Was this #45-Kyle Petty's last race for Petty Enterprises? Sunday's Kansas 400 looks like it might well have been his last Sprint Cup run for the family business that he's worked for for so many years, that his grandfather Lee founded in 1949 and that his father Richard has been running all these years. That pending departure-not of Kyle Petty's own doing-is the stunning word from Patti Petty, Kyle's wife. Kyle Petty has been the center of a family storm of controversy since the spring, and he insists he doesn't think he's part of the long-running problems at Petty Enterprises. And Patti Petty says her husband is determined to stay at the wheel of a Cup car.....for someone. Kyle Petty himself ... has been struggling with the entire situation, Patti Petty says. While Petty himself was stoic about whatever turmoil is going on behind the scenes, promising to talk about things eventually, his wife was quite emotional - "Maybe I'm the only one here willing to tell the truth," she said. "They haven't wanted Kyle in the car the last three years. They want a young driver, a 30-year-old, a 20-year-old. "But Wells Fargo, our sponsor, says it's going to stay with Kyle, whatever he does. I wish Chip Ganassi (a fellow Dodge team owner) would take a look at Kyle. He's got a 12-race sponsorship deal for next year that would be a perfect part-time schedule for Kyle. And Kyle could help mentor a young driver. They told him at Watkins Glen - right when he was standing there in his driver's suit - that they didn't want him in the car." There are indications that Michael McDowell, currently driving for Michael Waltrip's Toyota operation, and AJ Allmendinger, currently driving for Team Red Bull, are under consideration for the Petty ride, as teammate with Bobby Labonte. Kyle Petty is tentatively scheduled to run a Petty car at Phoenix in November, but Patti Petty says that looks too iffy.
Terry Labonte is in the car this weekend at Talladega. Well, nice to know that DEI isn't the only team having family problems.
-- Edited by President Lou Demian at 15:50, 2008-09-29
It's nice she's sticking up for her man, but geez, don't let your woman fight your battles for you in the public eye!!!! That's as bad as Vince Young's mom talking to reporters about his troubles.
I don't get it, don't they see they are doing more harm than good by talking about the situation.
I'm sure Kyle will have plenty to say on Trading Paint. But this sucks for Kyle, he only drives the #45 still for Adam. If Adam were still alive, Kyle would have retired years ago.
