camp more than a few times. If you get to see the kids that come there, spend the week, it’s amazing.”

“The (Petty) family has done an incredible job,” emphasized Walker. “I saw parents that were with their child 24/7. They brought them to Victory Junction, dropped them off and the kid absolutely loved it. That’s what brings a smile to your face.”

For the riders, that aspect of the event coupled with the experience of the ride and friends made along the way have unexpectedly made them for-lifers.

This year’s ride was Walker’s 19th in a row, and he doesn’t expect to stop anytime soon.

Tanner Aderhold, of Williamsport, left, gets his photo taken with Nascar legend Richard Petty, right, at the Flying J truck stop in Mill Hall Thursday afternoon during the first stop of the day by the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
Petty and his father Richard as well as other former NASCAR drivers are part of this leg of the 2025 ride.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Tim Robinson, an inexperienced motorcyclist prior to joining, has been with the group for 21 years. And many bikers have been a part of it for at least a decade.

“Once you come, it’s hard to stop,” said Robinson. “When you see what it’s all about — raising money for these kids, it’s hard to stop.”

“I think the very first time I went, I knew this was something I wanted to be involved in,” emphasized Walker. “I had a lot of good coaches, good parents and adults help me, so I think this is time to give back and help someone else.”

The stop at Flying J Fuel Station marked the first of its second-to-last day, as the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America began making its Day 6 trip from Corning, New York to Bedford. For Petty and the riders, the week has gone by in a blink of an eye, but they’ve had a great time.

Through the ride, the group has gotten to experience the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Niagara Falls, the Corning Museum of Glass and now, for the first time, Central Pennsylvania. Outside of a rainy day or two, it’s gone off without a hitch.

Richard Petty signs autographs for fans at the Flying J truck stop in Mill Hall Thursday afternoon during the first stop of the day by the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
Petty and his father Richard as well as other former NASCAR drivers are part of this leg of the 2025 ride.
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It’s so beautiful to come through these mountains,” said Petty on Thursday’s drive. “It’s been great.”

Through recent years, the ride has typically been able to generate between 1.75 to 2 million dollars per year for the camp, plenty of which come from events like these. While joining the ride at this point is difficult, involving a lottery, there are plenty of ways to help the cause.

“I would urge anybody to try and get on a ride but if you can’t, send a donation,” said Keith Edwards, a first-time rider. “It’s well worthwhile.”

“You can go to victoryjunction.org or kylepettycharityrun.com,” said Petty. “Everything we raise goes to camp.”

RICHMOND, Va. – A three-judge federal appellate panel indicated Friday it might overturn an injunction that allows 23XI Racing, co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan and veteran driver Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports to race as chartered teams in NASCAR this season while the two teams sue the stock car series over alleged antitrust violations.

NASCAR attorney Chris Yates argued the injunction, granted in December by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina, forced the series into an unwanted relationship with unwilling partners, and that it harms other teams because they earn less money.

Yates said the district court broke precedent by granting the injunction, saying the “release” clause in the charter contracts forbidding the teams from suing is “common.” He argued, essentially, that the teams should not have the benefits of the charter system they are suing to overturn.

Overturning the injunction would leave the two organizations able to race but without any of the perks of being chartered, including guaranteed weekly revenue. They would also have to qualify at every Cup Series event to make the field, which currently has only four open spots each week; 23XI and Front Row are each running three cars in Cup this season.

Judges Steven Agee, Paul Niemeyer and Stephanie Thacker, at multiple points during the 50-minute hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District, pushed back on the argument made by plaintiff’s attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who accused NASCAR of being a monopoly.

“There’s no other place to compete,” Kessler told the judges, later noting that overturning the injunction would cause tremendous damage to the two teams, which could lose drivers and sponsors. “It will cause havoc to overturn this injunction in the middle of the season.”

The teams filed the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR on Oct. 2 in the Western District of North Carolina, arguing that the series bullied teams into signing new charters that make it difficult to compete financially. That came after two years of failed negotiations on new charter agreements, which is NASCAR’s equivalent of franchise deals.

23XI – co-owned by Jordan, Hamlin and Curtis Polk, a longtime Jordan business partner – and Front Row Motorsports, were the only two out of 15 charter-holding teams that refused to sign new agreements in September.

The charters, which teams originally signed before the 2016 season, have twice been extended. The most recent extension runs until 2031, matching the current media rights deal. It guarantees that 36 of the 40 available spots in weekly races will go to teams holding charters.

The judges expressed agreement with Yates’s argument that the district court had erred in issuing the injunction allowing the teams to race, because it mandated they sign the NASCAR charter but eliminated the contract’s release.

“It seems you want to have your cake and eat it, too,” Niemeyer told Kessler.

At another point, the judge pointedly told Kessler that if the teams want to race, they should sign the charter.

Yates contended that forcing an unwanted relationship between NASCAR and the two teams “harms NASCAR and other racing teams.” He said that more chartered teams would earn more money if not for the injunction and noted that the two teams are being “given the benefits of a contract they rejected.”

