Hard Turn
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Owens
Good to see The King back in vctory lane
The strangest sight from Sunday’s race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., was seeing Richard Petty sipping wine in victory lane.
Petty has traditionally shied away from alcohol-related activities, even shunning sponsor-paying beer decals on his cars.
But there was Petty in victory lane at Infineon Raceway, having a high old time as he and winning driver Kasey Kahne sipped some wine. He even appeared to drain his glass in one photo.
Turns out The King is quite the wine conniseur.
"Oh, yeah, that's the reason I like to come to Napa Valley,” he said. “I got in a cave the other night, they had wine down one side in big barrels, and then they had wine down the other side. As we walked in, I think we drunk something out of every barrel. That was a long deal.”
Petty went on to explain how he was zig-zagging his way through the barrels after a few too many samples.
"It was straight going in; it wasn't too straight coming out,” he said with a laugh.
It’s good to see Petty enjoying himself at age 71.
And it sure is good to see his smiling face and familiar image back in victory lane.
Jeff Owens
Jeff Owens has been covering NASCAR since 1991 and began covering the circuit full time in 1993. He has been with NASCAR Scene since 1998.
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