Crossover between NASCAR and the world of Golf isn’t new. Now, for the young fans who’ve followed the sport, know the story about how Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s golf sessions led to the birth of the 23XI Racing. But the world of stock car racing and golf share a good history, and it all started with Richard Petty. Unlike Hamlin, the King doesn’t fancy himself with a club on the course, rather, he organizes the annual Petty Charity Golf Classic. It is a two-day event at Grandover Resort & Spa, and all the proceeds go directly to the Petty Family Foundation.
He is not an avid golfer, but his efforts to bring the communities together and connect the two sports have been recognized by the PGA Tour. With the tour heading to NASCAR’s backyard at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, they have roped in Petty to move the needle further. And the King was more than happy to endorse the event and even drew interesting similarities between a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Quail Hollow Club.
Josh Carpenter, who covers Golf for Sports Business Journal, posted a video about the crossover on X. King Petty set up the theme for the PGA tour event with a compelling narration, “A city that’s usually known for speed, but this week a new King will be crowned. As the Queen City plays host to a different competition, with the best golfers in the world, looking to conquer the green mountain and reign supreme at Quail Hollow.”
Legends like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have conquered the green mountains at Quail Hollow, and heading into the four-day event, all eyes are going to be on Rory McIlroy. The Irishman has four PGA Tour wins on NASCAR’s turf. Although there’s a huge contrast in speed and the style of the game that is played between the two sports, King Petty believes the action is equally thrilling and keeps the fans on the edge of their seats.
“No roaring engines here, no stretching tires either, but I promise you this: At the PGA championship, the heart rate gets going just the same. Every shot, every putt, every breath, can determine which of these players will lift the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday night. So don’t let the speed of this game fool you, because this chase could come down to wire, and I can’t wait.” Petty concluded.
The chase is on at the 107th @PGAChampionship. @therichardpetty welcomes us to Moving Day in Charlotte. pic.twitter.com/KinYcKfUR4
— Golf on CBS (@GolfonCBS) May 17, 2025
It’s not just Petty that has grown fond of the PGA tour, we also saw modern-day NASCAR stars, Kyle Larson and William Byron, make a pit stop at the Quail Hollow last month. “Hey, what’s up? I’m NASCAR driver Kyle Larson, here at Quail Hollow. Just got a chance to play 18 holes, I had an amazing time, so looking forward to the PGA championship, it’s gonna be beautiful. So I encourage all the fans to come on out, it gonna be a blast.”
Well, the PGA Tour event in Charlotte has caught the attention of the old guard and the new ones from the NASCAR garage, and it is shaping up to be a thrilling four days of golf action. But when it comes to NASCAR action, King Petty had some interesting comments about Larson after his win at Kansas.
Richard Petty feels Kyle Larson spoiled a good race at Kansas
Kyle Larson was doing Kyle Larson things during last Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway. Having won last year’s race by 0.001 seconds, this time around he swept the stage wins and led 221 of 267 laps to bag his third win of the season. Three wins in 12 races, if the HMS driver continues on this trajectory, he could recreate his championship winning year (2021) where he bagged 10 wins, which is something Richard Petty did back in 1974.
This style of domination is indeed rare with the Gen 7 car, but for some reason, Larson finds an extra gear or two in getting the job done. Although the race looked a little dull given all the numbers and stats that glorify Larson’s win, there were some good drivers who couldn’t hit their markers. And that in turn led to King Petty share his take on the Kansas race, which is has created a stir.
“He was really really good on brand new tires, and he could outrun everybody by a quarter of a second, but he’d get way out there, and then after 40-50 laps his tires would completely quit.” His long-time buddy and crew chief, Dale Inman, chimed in, “Well, if you took him out, it’d have been a heck of a race,” and Petty agreed to this. “Oh, it would have been a heck of race.”
Had Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski not endured the setback they did, who knows, we could’ve had a finish that Petty was painting. But there will be plenty of opportunities for the drivers to get back at the points leader in the upcoming races.
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