STP announced in Daytona this morning that they'd be sponsoring the April Martinsville Cup race.
During the News Conference, STP spokesman, Richard Petty offered his views on several topics as just reported in the Daytona Beach News-Journal:
Richard Petty talks racing in Daytona
Petty offers views on NASCAR Battle and the Daytona 500
The King of NASCAR, Richard Petty, watches the monitor as his car runs the track during practice before the Sprint Unlimited race at the Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.
News-Journal / David Massey
Published: Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 11:23 a.m.
Richard Petty, seven-time winner of the Daytona 500, stopped by the media center at Daytona International Speedway to help make an STP announcement and wound up talking about his views on the driving in this week's Battle at the Beach, Sprint Cup racing today and retiring numbers in NASCAR.
Petty, who has won the 500 more than any other driver in history, helped STP announce its sponsorship of the 500 on April 7 at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virg.
What did he think about the aggressive driving at the UNOH Battle of the Beach?
"I watched those dudes Monday and Tuesday night. That was an (Dale Sr. ) Earnhardt move," Petty said. "I didn't see anything different. It's just showing up more." (He added it used to be only on the last lap.)
"It's hard to stay off people," he said. "You want to stay as close as you can."
"We always had a lot of beating and bashing, but you try to stay alive," Petty said. "You try to move him out of the way but not knock him out of the race."
What does he think about the racing in the Sprint Cup series today?
"Now it's a plain old gamble. If you're in the right place at the right time, you win a race. You just have to be up there." He said he looked at the old days as "racing."
"Now they just run," he said.
What do you think about NASCAR retiring numbers like they do in some other professional sports?
Petty said he likes seeing the 43 out on the track. "It's part of history, part of me," he said. "It goes back into history and ties modern days into what NASCAR has been all these years."
"If they start retiring the number," he said, "first thing you know we're not going to have a lot of numbers."
--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM
