Aric, Trent, and The King, and the 43

Like the Lion on television advertising the grocery store, I want to get my 2 cents worth in the discussion about the win of the number 43 Ford in Daytona last weekend. Let me begin by saying, as you all know, that I have been a fan of Richard Petty since his very first race. I still watch almost every race, missing only those when a grandson is involved in an event that conflicts with the race. I still pull for the 43 and look for it on the track all the time. As I have recently said, when Richard retired it sort of took the wind out of my sails as far as a favorite driver, even in the 43.

Frankly, what I knew about Aric Almirola before Sunday was very little, other than the drove for RPM. I did know enough about him that I could pull for him but it seemed as though he didn't have the equipment to go to the front. As for Trent Owens, I have watched him in Nationwide and knew he was a darn fine crew chief. His step-dad, Barry Dodson, spoke very highly of Trent's ability and considering Barry's record in racing, that spoke volumes.

Throughout this 2014 season, Aric, Trent, and the 43 had some really good runs but misfortune seemed to follow them. That is until Sunday. Sure, the race was called because of rain, but all the naysayers spouting forth the negative statements that it was the rain that "gave" the win to the Petty Organization, think of this; every crew and driver in the track knew the rain was coming and they were all racing to the sure to come red flag as if it were the checkers. It did, in fact, turn into the checkers for sure. Still, when the red was displayed, it was Aric and the 43 out front. I want all these naysayers to go through this history of NASCAR racing and see how many races were called because of rain and it may just be that you'll find one of your favorites won a race somewhere down the line in a rain shortened race. Right, Matt Kenseth?

But this is only one win. Accepted, and we know that. I feel bad for Aric in a way that HIS win seemed to be overshadowed by the fact that it was 30 years ago the King won his 200th race at the same track. Many of the questions in the post race interview were along those lines. It is good to remember the history and honor it, as I continue to say over and over, but this was Aric and Trent's day. Richard said it best in the post race interview (which, by the way you can watch on YouTube). He said that the win 30 years ago is history. The win Sunday is NOW and, he says, for Richard Petty Motorsports, the future. There is much made of the fact that Richard never gave up on the team and with all he has been through the past six or seven years, no words could ring louder. But this is only ONE win.

Where Aric and Trent and the 43 will go from here remains to be seen, of course. But I am choosing to believe that the 43 is about to return to winning ways. Not quite the 1967 season of the King, but to winning again more than ONCE. Aric can drive, Trent can really handle the pits, and The King believes in the team.

So, to Aric, Trent, and Richard, thanks for hanging in there. I still can't find the words to describe how I felt Sunday when the race was called, but the "Yahoo" from my recliner could have been heard to at least Savannah. I can only imagine what I may have done if it had come down to a last lap fight to the checkered flag and Aric winning, but in reality, he DID win on the last lap dash to the line. Made an old man feel really good. Thank you guys.

I've been pretty quiet about Almirola's win m'self. Have posted on message boards here & there. Offered my congrats to several team members on Twitter. But still trying to process my reaction for the day.

As for those who continue to chirp about the way the race was called Sunday, I present these few examples:

• 1987 Southern 500 - Rains end race 202 laps into 367 lap event. Earnhardt wins rain shortened race.Asterisk win? Never heard anyone say so.
• 1990 Pepsi 400 - lap 1 wreck started by Cope & Sacks wiped out 2/3 the field including 43. Earnhardt happened to be in front of it & pretty much cruised the rest of the day. Asterisk win? Never heard anyone say so.
• 1992 Motorcraft 500 at Atlanta - Bill Elliott running like crap at back of field. Rest of field pitted under green as Elliott stayed out. Sure enough, caution comes out with Elliott in front & lap lead on field. Cautions didn't break right way for field rest of day, and lucky dog gimme obviously didn't exist. Elliott's lame 11 managed to cruise all day and get a win.Asterisk win? Never heard anyone say so.
• 1992 Southern 500 - Rain nearby - Davey Allison going for the win and Winston Million. Darrell Waltrip managed to get out front with underpowered car, and the skies opened. He won & Davey was denied.Asterisk win?Never heard anyone say so.
• 2003 Daytona 500 - Michael Waltrip gets out front just past halfway. Sure enough, rain falls and ends the Daytona '500' after only 109 laps. Waltrip is declared the winner to claim his 2nd 500 in three years. Asterisk win?Never heard anyone say so.
• 2014 - Through a solid set-up, great pit calls, timely spotter calls, and opportunistic driving, Aric Almirola puts the 43 up front as ALL cars on the track knew they were racing the rain. Result: 43 win.Asterisk win? All sorts of folks saying so - and they need to shut their pie hole.

