Better late than never: Petty visits Lake City

Rick Charmoli | Cadillac News Bill Mangus, 11, has NASCAR driver Kyle Petty sign a picture during PettyÕs visit to Lake City Thursday. The Nextel Cup driver came to Lake City a month after he was scheduled to be at the Greatest Fourth in the North.

LAKE CITY - The wait was over for some NASCAR fans in Lake City Thursday.

After about a month delay, Kyle Petty came to northern Michigan to talk to fans, sign autographs and pose for pictures. This was the second trip to Lake City for the Nextel Cup driver.

“It feels good to be here. I'm sorry I could not come earlier,” the 27-year NASCAR veteran said.

Petty was scheduled to be part of the week-long activities at the Greatest Fourth in the North last month but, due to sponsorship engagements, he had to reschedule.

Petty was able to come to Lake City Thursday because of the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway running this weekend.

In his opinion, MIS is one of the better tracks on the schedule.

“It's just a great race track and plenty wide. Some of the tracks are hard to race because it is like follow the leader,” Petty said. “I enjoy the second race (at MIS) better because it is not as hot and slick.”

Bringing Petty to Lake City was not a hard decision to make, according to Michelle Corrigan, co-owner of Classic Chevy and Classic Ford.

“We wanted to bring him here. NASCAR is one of the largest spectator sports and we wanted to bring him here because smaller towns don't have the opportunities to have a celebrity,” she said.

It was evident that residents took advantage of that opportunity as a line formed at the City Park Amphitheater.

One fan who waited in line was 7-year-old Tristin Paulson.

Although the youngster's favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tristin came to see Petty because he likes NASCAR. He also said he likes how fast the cars go and is anxiously waiting to go to his first race.

Bill Mangus also waited in line to see Petty.

The Montcalm County resident was in Lake City camping with his grandparents and saw that Petty was coming. Although he is not a NASCAR fan, he was eager to meet the driver.

“We came over to get an autograph. I'm going to get it on my racing T-shirt,” the 11-year-old said. “I just wanted to come and it is always worthwhile to see someone famous.”

rcharmoli@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)