Petty ‘crushed’ by Richard Petty Motorsports’ actions
6 Comments Quote selected text Published February 15th, 2009 in NASCAR News
Kyle Petty is displeased with the way Petty Enterprises was consumed by Gillett Evernham Motorsports — then renamed Richard Petty Motorsports — and was “crushed” the new team co-opted a bit of his personal history.
“Petty Enterprises ceased to exist when it left (ancestral home) Level Cross, N.C.,” said Petty, who does not have a Sprint Cup ride for the first time since 1979. “It further ceased to exist whenever the other group bought it, and that’s just a fact of life.”
But Petty was perhaps most irked by RPM’s move to use, without consultation, a No. 44 Dodge for A.J. Allmendinger with the paint scheme Petty bore in winning in his first start, a 1979 ARCA race at Daytona. Petty drove the #44 at Petty Enterprises until his son Adam was killed in 2000, then he switched to his son’s #45.
“I was crushed. I was hurt and I’m not going to get over it for a while,” Petty, 48, said. “And that’s a personal thing. That’s me. That’s not … anything to do with anything else. That was my paint job and my car and my number and my stuff from my first win. Not for Petty Enterprises or GEM or whoever that is.”
It’s not Kyles Paint scheme, it’s Petty Enterprises Paint Scheme, and well that is who is running it.
I’ve been a fan of Kyle (and Richard) as long as I’ve been a NASCAR fan, but the sport has passed Kyle by, and it’s nobodies fault but his own.
well well well it looks like everyone will get a lotta free exposure.
Thatz Shoebiz izn it !
Reguardless of the Petty family business structure some how we are not seeing the whole behind the scene picture. Not much $$$$ was put into the team as should have in the past 15 years. There was not much choice to be made . Spend the bucks, merge, or close shop.GEM has admitted they wanted the ” RICHARD PETTY ” name to help secure sponsorship !!!
Kyle sucked it up!!! he was more worried about talking than driving!!! I wish Adam was still around to keep the Petty name going strong
Kyle has every right to be pissed
Why does Kyle have every right to be pissed? He left the team during the off-season, he didn’t want to commit to the full schedule and they wanted him to, so he walked away. If in his heart he really wanted to race and he knew he could go out there and win, he would have went out and bought a car and would have been out there.
Say what you want about guys like Jeremy Mayfield, but in his heart he still wants to race and he still feels like he can win, and he is doing everything he can to go out there and try to prove it.
Kyle on the other hand thinks because he has a famous father and his son gave his life for this sport, that he should be entitled to be in a car till the day he dies. That is not the case.
The sport passed Kyle by, and that is nobodies fault but his own, and this is coming from somebody who has been a fan of the Petty’s as long as I’ve been a fan of NASCAR.