Prince Kyle out of the 45 Car?

By: Andy Kondratick
September 3, 2002 - This weekend at Richmond the Pettys have scheduled a press conference to talk about the plans for the future of their entries in Winston Cup. Rumors have been flying around the garage about the possibility of Kyle stepping down out of the driver's seat when Sprint leaves them as a sponsor at the end of the season. I have talked with several people within the Petty camp and they have assured me that Kyle will be back next year.

"All I know is that I'm going to be in one of my cars," said Petty. "That was my statement before and that's my statement now. I'm going to be in one of my cars. I think everybody knows that our goal and our future was we were building a team for Adam."

Kyle, 42, will be making his 635th career start this weekend. He is 13th on the all-time list in NASCAR Winston Cup career starts. His eight career victories place him 45th on NASCAR’s all-time list in Winston Cup wins. One of the most recognizable names in international motorsports, as is his sponsor, Sprint, Petty’s driving career began with a five-race season in 1979. The native of Level Cross, N.C., has won nearly $15 million.

The Petty name has always been in Nascar and at least one of the Petty family has been on the track and competing since NASCAR was first born. With all that fame and history to their credit, everyone of course wants to know what is going to happen with the current teams at Petty Enterprises. Kyle had this to say about the current situation.

"I’m like everyone else. You try not to pay any attention to the rumors and stuff that keep flying around the garage but you just can’t help yourself sometimes. Hey, I believe this sport was pretty much built on rumors. Those are some of the things that make each day so interesting around the garage. The rumors involving other teams are always a lot more interesting than the ones about your own team. I know pretty much what our plans are and what we are going to do. But I don’t always know what other people have in mind, so I get a kick out of listening to some of this stuff. Garage area gossip is always big, always has been big. We’re going to make an announcement Saturday afternoon at Richmond. That’s a good example. Hearing what people think we’re going to announce or hearing what people think we’re doing, some of it is pretty funny. Some of it might be kind of close. Some of it is absolutely outrageous."

Jerry Nadaeu and John Andretti have not said as of yet whether they will be back in 2003 or not. It is believed that Nadaeu will move on to other opportunities and Fittipaldi will use the 44 car for several Winston Cup events in 2003 with a sponsor to be named later. Andretti will return to the 43 car with a new contract and Kyle will take all of the 44 car sponsors and apply them to the 45 car. As a long time fan of the Pettys I certainly would like to see all of the above come true. This has been just one man's opinion with some facts mixed in.