Petty Enterprises gone.....?
I just heard some very disturbing news on Sirius Radio. A reporter from Sports Illustrated just reported that the "Investor" deal that Petty was working on isn't going to happen. It was reported that Petty Enterprises would not compete in the Cup series next year and that the 43 car with bobby Labonte was going to the Gillette team.Anybody else heard anything?
I just saw it on Jayski. It's a sad thing but its not really surprising. No Petty Enterprises next year. Hard to believe.
WOW ! IS THAT A SIGN OF THE $ TIMES ?
HEY JEFF ME AGAIN, THE PETTY'S HAVE NOT BEEN MUCH OF A FORCE TO RECKEN WITH SINCE KYLE AND DAVY ALLISON CRASHED AT THE FINISH LINE WHERE DAVEY WON . I, FORGET THE YEAR AND RACE BUT I SURE REMEMBER WATCHING IT!!!!!!!! THAT WAS A GREAT RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YET IT IS STILL SAD TO SEE AND HEAR A LEGACEY IS GOING DOWN!!!!
Once again it shows that Nascar has truly forgotten where it came from. This is truly a sad day for racing in general. It shows that nobody is 10 feet tall and bulletproof. When this sport gets to the point that a company is not willing to put their money behind the Name of Petty then it has exposed it's soul to show that if you cannot win on Sunday,excuse me ,let's not leave out Saturday night, then you are not going to survive no matter what your name is and what you have given to the sport. Of course this was destined to happen when we lost Adam. Thank God and Jeff Gilder for RacersReunion.com. At least we will always have the memories.
Sheila it was 1992 at The Winston in Charlotte. And Tommy great and very true post couldn't have said it better myself.
THANKS I JUST CAN NOT REMEMBER ALL THE GREAT RACES AND THE LEGANDS THAT WON THEM AND LOST EM.
DOES ANYONE OUT THERE THINK HENDRICK MS HAS A CHANCE IN H--- NEXT YEAR, OR IS IT WISHFUL THINKING ON MY PART?
This is a sad day in Petty country (aka, Level Cross, NC ). It was sad last year when it was announced that they were moving and moved to Mooresville. I understand from reading this yesterday that the 43 car will remain in racing. It is to be the 4th car in the GER stable. I do know that Kyle was released from the 45 car last month.Pastor Ken SharpeRacers Reunion Outreach ChaplainLevel Cross, NC
Alot of rumors are flying around about the Petty Racing Org. You can bet that Richard is trying his best to keep the team going. They are still looking actively for sponsorship. Remember sponsorship is driven by consumer dollars.The sponsor has to recoop and make a profit to keep its logo on a car. How can we help? Let the companies know we will buy its products, email consumer affairs. The American consumer has alot of power if we use it. Let them know we will support them. Hey General Mills I'll buy 2 boxes of cereal instead of 1. And I'll make a point to look for all of your products that I can use an buy them. As a owner of a company that works in racing I can only sponsor teams when I can afford to. We had to reduce our involvement due to sales. The long and short of it is we as a nation need to start buying again. Even if its a bottle of this a box of that.It will help the ecomomy,and the companies that support racing. Past and present.Rob AmosVP Geoff Bodines Waxing Frenzywww.cleaningfrenzy.com
Great advice, Rob.
Yeah, it's a shame NASCAR seems to have forgotten the legends of NASCAR racing. However, it was real big of them to have Cale Yarborugh on the awards banquet to speak. Of course, it served their purpose to parade him on there, seeing as how Jimmie won three in a row and tied Cale. Good publicity for NASCAR, it shows people that they care about tradition and history of their sport, or so they want us to think. Sorry if I upset anyone, but it's how I feel.
