Rick Allen laughs as Rutledge Wood drenches entire group during Kyle Petty Charity Ride

On the final day of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America, Rick Allen reflected on a humorous story involving Rutledge Wood from a week-long trip. Allen partook in the charity ride with, among others, seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty, former Cup race winners Ken Schrader and Kyle Petty, and former pro football player Herschel Walker.

On Saturday (May 10), I got the chance to speak with Allen when the charity ride made one of its last stops in Moorefield, West Virginia. When asked if there were any humorous stories from the road, the former NASCAR on NBC play-by-play announcer recalled, for some reason, coming up on a road where the entire right side was filled with water.

Allen said they try to be as safe as possible, therefore they have "communication" where they're able to talk with one another and avoid riding through the water with their motorcycles. However, the photo van, who keeps up with the motorcycles in order to take pictures throughout the ride, had a different idea about the water on the road.

"For some reason, our photo van decided he thought it would be funny to go right through this massive water standing on the right side and he drenched not only Morgan [Petty], who runs the whole organization, the whole trip, but he also pushed all of that water into the left lane where all of us were going to ride," Rick Allen recalled. (1:00 onwards)

Allen laughed when recalling how guilty the photo van driver felt about the water incident and added that the group gave him some "grief" over the incident. Then, Allen revealed to me that it was former NASCAR media personality Rutledge Wood who was the one driving the van at the time that when the water was blown into the path of the motorcycles.

"Thankfully, everybody was fine, but we've given him a little bit of grief. By the way, it was Rutledge Wood who was driving the photo van at the time. So, we've given him a little bit of grief, but at the same time, he was just trying to have fun and be funny. It backfired a little bit on him," Rick Allen said. (1:34 onwards)

Rick Allen was a part of the 29th annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America, a weeklong motorcycle ride in an effort to raise funds for Kyle Petty's Victory Junction camp. The camp was founded in 2004 by Petty in honor of his late son, Adam, and focuses on giving children with serious medical conditions an opportunity for a free camping experience.

Rick Allen recently appeared on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast

While Rick Allen is no longer in the TV booth in NASCAR, the former play-by-play announcer is still rooted in the sport as one of the most recognizable voices. Recently, that voice was heard on Dale Jr. Download as Allen was a guest on the former NASCAR star's podcast.

Dirty Mo Media posted a photo to Instagram ahead of Allen's episode being released. In the caption, Dirty Mo Media made a reference to his iconic voice, writing:

"We bet you can hear his voice just from looking at this picture! 🗣️🎤 Rick Allen joins this week's Dale Jr Download - and you don't want to miss it. 📺"

Rick Allen served as the play-by-play announcer for NASCAR on NBC from the time of its reboot in 2015 until midway through the 2024 season. Prior to that, Allen was the longtime play-by-play guy for the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series for the former SPEED Channel and later FOX Sports.