Happy Sunday to all! I hope everyone is safe and warm despite the dousing of snow that has been falling across the upper part of the US from west to east.
If it helps, we are only 27 days until the Bud Shootout, and 35 days from the 51st Daytona 500.
Last weekend I talked about the merger between Petty Enterprises and Gillett Evernham Motorsports, and how that merger would bring about the end of the Petty Enterprises as we have known it for 60 years. This week, the details, such as they were, came out and the deal was finalized. I certainly hope that George Gillette plans on living up to the standards laid by the Petty family, because after what I heard about the events at GEM Friday, I have to think he is going to need the good reputation that the Petty name brings with it.
The full details of the “Elliott Sadler-A.J. Allmendinger” debacle will likely never be known, but the rumors make you wonder what kind of business Gillette has been operating of late. I only know the information that has been released, and it sounds like Allmendinger was told one thing while Sadler was told another. My understanding is that A.J. was told that Elliott’s contract had already been bought out and things were clear for him to drive for GEM. However, we know that was not true and in fact Sadler wasn’t even aware his seat was up for the taking until Christmas Eve when he was contacted by a sponsor about it.
Now, Elliott is back in the 19 full time, and A.J. is looking at a very short season with the merged Petty-GEM team unless they can find sponsorship for more than 8 races. Considering they don’t yet have full-time sponsorship for the already committed to full time racing #43 team and Reed Sorenson, it seems that A.J. is yet again the odd man out unless something changes. And that isn’t fair to A.J., who has already dealt with being the odd man out once in the last 12 months when he was booted in favor of Scott Speed over at Red Bull Racing.
In my eyes, the end result is that the new Petty-GEM team has a PR problem on their hands, and at least two drivers who are wondering just what is going on.
The merger between the teams included only three employees, and the King, Richard Petty. The King has earned his name and reputation, and that reputation is sacred to most NASCAR fans. The fact that George Gillette is beginning his partnership with the King under such dubious circumstances has made more than one person I know wonder why on earth the King would lend his name to the team. We might never know the answer, but it is my opinion, and it is only an opinion that Mr. Gillette might want to consider pay attention to the history of PE and how they earned that reputation. Those are some big cowboy boots to live up to, and a lot of people hold stock in the King and how he has run his business. Having the King on the “team” will help soften the PR blow this could have been, however if they want to make sure the team is seen as a true team and not four guys racing on the track wondering if they will have a knife in their back the next day, they need to go about mending fences in house, but with the fans as well.
Speaking of fans and the King, I received a lot of stories this week about fans’ memories of their encounters with the King. I thought several were worth sharing.
Nate Salter said “I have been involved with local stock car racing since 1952. I had the privilege of being at the CNE speedway in Toronto Canada on July 18, 1958, when Richard made his first official NASCAR Start. What a different time and place it was then.
Lee had come to our Toronto track in previous years and in fact had been victorious on two occasions what I didn't realize was that these were "sweepstakes division" races and were not counted in the regular schedule. Lee in fact had come to the CNE on the previous three years and had won on two occasions as the NASCAR late models were a regular at the Toronto track.
The car that Richard drove was a dual purpose hardtop/convertible, and the body was far from pristine, with body panels akin to a bag of walnuts, where they had been beaten back in place from the previous race. Richard's car was one of Lee's hand me downs and quite frankly, Richard was all over the track, never having driven on asphalt before. About 2/3 of the way through the race, Lee in the lead bunted Richard out of the way and into the wall, bringing his race to an end, with Lee going on to victory
At the time, I didn't realize the importance of that race to the saga of stock car racing. Richard of course went on to many more triumphs, but that summer day in 1958, he was far from being a super star.”
David Gentes remembers an autograph session with the King. “I recall a time any years ago at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut when he was up for a special show. Richard was signing autographs well into the night. Even when the crew was telling him that he had to leave to catch a plane, he stayed until the last person in line was taken care of. That person got the same smile and attention that the first one did.”
Bill Parsons talks about Morgan Shepherd and Petty in his note. “I was in the infield at Bristol about 10-15 years ago and there was a young child (about 6-7 years old) decked out in a STP jumpsuit and a cowboy hat. He ran into Morgan Shepherd and asked to pose for a picture with him. Morgan kneeled down and looked at the boy and said "Yeah, he's my hero too." I'll never forget that.”
Roger Tudor from Ontario has a Kyle Petty memory. “My favorite Petty moment is from before I became a NASCAR Fan. I was channel surfing one evening and came across an awards ceremony. There's this guy dressed in a black tuxedo and he has very long curly hair. He was receiving an end of season bonus payment. It might have been the Unocal Bonus money. Anyway, the TV screen had the guy's name at the bottom. It said Kyle Petty. Anyway, this guy is thanking a whole lot of people and he says he's been waiting a long time for this check. He says he couldn't even afford a decent shirt for the ceremony. He takes off the Tuxedo jacket and the crowd starts roaring in laughter. His shirt is a patchwork of material. The chest area which is visible when he has his jacket on looks like a proper tux shirt. However, all the rest of the material is from other shirts. One being a Mickey Mouse shirt. Another piece is blue with white polka dots another is White with red Polka dots etc. That's when I got interested in NASCAR and the Petty’s.”
Trish Pahle remembers the fun the King has when you see him. “I was standing in a school parking lot waiting for a bus to pick me up to go over to the Victory Junction Gang Camp 5K Run for the Kids. Richard Petty drives up in the street out front and yells out the window to me..."Hey, Wanna Race?" and laughed like crazy. His wife was in the car with him! Not only was he one of the greatest of all time racers, he was quite the comedian and had time to stop to talk to those who were his fans.”
Brian Price has his father to thank for his favorite moment. “My favorite 'Petty Moment' would have to be the 1992 Pepsi Firecracker 400. I was just out of high school and my family decided to take what would be our last 'family' vacation. My grandparents had a winter trailer in Mims, FL, and we could use it through the summer so we headed south for the Independence Day holiday. My father was a regular Daytona 500 spectator, so he knew the ins and outs of Daytona Beach, so we went to see what the vendors had to sell. As we were doing this, a car pulled over and the driver started talking to my father. He exchanged a little money with the guy, and came strolling back to us. He had just bought 4 tickets to the race for $50!!! We sat in the main grandstand, about 10 rows up, just at the start of pit road. We saw all the pre-race festivities, the parade laps with Pres Bush, and Richard lead the first 5 laps after qualifying 2nd. Unfortunately, the King dropped out of the race due to heat exhaustion (it was BEYOND hot that day), but I did see Richard lead his last laps at Daytona speedway.”
Thanks to these folks, and everyone who took the time to share a story with me. It seems almost everyone has one, good or bad, and they are more than happy to look back on the memory and smile.
Finally, while some folks sent me stories, one took the time out to remind me of my facts. “Kyle has actually won eight races in the Winston, Nextel, Sprint Cup Series” and “Richard won 198 of his top level "Cup" wins with PE and last 2 with Mike Curb.”
Thanks for the heads up. As I mentioned, I am still a relative rookie in this sport, and sometimes forget that I need to double and triple check my facts, especially when talking about one of the sports all-time greats
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Kim at..