I was a Petty fan from day one, thought the sun rose and set over Level Cross. But, I'm not so sure the demise of PE can't be traced back to 1983 and Charlotte.......the oversized engine and the left side tires. Richard got win (number) 198, but Maruice was the fall guy. Things just never clicked after that. Richard drove for Mike Curb, and Maurice entered a few races, as PE, but with a Thunderbird. Kyle wound up with Felix Sabates, and Maurice's sons were rarely, if ever, heard of. Truth is, there were, and still are, other Petty descendents to carry on the legacy. But it never happened.In 1969, Richard Petty was on the summit of NASCAR's racing mountain. He WAS the mountain. Richard and Petty Enterprises had a virtually insrumountable technical, financial, and political dominance over their nearest competitor, they were untouchable. And as the 1970's unfolded the chasm between the haves (PE) and the have-nots even deepened.In 1969, an unknown grand american driver, through the complexities of the 1st annual Talladega 500, was convinced to enter that event. His name?....................Richard Childress. Compare the histories of these two Richards............from 1969 to the present...........its rags-to-riches and riches-to-rags. As a witness AND a fan, it's very difficult to understand. Sadly, Petty Enterprises died a long time ago.
I hear that PE laid off 35 folks on Monday 12-8. I hear that this recession and bad economy is going to sit Nascar back 30 years. Is this a bad thing? Let Nascar go back 30 years and regroup, and hopefully not make the same mistakes again.Pastor Ken
Another casualty of the 'grand existence NASCAR' is the near-death of local racing. Why bother with America's shoe-string Saturday night tracks? Why, indeed, when there were ga-zillions to be made at the cookie cutter mile and a halfs? Evidently it was 'trickle-down' racing economics............growth was from the top down. Funny, though, in the era of Big Bill, growth was from the bottom up. So, thanks to the neo NASCAR financial/marketing whiz-kids, we no longer have a top OR a bottom. Good job, guys!
THE THINGS THAT GOT THE PETTYS AND THE WOODS TO THE TOP WAS ALWAYS THEIR ABILITY TO INOVATE BACK IN THEIR HEYDAY. DALE INMAN, RICHARD AND MAURICE KNEW WHAT EACH OTHER WAS THINKING WITHOUT SAYING A WORD. THEY STUDIED AND PONDERED HOW TO MAKE THE CAR BETTER, FASTER, HAD A LITTLE MONEY TO WORK WITH, AND COMMUNICATION. AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL.....COMMON SENSE. BACK IN THE DAY, YOU COULD COME UP WITH TRICK STUFF (THAT NASCAR DIDN'T HAVE A RULE AGAINST ) THAT MADE THE CAR FASTER. THE PETTYS AND THE WOODS, HARRY HYDE, JUNIOR JOHNSON, SMOKEY YUNICK, RALPH MOODY ALWAYS AMAZED ME HOW FAST THEIR CARS WOULD RUN......THESE GUYS WERE HARD WORKING, EXTREMELY CLEVER PEOPLE. THEY PUSHED THE RULES TO THE LIMIT. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THEY WERE THE REASON THAT ALOT OF THE RULES GOT MADE!THESE COT CRACKER-BOX AMORPHODITES ARE BORING COOKIE CUTTER IROC JUNK. THEY ARE EASIER TO WORK ON, HARDER TO SET UP, TERRIBLE TO DRIVE. THERE IS NO ROOM FOR INOVATION, CAR "PERSONALITY" IN NASCAR. BORING, VERY BORING. NASCAR DIDN'T LEAVE THE PETTYS BEHIND, NASCAR JUMPED THE TRACK AND RAN INTO THE CREEK.
I was a little disturbed yesterday hearing a "popular" Sirius radio and NASCAR personality try to defend NASCAR in the whole Petty deal. His point was that NASCAR gave Petty Enterprises 60 years of opportunity that it would not have had otherwise. He was trying to make a point that this is a positive. Look at the 60 years...not the demise. I disagree...I think Petty Enterprises gave NASCAR 60 years and millions of fans...and it would still be there if NASCAR had not allowed the costs of operation to have been driven through the roof. Nowadays I hear teams talking about neednig 30 million dollar a year sponsors. Think about that... If an owner has a 3 car operation...he's going to need over a quarter of a billion dollars to operate for 3 years. How many sponsors are there that can ..or will... handle that load.One thing that I think is very interesting....Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Andy Hillenburg, and others are buying race tracks. I think we may see an improvement in local racing over the next few years. I certainly hope so. And I think there are many folks who will return to there roots over the next few years. Just my 2 cents.
Jeff,The grassroots..........I'm already there! NASCAR, Brian France, et.al. got such a skewed view of reality during the 30 plus years of RJR footing the bills, they allowed the whole thing to spiral totally out of control and out of existence. All we can do, now, is to start over again.