I've continued to smile throughout the week as I remind myself the 43 car won. Obviously, my excitement as has been the case for many is primarily because the King's number sat in victory lane again.

But I have to concede it's been a different feeling. With Bobby Hamilton's win at Phoenix in 1996, it was fantastic to again see Richard and the Petty Enterprises team head back to victory lane for the first time since the controversial win at Charlotte in 1983. Then when John Andretti stormed through the field late in the race at Martinsville in 1999 to take the win, it was truly special. Petty Enterprises had swept the weekend with Jimmy Hensley getting the truck win a day earlier. Things seemed to be looking up. Kyle was back racing for PE, and Adam was honing his skills to continue the rebuilding of the organization.

On Sunday afternoon though, there was no Petty Enterprises. No Adam. No Kyle. No STP. The 43 was there - but it is owned for the most part by Andrew Murstein and Doug Bergeron, 2 outsiders. I'm truly grateful for their investment to keep RPM solvent, but I also know Richard is but a bit player in the company that bears his name.

With so many of the big dogs having wrecked in the 400, the race was shaping up to have some sort of a surprise winner regardless. Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin were still around and wouldn't have been considered underdogs had they won. But most of the others hanging around the top 10 would have had a good story to tell had they found themselves in P1 when the rain returned.

But they didn't. Almirola did. So the fact we had another first-time winner - and one that races for a team other than the NASCAR behemoths put a smile on my face about as much as it did for being a Petty related one.

I was also delighted because it was the first Cup win for Trent as crew chief. I really like Todd Parrott - and I'm disappointed things didn't work for him and the team because of his personal issues. But because of family and simply because Trent was a WINNER with different drivers in the Saturday series, I really was hoping he'd find a way to RPM. And I was concerned he might be packaged with Kyle Larson to head to Ganassi this year. The fact he didn't go with Larson and instead ended up at RPM made the win very special too.

Chase, I sort of held off in writing about the win as well. But after reading post after post after post on other sites, I felt I owed it to Richard, Trent and Aric to say something. Facebook was raging with other fans criticizing the race shortened win. The Yahoo site was also very negative. The comments to the Press Conference Video got downright nasty.

I realize RPM is merely a name being used by the huge corporate money man that put up the dollars to make it happen, but that money man did that BECAUSE Richard is who he is, in my opinion. I know you and I are on the same page as Petty fans and that is the way it is. Having said that, everyone needs to remember that Richard is 77 years old and is still at the race track almost every weekend. His dedication to the sport, and to the team, is tremendous.

So, while I look back at the glorious past of Petty Enterprises, I am hopeful that the future of Richard Petty Motorsports has been ignited. As for Trent, I look at it this way. For several years now, the 43 would run pretty good and gain positions on the track only to lose 10 or 12 positions on pit stops and on green flag stops those were huge losses. Trent has turned that around. Pit stops are getting better every race.

Thanks for the comment to my post.

I can't imagine anyone not having a special feeling to see #43 in the Cup winner's circle again, regardless of venue, circumstances or anything else. Everybody played by the same rules. I had watched and kept channel surfing to the ARCA race. I didn't even know Daytona race had been called until I checked NASCAR.com.

