Dodge CEO: Petty Switch to Ford 'a Business Decision'

RICHMOND, Va. -- Tthere was mixed reaction in the Richmond International Raceway garage Friday morning to the news that Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) and Yates Racing plans to merge for the 2010 NASCAR season and will field a four-car Ford team under the RPM name.

RPM currently fields Dodges and the move to Ford would leave Dodge only the three-car Penske Racing stable in the Sprint Cup Series.

Dodge Motorsports President and CEO Mike Accavitti issued a statement saying, "Richard (Petty) has made a business decision to merge with Yates Racing. We wish Richard and RPM luck the rest of the season and in the future.''

"Dodge's plan -- to be a championship contender in 2010 with Penske Racing and a solid lineup of drivers -- has not changed."

RPM also announced its 2010 driver lineup of Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Menard. And even some of these drivers, say they were just as surprised by the announcement as everyone else.

There is plenty of irony to go around. Sadler left Yates Racing late in the 2006 season to drive for Evernham Motorsports, which is now RPM. Kahne, the team's lead driver, was involved in a lawsuit with Ford in 2004 after he signed with Evernham to drive Dodges.

The twist in fate wasn't lost on Kahne

"This wasn't really about me, it was about building Richard Petty Motorsports," said Kahne who only found out about the merger Wednesday night -- the day before the formal announcement. "When I left Ford and went through that suit and I wasn't a big fan and they weren't a big fan of me, but time heals and a lot of those people that were involved in that aren't there now. They have new people there and I'm really excited.

"I feel good they're trying to make us better as a company. The Dodge deal was up.

"This change is to make us stronger and give us a better chance when it comes to racing against these four and basically eight-car teams. "

Reed Sorenson, who drives the No. 43 Dodge for RPM this season is one of the drivers -- along with former champion Bobby Labonte and up-and-comer Erik Darnell -- left out of the announced merger plans.

Sorenson told Sirius Satellite Radio Thursday, "I didn't know when this was going to happen or what they were working on it but obviously it came along this week.

"There have been some conversations in the past few weeks just discussing next year and I've kind of known for a few weeks now that I'm looking for a job next year."

Sorenson said he doesn't have a real good lead right now, adding, "I just think it's the circumstances of the economy and what everybody's having to do to get through it."

Driver Ryan Newman said he thought this merger -- and a trend of teams merging in the last two seasons -- was a bad sign for the state of NASCAR.

"It's crazy to see how this sport has changed,'' said Newman, who drives the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing. "To see some of these mergers to me is a weakness in the sport. We don't want to see mergers of organizations; we want to see organizations have multiple teams. I want to see six to eight cars go home every week, that's the way it should be in my eyes.

"I don't think that having these mergers is a good thing for the sport. You know the Dodge thing here, that doesn't really matter, it's just more the merger of the teams that I see as the bigger kicker."

It also creates an interesting situation for Kahne who is the only RPM or Yates driver in position to qualify for the Chase for the Championship. He's a two-race winner this season and currently sixth in the standings, needing only to finish 21st in Saturday night's race at Richmond to make the 12-driver playoff.

Kahne is the only driver with either the Petty or Yates team to win a race since 2005.

"I'm not real worried about that (next year) right now," Kahne said. "I'm worried about driving my Dodges and winning races in them."

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-11-2009 @ 4:34PM

Big Bad John said...

I think that Petty and Yates merger is Great. You here all these comments from different drivers blamning each other for these mergers.To tell the truth the foreign car teams of Toyotas is at fault for bringing their Billions of money into NASCAR racing are the ones to be at FAULT.The same way that they have messed up the American economy and have messed up G.M. and Chrysler. These mergers now are teams that are trying to survive thats all.

9-13-2009 @ 4:33PM

hiredshoe said...

Nascar is micro managing itself right out of business,they dictate to the manufacturers how the motors are designed what the car should look like,what spring and shock package the teams race with.Been a fan since I used to watch them race on a n old vaccum tube radio.I'll bet without the stickers on them you couldn't tell one brand from another.

9-11-2009 @ 4:48PM

hafttwo said...

i lkie petty in a ford better than a jap car any day

9-11-2009 @ 5:42PM

illsell4u said...

Yeah, it's the Japs fault. Who do they think they are? Coming over here to the US building new factories, employing Americans to build cars that Americans want to buy? We should just keep on doing it the way Ford, GM, and Chrysler have done for decades. Build whatever they want and expect us to buy it because after all, it was made in America by an overpaid union employee backed by an overpaid union rep and overseen by an overpaid executive that gets paid millions in bonuses every year whether the company made any money or not. Why the hell do these Japs think we would even want a better looking, more dependable, more economical car in the first place?
Have you ever really noticed the Jap cars in Nascar? They are shorter than the American cars and the headlights are all slanted and just one color. Worst of all they don't even use gas, they use rice. How the heck can a car go so fast with a tank full of rice? Is that even legal in Nascar?
And now they are coming over in droves, studying hard and working even harder making the rest of us natural born Americans look fat, lazy, and stupid. Who needs 'em? They are going to ruin Nascar and the American way of life.
mbl
some of you people are dumber than a box of rocks. rather than piss and moan about people that are getting ahead maybe you should shut up long enough to watch and see how they are doing it.

9-11-2009 @ 10:33PM

George said...

I'll tell you what: If all the American manufacturers ended their sponsorship and NASCAR could only survive by having sponsorship from companies like Toyota and Honda, hell, I'll be the first one to greet the so-called "japs" with open arms myself......

9-11-2009 @ 11:10PM

charger383 said...

I have been a Petty and Dodge/Plymouth fan all my life. I didn't like it when Richard drove a Ford in 1969. Plymouth made the Superbird to get him back in 1970. When Dodge exited NASCAR, I lost interest, when they came back my interest returned. But with what NASCAR has become lately I was losing interest anyway so this just adds NASCAR to the things I can live without.

9-11-2009 @ 11:41PM

Greg said...

Funny Post Mike,
If you look around Toyota sponsors EVERYTHING. The Japanese (Not Japs) are smart business people, build a quality car and the quantity will take care of itself. The little three never cared about the customers...look at their customer service record in the last 10 years. The "wops" are now over at Chrysler and they will failed within the year, those Nazis are losing VW and Benz like rocks in the water. Just because it is made in America, should you buy a crappy car? The little three are building plants over in China and elsewhere. Toyota , Honda are building plants here in the States...Yes Mike, these people are total idiots. They have been brain washed over the years, buy American, when about 80% of the parts are foriegn. I have about 100 Americans working here and they say the same thing, people are just to uneducated to understand.

Greg

9-12-2009 @ 9:39AM

Kim said...

Don't forget about Kia my friends!! They are currently building a brand new plant in Atlanta Georgia, where people are desperate for jobs, and will be employing thousands when the new plant opens in 2010.

I've never owned a "foreign manufacturered" car in my life until I purchased my new van from Kia several months back. Thus far, it has by far been the best vehicle I have ever owned!

I take personal offense to the "jap" comments that people make on here. I live less than ten miles away from a Honda plant here in OH. I believe it was one of the first Honda plants to be built here in America back in the eighties? Anyway, I went to school with many Japanese immigrants whose fathers were executives for Honda. They were intelligent, kind and always willing to learn as well as share their customs for those of us who were interested in learning. If this plant were to leave Ohio, thousands of hard-working Americans would be without jobs and it would hit this area of Ohio worse than ever seen before, (and believe me, we're getting hit hard). Honda's struggling here as they build motorcycles at this plant, but they refuse to give up on their employees. Meanwhile, GM who could have given a rat's a** about its employees, closed its doors and left people without jobs, without benefits and without a retirement. Wow, that's American!

Kim