Could Evernham Motorsports have company in courting Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett?

Richard Petty, owner of Petty Enterprises, was an invited guest of Gillett at Tuesday’s Rangers-Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, Journal de Montréal reported this week. Kyle Petty didn’t shed much light on what his father and Gillett talked about Friday.

“As (team owner) Ray (Evernham) begins to branch out and take on different partners, we need who his partners are if we want to stay in businesses (with Evernham ),” said Petty, who drives the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge. “If there’s an opportunity there, then we would be idiots not to explore it. We are exploring different avenues with different people.”

The Petty and Evernham organizations — both Dodge teams — have grown closer in recent months. Evernham builds Petty’s engines and the two teams are sharing engineering knowledge.

“Those conversations are between George and Richard. I really don’t know what’s going on there,” Evernham said.

Petty Enterprises’ last victory came here eight years ago, but Kyle Petty said his family’s company is still attractive to suitors.

“The main part of what we do is race around in circles,” he said. “This is our main job, but we have the (Richard Petty) Driving Experience that has 1,000 to 1,500 dates. We are starting a defensive driving program. There’s a lot of stuff going on outside of this and that makes Petty Enterprises a little bit different opportunity for an investor.”

USA Today

Bookmark to: