Kahne voices concern about leadership at Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne is in NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup, but his organization remains in transition and Kahne has some questions about its leadership.
Kahne said Sept. 18 that the leadership of his No. 9 team – led by crew chief Kenny Francis – is solid and he hopes that will lead to a competitive run in the Chase For The Sprint Cup.
The success of the No. 9 team has come despite the unsettled situation at RPM. Vice President of Competition Mark McArdle parted ways with the organization prior to the opening Chase race at New Hampshire, which ended with Kahne in 38th place due to engine failure.
So who is in charge of the team on a day-to-day basis if someone has a question? Richard Petty, a minority owner in the team, is considered the spokesman for the ownership group, but team managing partner Foster Gillett is there on a daily basis, as well.
“That’s a tough question because I don’t really know who it is, either,” Kahne said when asked who is the go-to person for questions about the team. “There’s not a lot of answers out there right now. I don’t know if it’s because we’re in the middle of a lot of things or we just don’t have a person in that position. I think [Executive Vice
President] Robbie Loomis is supposedly going to be that guy, but I don’t think that he is yet.
“So is it Foster? But you can’t get anything out of Foster. So it’s hard to say who that is. I think it’s because we’re in a lot of different things right now, but when you’re in things, you still need to keep your team and your guys, your company behind you knowing what’s going on. And we don’t have that. So hopefully we get it soon. I think the sooner we get that, the better off everybody will be.”
Kahne has seen several leadership changes at the organization, which he joined in 2004 when it was solely owned by Ray Evernham, who then sold a majority of the team to the Gillett family in 2007. The Gilletts merged operations with Petty Holdings after the 2008 season and have now announced a proposed merger with Yates Racing that will include a change in manufacturer from Dodge to Ford in 2010.
After failing to make the Chase last year, Kahne found a renewed level of success this season with two victories. He was fifth in the standings heading into the Chase, but dropped to 12th with the DNF at New Hampshire.
McArdle, who abruptly left Richmond International Raceway before his departure was formally announced, was viewed by many insiders as critical for that improvement in the team over last year.
“Mark’s done a nice job with our company,” Kahne said. “He’s changed some things that I think have helped and benefited us. He’s worked really hard and he’s put in a lot of time. They had their issues with things, and, yeah, he’s gone.”
While Kahne’s team has been able to improve, the other RPM teams haven’t shown significant progress. Elliott Sadler is 25th in the standings, AJ Allmendinger is 26th and Reed Sorenson is 28th.
RPM officials did not respond to Kahne’s comments.
