This is not Richard Petty’s NASCAR anymore. He may have laid the foundation for what has become the fastest-growing sport in America, may have been equal parts Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in the way he brought his talent and personality to bear, but what he sees happening around him now bears less and less resemblance to the regional race circuit he once knew.

And yet, you ask The King about today’s NASCAR — the massive growth, the consolidation of teams into mega-teams, the corporatization of the sport — and he smiles broadly.

Unlike so many retired athletes, who wax sentimental about the good old days, even when the old days weren’t all that great, Petty embraces NASCAR’s present and its future.

As he stood outside Bobby Labonte’s garage after Saturday’s practice session, he was asked, “Do you ever worry that with all its growth, NASCAR might lose its roots?”

He shook his head.

“Everybody’s lost their roots,” he said. “Every sport has lost its roots. If you haven’t lost your roots, it probably means you’re not growing.

“When it first started, racing was a sport. Now it’s a business. Now everybody — NASCAR and the tracks — they look at it as entertainment. Us racers still look at it as a race, but everybody else looks at it as entertainment. It’s something that goes up against all the other sports, or the movies, or whatever. That’s what’s made it grow is, it’s become more than just a race. It’s become an event. It’s become entertainment.”

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