Motorsports FanHouse

Kyle Petty 'Crushed', Richard Petty 'Sorry' Over Lapses in Communication

Geoffrey Miller — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:52:00 EST

Filed under: Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises

Former Sprint Cup driver Kyle Petty made some interesting comments last weekend at Daytona that were somewhat swept under the rug.

Of course, the factors of the race being the biggest on the circuit and the controversy that followed will often do that news stories of smaller value.

However, Petty's words indicated that there was obviously a healthy dose of tension between him and the rest of the leaders at the now-former Petty Enterprises -- including his father, Richard -- thanks to the business moves the team has made in the past year.

Going back to last year, PE inked a deal with an outside investment firm -- Boston Ventures -- in an attempt to bring the struggling race team to a higher level of competitiveness with an infusion of cash and a more marketable product to sponsor on the track.

That didn't exactly go over well with Kyle, and he made that point clear during a press conference announcing a celebrity golf tournament in Phoenix that benefits his Victory Junction Gang Camp charity.

"There is no Petty Enterprises," said Petty. "There's Richard Petty Motorsports or whatever they want to call it. Petty Enterprises ceased to exist when it left Level Cross, North Carolina. It further ceased to exist whenever the other group bought it. That's just a fact of life."

That other group -- Boston Ventures -- didn't make significant headway in its efforts which led Petty Enterprises to a merger with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. It has since taken on the Richard Petty Motorsports moniker, and has left Kyle out.

Things didn't get better when RPM rolled out a new No. 44 for A.J. Allmendinger painted up like the car Kyle used to win his first career race in 1978 during an ARCA event at Daytona.

"They did not ask me about the paint scheme," he said. "That was my paint job and my car and my number and my stuff for my first win - not for Petty Enterprises or GEM or whoever that is. They can look at it how they want to, but I didn't even get a call and that's worse."

Tuesday, his father Richard talked a little bit about the disconnect his son has felt from the new Petty interest in NASCAR during a conference call.

"It kind of upset him," said Richard, discussing the scheme. "That's where he started. He started with the 44 car. The deal with Boston Ventures, we never had a place for Kyle at Petty Enterprises. He sort of got out of the loop.

"He's been doing things on his own. I've not seen him since Christmas. He's been so busy, and I've been so busy. We never really got together."

For his part, Richard apologized for the way things went down involving his son.

"[...] He was really crushed that we didn't include him in that part of it," said Richard. "I understand that. We were so busy getting the deal done it fell through the cracks, and I'm sorry that it did."

Kyle Petty 'Crushed', Richard Petty 'Sorry' Over Lapses in Communication originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:52:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Future Getting Darker for Petty Enterprises

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:43:00 EST

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises

The famed No. 43, the legendary Petty blue and everything that NASCAR's "King" Richard Petty helped to produce in his legendary 200-win and seven-championship career at Petty Enterprises seems to be slipping fast.

The team released 35 to 39 more employees this week on top of over over 30 that were let go immediately following the Sprint Cup season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, bringing the total to nearly 70 people. ESPN says roughly 54 people remain at the shop.

Those 54 people are apparently waiting on any bit of good news that may come their way in terms of their employment -- and that news might just involve a merger with Gillette-Evernham Motorsports. Such a deal would see the famous No. 43 and possibly 2000 Sprint Cup champ Bobby Labonte move to the GEM stable to create a four-car team.

ESPN's David Newton said a possibility remains that the merger would happen and Labonte move to the GEM No. 41 Target ride while A.J. Allmendinger takes over the No. 43.

Petty's problems come directly from the fact that the team lacks full-season support for the two teams it wants to race in 2009 -- Labonte's No. 43 and a car for the young Chad McCumbee. General Mills left the team at the end of 2008 and will sponsor Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer in 2009.

Even more surprising is that a face of Petty Enterprises no longer associates himself with the team.

Kyle Petty, Richard's son who has driven for the team and served as the team's CEO from 1998 until early this season, said Monday that he's no longer an influence or an employee of the team his father co-owns.

