Sports: Oh King Richard and Sunday Money

Kyle Petty: Oh King Richard

[purchase]

Flashback: July 4,1984. Daytona International Speedway. Richard Petty wins his 200th race in a career spanning 35 years with 7 Winston Cup Championships in 1185 starts. It would be his final win but a memorable one. Not only did his 200th win come on the 4th of July, it was also the first time a sitting U.S. president attended a NASCAR event. This second generation racecar driver earned his title 'The King'. His son Kyle once remarked, “I had to be the only child in this country who ever called his father 'The King.' ” A lesser known fact about Kyle may be that not only is he the 3rd generation driver in the legendary Petty family, he's a pretty good singer/songwriter as well. This tribute to his dad was also recorded by Rodney Crowell on an album called Street Language, but this is Kyle Petty, the singer, with a tribute fit for a king.

Brooks and Dunn: Sunday Money

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Tied with The King for 7 Winston Cup Championships, Earnhardt was also a second generation racecar driver.The Man In Black, Ironhead, Mr. Restrictor Plate or The Intimidator. The Black Number 3. Love him or hate him, Earnhardt was a fierce competitor. But off the track he was just as passionate about music. Earnhardt met Kix Brooks in the early 90's and they became good friends. According to Brooks the writing of Sunday Money was Earnhardt's idea. It was only released as a special one-off deal with a T-shirt. Out of respect, the song was not re-released. There have been a number of songs that have mentioned Dale Earnhardt including The Tiki Bar Is Open by John Hiatt, but this song was co-written by The Man himself.