The two are together from the minute they fly into the race market each Thursday until Wood leaves for the airport midway through the Cup Series race on Sunday. Petty stays behind to co-host NASCAR Victory Lane, SPEED’s post-race show, after the conclusion of every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event. They carpool to and from the track each day, eat all meals together and even tag along with each other to appearances and appointments. One of their favorite activities is hitting local malls in a quest to find unique tennis shoes and vintage guitars for Wood, and old motorcycles and vintage guitars for Kyle.

The two peas in a pod have somewhat dramatic, trademark looks that distinguish them. For Petty, it’s the long ponytail he has sported for years, and for Wood, the ever-present plaid shirt, thick beard and dark-rimmed glasses reminiscent of the beloved “Where’s Waldo?” character.

“Kyle’s ponytail is hilarious to me,” Wood laughed. “I spend so much time with him that I don’t even notice it anymore. It’s completely perfect for him, although if another guy walked in with a ponytail, I might say, ‘Nice ponytail, dude.’ I can always find Kyle in crowds because of it. As much as we make fun of each other, I don’t even think about making fun of the ponytail unless I really need some material, and then I’m like, ‘Oh, by the way, nice hair.’

“His hair looks ‘Yanni-ish’ when it’s down,” Wood continued. “If Kyle took his ponytail down, got on a horse and galloped off, he’d end up on the cover of a romance novel … but he’d have to gain about 50 pounds of muscle first. He’d have to ‘(Jeff) Hammond-up,’ bulk up, a bit.”

Then there’s Wood’s signature look.

“Rutledge is not defined so much by his hair as he is his glasses and beard,” Petty pointed out. “Very few people in motor sports are defined by their glasses, and the first who come to mind are Richard Petty and Rutledge Wood. He always has a plaid shirt on with some sort of logoed tee shirt underneath, whether a cartoon character, a funny saying or a sponsor he represents on it.
“Rutledge is very unique and it’s amazing how many people recognize him,” Petty added. “We can be on the golf cart headed to the SPEED Stage and people will recognize him 100 yards before they recognize anyone else on the golf cart.”

Beyond his wardrobe, Wood is renowned for his humor and propensity for cracking a joke at the drop of a hat. And if no one else gets his joke, he is guaranteed to get a laugh out of Petty.

“We’re like peanut butter and jelly,” Wood related. “Not everyone understands or appreciates our sense of humor, so we tell people who don’t know us, ‘We might not be making this joke for you. We’re making each other laugh and if you laugh, too, that’s great. But we’re just trying to amuse each other.’”

While they might appear to constantly try to out-embarrass each other, Petty says that is a losing, futile battle.

“You can’t embarrass or shock either of us,” Petty stated. “That’s why we’re willing to practically break our necks on a slip-and-slide on live TV or throw water in each other’s faces on Trackside. If you’re not afraid and are in it just to have fun and make other people laugh, you can’t be embarrassed because you’re already making fun of yourself. We’re always willing to laugh at ourselves. If you laugh at us, that’s okay because we’ve already stepped across that line and let everyone else in on the joke.”

What does astonish Petty about his buddy, though, might surprise others even more. Under that thick head of hair, beard and glasses sits a mind like a steel trap and a very active one at that.

“What continues to shock and amaze me is Rutledge’s encyclopedic knowledge of all forms of music,” Petty said. “He can bust off a rap song and then go straight into a Johnny Cash tune. He also can quote from every movie ever made, whether current or before his time. And he knows more about cars than anyone I’ve ever run across. I can ask him something about a 1982 Honda Civic or a Buick Roadmaster and he always has the answer.

“He comes across to most people as a smart-aleck cut-up just out to have a good time, but Rutledge is an incredibly intelligent person,” Petty continued. “People view him as a cartoon character or a caricature of somebody – even of himself – but watch him on Trackside. When he’s not being funny, he asks very intelligent questions and is well thought-out.”