Richard Petty happy to be at Indy 500 but doesn't plan to miss start of Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR legend Richard Petty doesn't expect to miss the start of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Richard Petty couldn’t keep track of John Andretti’s qualifying drama at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last Sunday because of his duties as grand marshal of the NASCAR Camping World East/West Series race at Iowa Speedway.
Friend Dale Inman, Petty’s longtime crew chief, was watching television and giving him updates while his Richard Petty Motorsports car struggled with Andretti behind the wheel and the Dreyer & Reinbold team fielding the car for the organization in an attempt to make the Indianapolis 500.
Andretti made the Indy 500 field on his last attempt and with less than 10 minutes to spare. It wasn’t supposed to be that hard to qualify for the race, and the team did not expect to have to bump its way in on the fourth and final day of qualifications.
“I was out doing whatever I was supposed to be doing, and Dale said [Andretti] had tried twice and hadn’t made it and didn’t think he was going to make it,” Petty said Tuesday prior to a benefit for the Paralyzed Veterans of America. “And then he got fortunate enough in that last run to get in with no trouble. … I would’ve hated to have been involved in it and not make the race.”
Petty plans to head to Indianapolis Sunday morning. He has Richard Petty Motorsports fan day at his shop in Statesville, N.C., on Friday and then has appearances scheduled in Charlotte on Saturday.
And how long he actually spends in Indianapolis remains to be seen. The Indy 500 begins at 1 p.m. EDT, and the Coca-Cola 600 begins shortly after 5:45 p.m.
Petty said he doesn’t expect to miss the start of either race, especially considering it’s the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600.
“Maybe [Andretti] can have a good day,” Petty said. “If he comes by after about 20 or 30 laps and he’s leading the race, I’m liable to stay. But we’ll just have to wait and see on that.”
This is the first time that Petty is an owner of a car for the Indianapolis 500.
“Doing the Indy race is a sideline deal,” Petty said. “I’ve never done it. I’ve never been involved in it and wanted to be. Now that we’ve got Richard Petty Motorsports [settled] and its four cars and we’re doing our deal, that gave me [part of] a day off. I’m going to take it and have some fun with it.”