Kessler argued that even if the district court’s reasoning was flawed, other evidence should lead the circuit court to uphold the injunction. Niemayer disagreed.

“The court wanted you to be able to race but without a contract,” he said.

A trial date is set for December and Agee strongly urged the sides to meet for mediation — previously ordered by a lower court — to attempt to resolve the dispute over the injunction.

“It’ll be a very interesting trial,” Agee said with a wry smile.

The prospect of successful mediation seems unlikely. Yates told the judges: “We’re not going to rewrite the charter.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A three-judge federal appellate panel indicated Friday it might overturn an injunction that allows 23XI Racing, co-owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan and veteran driver Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports to race as chartered teams in NASCAR this season while the two teams sue the stock car series over alleged antitrust violations.

NASCAR attorney Chris Yates argued the injunction, granted in December by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina, forced the series into an unwanted relationship with unwilling partners, and that it harms other teams because they earn less money.

Yates said the district court broke precedent by granting the injunction, saying the “release” clause in the charter contracts forbidding the teams from suing is “common.” He argued, essentially, that the teams should not have the benefits of the charter system they are suing to overturn.

Overturning the injunction would leave the two organizations able to race but without any of the perks of being chartered, including guaranteed weekly revenue. They would also have to qualify at every Cup Series event to make the field, which currently has only four open spots each week; 23XI and Front Row are each running three cars in Cup this season.

Judges Steven Agee, Paul Niemeyer and Stephanie Thacker, at multiple points during the 50-minute hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District, pushed back on the argument made by plaintiff’s attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who accused NASCAR of being a monopoly.

“There’s no other place to compete,” Kessler told the judges, later noting that overturning the injunction would cause tremendous damage to the two teams, which could lose drivers and sponsors. “It will cause havoc to overturn this injunction in the middle of the season.”

The teams filed the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR on Oct. 2 in the Western District of North Carolina, arguing that the series bullied teams into signing new charters that make it difficult to compete financially. That came after two years of failed negotiations on new charter agreements, which is NASCAR’s equivalent of franchise deals.

23XI – co-owned by Jordan, Hamlin and Curtis Polk, a longtime Jordan business partner – and Front Row Motorsports, were the only two out of 15 charter-holding teams that refused to sign new agreements in September.

The charters, which teams originally signed before the 2016 season, have twice been extended. The most recent extension runs until 2031, matching the current media rights deal. It guarantees that 36 of the 40 available spots in weekly races will go to teams holding charters.

The judges expressed agreement with Yates’s argument that the district court had erred in issuing the injunction allowing the teams to race, because it mandated they sign the NASCAR charter but eliminated the contract’s release.

“It seems you want to have your cake and eat it, too,” Niemeyer told Kessler.

At another point, the judge pointedly told Kessler that if the teams want to race, they should sign the charter.

Yates contended that forcing an unwanted relationship between NASCAR and the two teams “harms NASCAR and other racing teams.” He said that more chartered teams would earn more money if not for the injunction and noted that the two teams are being “given the benefits of a contract they rejected.”

Kessler argued that even if the district court’s reasoning was flawed, other evidence should lead the circuit court to uphold the injunction. Niemayer disagreed.

“The court wanted you to be able to race but without a contract,” he said.

A trial date is set for December and Agee strongly urged the sides to meet for mediation — previously ordered by a lower court — to attempt to resolve the dispute over the injunction.

“It’ll be a very interesting trial,” Agee said with a wry smile.

The prospect of successful mediation seems unlikely. Yates told the judges: “We’re not going to rewrite the charter.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Dennis Hauger’s near-perfect season in INDY NXT by Firestone continued Friday morning, as he led the opening practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Hauger was quickest at 1 minute, 14.2484 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global. Series rookie Hauger has won both races this season from the pole and has been quickest in every session but one practice at the season opener in March at St. Petersburg, Florida.

SEE: Practice Results

“Good start to the day,” Hauger said. “I feel like we still have some room for improvements, but overall it’s looking strong all session. Looking forward to seeing how it goes in qualifying.”

Series veteran Callum Hedge was second at 1:14.6287 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports machine. Salvador de Alba ended up third at 1:14.7679 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car of Andretti Global.

Rookie Lochie Hughes was the third Andretti Global driver in the top four with his best lap of 1:14.8332 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championships car. Caio Collet rounded out the top five at 1:14.8453 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

The 50-minute session ended with slightly under three minutes to go after contact between veterans Myles Rowe and Josh Pierson in Turn 7 of the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.

Rowe exited the pits in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car parallel with the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine of Pierson. The two ended up racing side by side through the first six turns of the circuit before Rowe nosed ahead. Pierson tried to dive under Rowe in Turn 7, and the two cars made side-by-side contact and slid into the grass.

Pierson accepted blame for the incident on the team radio after returning to the pits.

Up next is qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET today (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network), which will set the starting grids for both 35-lap races this weekend. Race 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET tonight, live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Pocono Raceway retains its spot as the best NASCAR track as USA TODAY releases its 10BEST Readers’ Choice travel awards, placing the Tricky Triangle at No. 1 for the second consecutive year.