Kenny Wallace definitely wants a repeat run. Every spring, the Kyle Petty charity ride turns into a rolling museum of NASCAR history. However, 2025 had a different kind of spark, because Kenny Wallace wasn’t just along for the ride; he was dialing up his next chapter. Riding shoulder to shoulder with legends like Richard Petty, Ken Schrader, and David Ragan, among others, Wallace soaked in the cross-country track.

The camp visits and the heart-tugging mission behind Victory Junction really reeled him in. They were able to raise more than $1.4 million. And now with the 2026 route officially revealed, he’s declaring that he’s going full shredder next season, no fixed schedule, no concrete plan, just racing wherever the road spits him out.

Kenny Wallace looks forward to the Charlotte stop

Speaking on the Herm & Schrader podcast, Wallace was more than excited to share the news. He said, ” And Kenny, I am going to start, I’m announcing it right here, I’m going to start racing like Kenny Schrader, everybody. So if you watch any of these Herm and Schrader shows, I say “Schrader” at the end of the show, I say, “Kenny, where are you racing this week?” and he goes, “Don’t know, haven’t filled it in yet.” So I am going to do like Schrader next year; that means I will start the Kyle Petty charity ride and I will end it. We will not; we are not rushing.”

Kenny Wallace is no stranger to the charity ride. He first officially joined the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America in 2023 when he and his wife, Kim, became celebrity riders for the week-long, 1500-mile track through Utah and Nevada. At that time, Wallace said the timing felt right. After scaling back his dirt track racing, he reconnected with his longtime love for motorcycles, a passion rooted in his motocross upbringing. Kyle Petty didn’t hide his excitement either, saying he’d “been watching Kenny pop up to Sturgis and Daytona Bike Week,” and finally invited him to ride.

Wallace has said he uses the ride as a deeply meaningful way to give back. While the event is a motorcycle fundraiser, for him it’s also “fellowship”—a chance to slow down, connect with people, and revisit what community really means. He said it’s “something I wanted to accomplish,” calling the ride perfect.

And in conversation with Wallace, Schrader revealed the route for next year, listing, “We leave Soma, California, Eli, Nevada, Moab, Utah, Pueblo, Colorado, Wichita, Kansas, Springfield, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Asheville, North Carolina, and ends up in Charlotte. ”

The 2026 Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a throwback route that nods directly to the very first in 1955. Set for May 1-9, 2026, the ride will kick off at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, and conclude at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, mirroring the original start and end points and bringing the event full circle after three decades.

Wallace is definitely looking forward to Charlotte, adding, “And at Charlotte, we’re going to the 10/10 racetrack, not the Charlotte Motor Speedway, is what I saw Morgan Petty say. So that will be fun. Yeah, it’s right next to the Speedway. Yeah, looking forward to that. Stopping in Graceland.”

In 2025 and beyond, Wallace’s participation continues to be high profile. He was one of the celebrity riders in this year’s edition while joining NASCAR Cup Legends like Max Papis. And with the 2026 ride already announced, Wallace has once again been named among the featured riders, solidifying his ongoing commitment to the course.

While the full list of city stops is yet to be released, organizers have confirmed that the ride will span multiple states as part of this special milestone edition. The updated route and complete fan event schedule will be announced closer to May, but the backbone of the journey, Sonoma to Charlotte, is already locked in, promising one of the most meaningful additions the charity ride has ever had.

Kyle Petty revisits Graceland ahead of the charity motorcycle run in May

Kyle Petty paid another visit to Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion last week, reflecting on his very first trip there back in 1995. He shared that snapping a photo outside the iconic front gates was one of the standout moments of his life, and now, nearly 3 decades later, he plans to return once again as part of his annual weeklong motorcycle ride supporting children’s charities.

In a video posted on X, Petty stood in front of the 13.8-acre Memphis estate once owned by Presley and said , “In 1995, the Kyle Petty Charity Ride came through Memphis on the very first ride we ever did. I parked my bike right here and sat on it and had my photo taken in front of Elvis’s Gates. That was the highlight of my life. I’m telling you, a highlight of that year. We still have that iconic photo and that’s a huge moment. We’re coming back for the 30th.”

Petty, who made more than 800 Cup Series starts, earned eight victories, and twice finished runner-up in the championship, created the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America to raise money for children’s causes, including Victory Junction, the camp founded in 2004 in memory of his son, Adam. This year’s edition brought in roughly $1.4 million to support kids with chronic medical conditions. And with grassland officially featured on next year’s route, both Betty and Kenny Wallace are already gearing up to fire their engines once again.