Petty fans have reason to hope, but progress will take time
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Thursday, June 19, 2008
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TURN FOUR COMMENTARY
Richard Petty watched NASCAR grow from a small local sport into a national entity. Unfortunately, he watched it grow so much that it outstripped the resources of his family-owned team. So, willingly or not, he found himself being courted by investors and forced to listen to their offers. When he found one that he thought fit into the family, he signed over control of his legendary team.
It’s sad that NASCAR has come to this, that it has outgrown the men who built it to its current heights. Yet, that is clearly the case. The era of the traditional family-owned team has passed. Morgan-McClure Motorsports has disappeared from the track. Bud Moore is gone. Now, Petty Enterprises will come to the track without a Petty as chief executive officer for the first time in 60 years.
Wood Brothers Racing remains a small family entity – and that group is outside the top 35 in owner points and forced to qualify week to week. And Yates Racing, the former Robert Yates Racing, is still competing but has formed an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing for parts and engineering support.
NASCAR has just gotten too big for these teams. It takes too much money, too many resources, too much specialization for teams to compete without outside help or owners who have either a second business generating income or strong corporate sponsorship to back the teams. And that’s sad.
Families have long been one of the foundations of NASCAR. The France family has run the sanctioning body for years. Members of the family also run the International Speedway Corp. and its NASCAR tracks. The Smith family runs Speedway Motorsports Inc. Other families owned the teams that came to race and families filled the grandstands in increasing numbers over the years.
Richard Petty won most of his 200 races under the family banner. His father, Lee Petty, earned all 54 of his wins in the family car. None of Kyle Petty’s eight victories came with the team, but he’s driven there for the last 12 seasons and was the CEO of the company until the deal with new partner Boston Ventures was made official. When NASCAR started, the Pettys were racing. They’ve been doing so ever since.
The Pettys have been synonymous with that family concept. They even have the Labonte brothers in their cars for five races this season, taking the family ties to another level.
But they just couldn’t hold on against the larger multicar teams.
The Pettys are continuing forward and will still be actively involved in the day-to-day operation of Petty Enterprises. They’re just doing it with a little help, something that has become a necessity in NASCAR.
Jack Roush partnered with the Fenway Sports Group last season and his team quickly regained prominence. Ray Evernham gave up majority interest in his young team to George Gillett Jr. and his family and the team has returned to top form this season.
But is it really that easy? Of course not.
The Pettys may now have the funding to get back on track, but it is how that funding is allocated and where they focus their energies that will determine if this move puts them back in contention for wins and championships. The Pettys still face some tough decisions.
Where does one start the rebuilding process? Personnel, equipment, testing? While it might sound simple to just take one area and focus on it, each must work together for the team to return to glory.
Some may think that wins are now just around the corner, but rebuilding a team takes time. Petty has shown progress without outside assistance, with Bobby Labonte challenging in some races over the past couple of seasons. They have been competitive, but not consistently so.
That will be the next step.
Certainly, fans everywhere rejoice at the thought of Petty Enterprises returning to victory lane. Seeing Richard Petty with a winning driver once more is something everyone in NASCAR should be hoping happens.
But that won’t happen just because the Pettys took on a partner and got an influx of resources.
Joining forces with Boston Ventures is a huge step, but it’s just the first one for this team. Now, Petty fans everywhere are watching to see what happens next.
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