Kyle has no clue about what is up at PE: If you want to know what’s going down at Petty Enterprises these days, don’t ask Kyle Petty. So says Kyle Petty, son of Richard and grandson of Lee, who founded the race organization in Level Cross, N.C., in 1949. Richard Petty is part owner of Petty Enterprises, which currently is in merger discussions with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Petty Enterprises entered into a partnership agreement with outside investment firm Boston Ventures this past May. “I don’t work for Petty Enterprises,” Kyle Petty said Monday. “When they did their deal and sold to Boston Ventures, Chad [McCumbee] was going to drive the second car and Bobby [Labonte] was going to drive the first car; they pretty much let me know there wasn’t a place for me there going into ‘09. My deal runs out at the end of the year, but I don’t go over there [to the shop in Mooresville, N.C.] because I don’t work there. It was a different business and it got into a different place than where Boston Ventures wanted to be — and I just don’t think they have the stomach for it. It’s their company and they can do with it what they want to. That’s the way it works.”
When Boston Ventures came on board, Richard Petty said he would still be heavily involved in the day-to-day operation of Petty Enterprises. But Kyle Petty made it sound as if those from the investment company are pulling most of the strings for the organization now. “I don’t know what the division is, and it’s got nothing to do with me because it’s my father’s company,” Kyle said. “So it’s between Richard Petty and Boston Ventures. Me talking about it is about like anybody else talking about it from the outside looking in. I was not privy to any of the meetings. I was not a part of it. Once David Zucker took over as CEO, then I was out of the loop. So I’ve got no skin in this game.”
So for now, Kyle Petty is just another Cup driver without a ride for 2009. He’s looking at possibly not suiting up to drive any Cup races for the first time since 1979 — when he ran five races for Petty Enterprises at the age of 18, and Richard won the last of his seven championships. “I’m going to do my six TV races for Turner [Sports],” Kyle said. “I’m still working with SPEED, doing [the] Tradin’ Paint [show] and I’ll be able to do a couple different things with them, maybe with the Grand American division or a couple other things. I’m just going to take a step back and see what goes on, and see where the sport goes and see where motorsports goes for the next little bit and try to figure out what I’m going to do. I’m going to run the 24-hour [Rolex] race at Daytona. That may be my only race of the year; maybe I’ll run more races. I don’t know what I’m doing. If the right opportunity came along, I think I’m like Bill Elliott. I’m not ready to retire. I may not be there every week, but I don’t consider myself retired. You know what I mean? So if the right opportunity came along where I thought we could be competitive, with the right leadership and the right group, I think I would be [interested]. But right now, just [looking at it] as a sports fan over the last eight or 10 years, it’s a business decision. If somebody has the money — if you have the sponsorship and you have the dollars — it’s easier to find something. But right now, there aren’t a lot of people out there with money.”(in part from NASCAR.com)(12-9-2008)
What would diehard Nascar fans think of Kyle Petty driving for the Wood Brothers? It may happen.