October 23, 2025 Flat Track: Where Fearless Meets the Future

Students from LaVergne High School in Tennessee will weld, wrench and paint their way to a one-of-a-kind flat track motorcycle.

By Kyle Petty, former NASCAR driver and lifelong motorcycle enthusiast

I’ve spent my whole life around engines. My earliest memories aren’t of playgrounds or cartoons — they’re of racetracks. I can still hear the rumble of V-8s shaking the grandstands, smell the fuel, feel the grit in the air. Speed has always been part of my DNA. But even after all the years behind the wheel, there’s one kind of racing that’s still pure adrenaline — Flat Track.

Flat Track racing is the original extreme sport. No fancy suspension. No cages. No safety nets. Just dirt, torque, and courage. It’s the kind of racing that demands everything you’ve got — balance, guts, and a machine that can take the beating. When I heard that Northern Tool + Equipment was giving high school welding students the chance to build a Flat Track motorcycle from scratch, I didn’t hesitate for one second. I said, “I’m in.”

A Build That’s Bigger Than a Bike

The program’s called the Legends Build: Student Challenge, and it’s happening at LaVergne High School in Tennessee. Over the next nine months, these students will turn a 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster into a Flat Track-inspired race bike that would make any pro proud. Think stripped down, loud, sideways-through-the-corners kind of machine — a nod to the legendary Harley XR750, one of the most iconic race bikes ever made.

When the students first found out they’d been selected, they had no idea what they’d be building. They showed up to the launch to learn what they would be building. Then — boom — nine-time AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker rolled on stage on an XR750. The looks on those kids’ faces were priceless. Shock, awe, maybe a little bit of panic. Then the realization hit: they’d have 174 days to build one of their own.

You could feel the energy on the stage shift. It wasn’t about an assignment anymore. It was about possibility.

Their instructor, Jason Bowers, summed it up perfectly:

“When Scott rode in, we just stood there with our jaws open. Then we started asking, how do we even start? The kids went from surprised to determined in about 30 seconds flat.”

The Next Generation of Grit

One of the things I love about this project is that it’s not a show. There’s no smoke and mirrors here — just welders, grinders, and a group of teenagers figuring it out as they go. These students are building this bike for real — from the frame up, by hand, with the guidance of people who’ve spent their lives doing it the hard way.

And speaking of doing it the hard way — the list of mentors reads like a Hall of Fame roster. Scott Parker, Chris Carr, Kenny Coolbeth Jr., and Billy Lane are all involved. These guys are legends not because of trophies, but because they lived it — the crashes, the rebuilds, the ingenuity, the wins that took everything.

One of the student co-captains, Ronan Garrison, laughed when he found out what they were building.

“We thought it’d be a go-kart or something small,” he said. “When they said race bike, our minds were blown.”

And here’s the part that really gets me — for the first time ever, the student build team is being co-led by a young woman, Tally Barber. She’s the first female captain in the history of the Northern Tool student builds, and she’s not just holding her own — she’s leading from the front.

“At first, it’s intimidating,” she said. “Legends are trusting us to build something they’ll actually race. But it’s inspiring, too. We get to prove we can do this.”

I love that. Confidence through learning. That’s the heart of the trades.

Why This Matters

This isn’t Northern Tool’s first time doing something like this. They’ve built Rat Rods with my dad, Richard Petty, mini Monster Jam® trucks with Texas students, and now a Flat Track racer in Tennessee. Every build is designed to get kids off their phones, into the shop, and back to the kind of hands-on learning that built this country.

They’ve teamed up with some incredible partners — American Flat Track, Bubba Boswell, Boswell’s Harley-Davidson, DEWALT, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, and Milwaukee Tool — to give these students the real-deal experience. The school’s shop looks like a pro garage now, packed with Northern Tool donated equipment, tools, parts, and gear worth tens of thousands of dollars.

As Frank Crowson, Northern Tool’s Chief Marketing Officer, put it:

“We believe in putting tools in hands and confidence in hearts. This build is more than a motorcycle — it’s proof that the trades are powerful, rewarding, and needed.”

You can’t say it better than that.

Lessons Beyond the Shop

Here’s the truth — a lot of people underestimate what happens in a shop class. They think it’s outdated. But in reality, those sparks flying from a welder represent problem-solving, patience, precision, and pride. These are the same skills that make great racers, great builders, and frankly, great human beings.

Ryan Kotula, Co-Owner of Northern Tool, said it best:

“This isn’t just a bike build — it’s a blueprint for the future of the trades.”

He’s right. Every time a student picks up a wrench, they’re building confidence. They’re learning that mistakes aren’t failures — they’re part of the process. They’re learning to work as a team. They’re learning that a dream doesn’t come in a box; it comes in pieces, and you’ve got to build it yourself.

That’s the same lesson I learned racing. Nobody hands you a win. You earn it one lap at a time.

The Big Finish

The students’ work won’t stay hidden in the shop. Northern Tool’s documenting the entire journey, month by month, on its YouTube channel, with in between updates filmed by the students themselves. They’ll be showing the behind-the-scenes moments — the high-fives, the setbacks, the breakthroughs, and all the dirt in between.

And when it’s done, the finished bike will be revealed on June 6th at Tennessee National Raceway during an American Flat Track Legends exhibition race. That’s right — the same legends who inspired the build will take the track riding the student-built racer.

After the race, the bike will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting Northern Tool’s Tools for the Trades™ program, Victory Junction (my family’s nonprofit for kids with serious illnesses), and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

That’s full circle.

More Than a Motorcycle

When I look at these students, I see a reflection of what got me hooked on this life in the first place — curiosity, fearlessness, and that moment when you realize you can make something with your own two hands.

This isn’t about trophies or checkered flags. It’s about building something that matters — a bike, a career, a future. These kids are proving that the trades aren’t a fallback; they’re a foundation.

So yeah, I’ve been around racing all my life. I’ve seen victory lanes and burned-out engines. But watching a high school student light up a torch for the first time and realize they’re capable of more than they imagined? That’s the kind of win that lasts forever.

Because in the end, these kids aren’t just building a motorcycle — they’re building themselves. And that’s what makes this ride worth taking.

About the Author:
Kyle Petty is a retired NASCAR driver, racing analyst and TV personality, philanthropist, musician, motivational speaker and author of the best-selling memoir ‘Swerve or Die. When he’s not working, you can find Kyle at home in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Morgan, and their three young sons, Overton, Cotten and Davant.

Read more from the author:

Richard Petty turns 88 | The Daytona Beach News-Journal, July 2, 2025

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