In the article, Kyle said that when Boston Ventures invested in the team in the first part of 2008, it ousted him from being CEO and the team said that his driving services would no longer be needed in 2009.

Granted the decision wasn't too hard to make -- Petty hasn't won a race since 1995, and PE has a whole hasn't won a race since 1999 -- but its still pretty shocking to know that one of the most well-liked faces of the garage area not only got ousted from his father's team but will apparently be ride-less in 2009.

Before the season's penultimate race at Phoenix, we talked about how Petty could be looking at his final career race in NASCAR. He is scheduled to run the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race.

Obviously, I don't expect Kyle to disappear from the NASCAR world -- he's a go-to guy for the beat writers, has the small television contract with TNT and, in my opinion, should be a constant member of a NASCAR broadcast team -- but the dire straits for PE sure are interesting.

Could we be seeing the end of NASCAR's winningest organization? At this day and age, that seems entirely possible.

Future Getting Darker for Petty Enterprises originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kyle Petty's Cup Career Might Close at PIR

Geoffrey Miller — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:54:00 EST

Filed under: Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises, Sprint Cup

There's been a lot of turmoil in the Petty Enterprises camp as of late thanks to a number of problems facing the once dominant (like, 20 years ago) but now struggling race team thanks primarily to the funding coffers starting to dry up.

The problem is simple -- PE wants to race two teams next season with Bobby Labonte and Chad McCumbee full time with current driver Kyle Petty on a part-time basis without having any sort of adequate funding. So naturally, when money gets tight, people turn sour, and problems arise.

As a result, Kyle Petty (Richard Petty's son who has been in the NASCAR game since 1979 with eight career wins) might be ride-less in 2009 in a move that would likely end what has been a slow trickle down of the number of races he's entered in the past two years.

"Right now, I got nothing," Petty said Saturday at Phoenix, where he'll start 35th in his last race of the year. "Straight up, I got nothing. So I'm still just looking."

Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway (FanHouse is live-bloggin' it again!) will be Petty's last race of the 2008 season because the up and coming McCumbee will try to make the season finale next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Petty has tested with and considered running in a road course racing series in 2009 -- a medium of racing he has some prior experience in.

Regardless, the way things have been shaking out for PE and Kyle have been more than unfortunate in 2008. There's been rumors of in-fighting in the organization and Petty has been a little outspoken on how the way he thinks things should be run are in stark contrast to that of the other PE executives.

That being said and my disappoint for how the PE situation has run such an ugly course in really the past decade, I feel that Kyle's benefit to NASCAR as a whole would be higher in a role other than a driver. The guy truly has a fantastic personality, is a tremendous analyst of all thing's going on in the sport and has been able to pull off some of the biggest charity work this sport has ever seen (which tops any race win by any race driver in my book).

I'll be cheering on Kyle Sunday afternoon if it is indeed his final Sprint Cup race, but I'll be happy to know he'll be making positive impacts on the sport we all love for a long, long time.

Kyle Petty's Cup Career Might Close at PIR originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kyle Petty Out Again, Returns at Watkins Glen

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:15:00 EST

Filed under: Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises, Sprint Cup

In case you hadn't noticed, Kyle Petty hasn't been in a race car since May for the Coca-Cola 600.

Since then, a number of things have taken precedence over him returning to the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge. First, it was his daughter's wedding, then he had the six race TV commentator stint with TNT. Last weekend at Indy, Petty put Terry Labonte in the car to make sure the No. 45 made the race thanks to Terry's past champion provisional.

And after that Brickyard tire fiasco, it was pretty obvious that he made the right choice to not be behind the wheel.

But, after missing seven straight races because of the other commitments, Petty will also miss this weekend's Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, instead having young gun Chad McCumbee in the driver's seat.

Petty is supposed to return to the No. 45 for next weekend's road course event at Watkins Glen -- at track he won at in the early 90's. Terry Labonte, though, will be in the car for the race at Michigan International Speedway the following week.

So, in total, Petty will have intentionally sat out of eight races in 2008 which seems pretty significant for a driver who is supposed to be a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series. To me, this just furthers the thought that Kyle Petty needs to put some deep consideration into retiring as a full-time driver.