The talent seems to be in place for the team to put up some additional victories.

I'll always remember Dave Marcis' last Cup win in spring 1982. It started raining at Richmond and all the lead cars except Dave pitted on the caution. When the rain got worse and race was called, Dave was still on the point. For my money, he outfoxed all other competitors, including my Bud Moore/Earnhardt/Wrangler team.

Ironically, the 2nd place finisher that day was car #43, Richard Petty, who'd have won if he'd stayed out with Marcis when the rain came.

A win is a win.

Dave Marcis final Winston Cup victory, over #43 of Richard Petty - Richmond 1982 - in the rain.

Could you say the next win by Almirola be classed as win # 202 for the 43? as the saga continues !

By the way, in the video above, the Petty Enterprises spokesman explaining how they thought the #43 had won the Richmond race until they realized Marcis made up a lap on the yellow, then stayed out to assume the lead is a very young pre-Roush Racing, pre-D.E.I. STEVE HMIEL.

#43 lost in the rain at Richmond. It won in the rain at Daytona. That's racing, boys and girls.

Believe it or not, the next win by the 43 (by Aric or someone else) will actually be the 200th. Between Lee, Richard, Jim Paschal, Bobby Hamilton, John Andretti and Aric, the 43 only has 199 wins.

According to the JAYSKI site:

First win for car #43 since 1999: When Aric Almirola won the Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on July 6, 2014, it was the first time since April 18, 1999 that a driver had won a Sprint Cup Series race in a car #43 when John Andretti won at Martinsville. The legendary #43 has 199 Sprint Cup Series wins in its history. Richard Petty won 192 times in the #43.(7-6-2014)

However, I'll defer to whatever numbers Chase says are official for the cars in the #40, #41, #42, #43 series.

Ha! Guess I could've gone to Jayski first Dave. But at least I was able to prove the 199 total. I used Racing-Reference data for wins by 43.

So now, RPM will be able to celebrate a 200th win milestone too - though it won't be quite as relevant as the King's personal 200th milestone. I doubt the POTUS will be in the MRN booth for Almirola's 2nd win.

I think the King has been practicing with the POTUS for that moment:

"You stay up thar, and we'll stay down here. OK? Ya know whut ah mean? If the circumstances fall our way that the 43 car wins again, it'll just be one of them deals. Ain't no reason for you be thar."

And the beat goes on !

NASCAR HISTORY OF RACE WINS = DRY WEATHER WINS, RAIN WEATHER WINS, PROTEST WINS, DELAY WINS, CAUTION FLAG WINS, RED FLAG WINS, GREEN WHITE CHECKERED WINS, AND EVEN 2 DRIVERS + 2 RACE CARS IN VICTORY LANE WINS.

TO ME A RACE WIN IS A RACE WIN AS LONG AS YOU GIVE ME THE CHECKERED FLAG, LET ME DO MY BURN OUTS FOR THE RACE FANS,SPELL MY NAME RIGHT, GIVE CREDIT TO MY RACE TEAM, GIVE ME THE TROPHY, LET ME KISS THE BEAUTY QUEEN, TAKE THE HAT & VICTORY LANE PHOTOS, AND SHOW ME THE MONEY.

I LIKE TO SEE RACE DRIVERS WINNING THEIR FIRST OR SECOND TIME WINS!!

WONDER WHAT TODAY'S 2014 RACE FANS OR 2014 RACE MEDIA WOULD THINK OR DO IF KING RICHARD PETTY WOULD START IN 2014 WINNING 10 NASCAR AUTO RACES WINS IN A ROW OR 27 NASCAR AUTO RACES WINS IN A YEAR.
AND DOING IT IN A TOYOTA!! LOL

Thanks for any information or photos posted.
Dennis Garrett
Richmond,Va. USA

We'd have to call an ambulance in Columbia! Probably have Danica & DW riding with the EMS crew to perform CPR!