And I say that because I think he could devote himself to many other roles both in and out of NASCAR that he would be simply marvelous at. One of those would be taking a bigger role in the TV commentator business -- something I think Kyle is great at.

And of course, he would still have the two Victory Junction Gang camps to operate as well as having a the leading role in Petty Enterprises.

The results haven't been good for a while in the No. 45 Dodge for Petty, and potentially putting a driver in the car that would truly have nothing else on his plate than driving a race car both during race weekends and testing could make a big difference for the team as a whole, including Bobby Labonte's No. 43.

Kyle Petty Out Again, Returns at Watkins Glen originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Predicting Petty Announcement

Geoffrey Miller — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:58:00 EST

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises

When I woke up Wednesday morning, inside my box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (It's got the swirls!) was a toy die-cast car of Richard Petty's No. 43 with Fruity Cheerios on the hood.

Naturally, I was inspired to put on the hat of Kyle Petty, and predict what would happen at the Wednesday news conference hosted by Petty Enterprises -- or at least predict what I think should happen.

On the PE website, there is a word of of a news conference for "news about the future of the organization". So then, what really should be in the future of the organization? Here's my list and the odds that it will happen:

1) Get an outside investor: It's been obvious for many years now that PE has been heavily underfunded compared to the biggest teams in NASCAR. Now, there's been rumors galore this season of a new influx of cash coming on board, and I certainly hope its true.

Petty needs that investor to make the team viable in the Sprint Cup world again. Odds: 1/1

2) Sign Bobby Labonte: It's been frustrating for Bobby Labonte fans since his 2000 championship with Joe Gibbs Racing because the driver simply hasn't had the equipment to do more after his move to Petty Enterprises. There have been flashes of the Bobby Labonte of old but each time, it seems, the equipment he's in from PE holds him back.

I have a feeling Bobby is going to re-sign with news of an investor today, but that option to head to Richard Childress Racing is still on the radar. Odds: 8/1

3) Move Kyle Petty to Retirement: Petty, now in the TNT TV booth for the next five races, simply needs to hang it up for good. I am a huge fan of having him in the television booth, in addition to his frequent radio appearances on PRN. This season, Petty has made a case for someone to look at his performance and say "He only drives because he's the owner".

Come on, Kyle, give in, step down, and help your team. Odds: 37/1

You can enjoy the Petty news conference at 11:00am/ET on SPEED or ESPNews. Then, come back to the 'House and see how I did.

Predicting Petty Announcement originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hendrick's Meendering Heads to Petty

Geoffrey Miller — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:23:00 EST

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, Crew Chiefs, Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Silly Season, Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises

Be sure to let voice be heard at the FanHouse NASCAR FanVote.

Petty Enterprises picked up a new crew chief this week.

Jeff Meendering, a now-former employee of Hendrick Motorsports, will take over the top of the pit box for former Cup champion Bobby Labonte, effective immediately.

Meendering served as Jeff Gordon's crew chief during the six-race stretch over the summer that normal crew chief Steve Letarte was suspended for infractions at Infineon Raceway. During that stretch, Gordon was winless but still picked up 4 Top-5s and didn't finish outside of the Top-10.

A relationship with Robbie Loomis, Gordon's previous crew chief and now vice-president of race operations at PE, helped Meendering land the job.

"Robbie Loomis gave me the opportunity to join the No. 24 team in 2001 and I learned from him, and Steve Letarte, how to prepare and execute at the track," said Meendering.

In 2007, Labonte's No. 43 Dodges finished 18th in points with no Top-5s and just 3 Top-10s. Labonte hasn't won a Nextel Cup event since Homestead in 2003 with his former team, Joe Gibbs Racing.

Petty Enterprises has suffered through a long winless streak as well. Their last win was in 1999 with John Andretti at Martinsville. However, Labonte's 17th-place finish in the final Nextel Cup Standings was the highest for any Petty Enterprises team since 1999.

Hendrick's Meendering Heads to Petty originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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