Petty Enterprises Changes...

MountaineerTom · May 29, 2001

Hearing Petty Enterprises (#'s 43, 44, 45 and #43 CTS team) has parted ways with some of it's engineering staff and that Larry McReaynolds (Fox Broadcaster) is considering working with the team when the Fox part of the TV deal is up after Sears Point(June 24th)(5-29-2001)

bowtiefan · May 29, 2001

and boy do they really need the help they should be running top 20 every week but #### they have a hard time qaulifying everyweek. not a petty fan but man they should be running better than they are. maybe time to look for some new drivers because what they have there not going to win much or even at all. i think they could have done a much better job thna buckshot jones there #### of alot better drivers than him.

antig24 · May 29, 2001

they need quite a bit of help:)

General Lee 01 · May 30, 2001

I'm surprised Andretti didn't make the 600.

Isn' that, like, the first time since the 60s the 43 didn't make the show ??

Jpshostr · May 30, 2001

Boy, sitting there in qualifying you could tell without looking at the clock that those two cars weren't going to make the cut. They just didn't have that "sound" that a good run gives you. I think they were running about 178mph while the ones that made the cut were 180 and above.

May 30, 2001

Quote: from General Lee 01 on 9:46 pm on May 29, 2001
I'm surprised Andretti didn't make the 600.

Isn' that, like, the first time since the 60s the 43 didn't make the show ??

Do you mean the 600 or any race?

Ol' King Richard failed to qualify for a few before he retired. He was the original proponent behind franchising WC so that you could be guarenteed a start in every race.

General Lee 01 · May 30, 2001

You mean he's the one who suggested Provisionals??

May 31, 2001

No, they've had provisional starts for a while. They were always for the use that they have now, letting someone that is having a bad day make the race.

Franchising would be like the TRAC series in work. Only so many cars would be allowed to run in the series. That way no one has to go home. Like pro sports, you can't just go start you own NFL team, you have to get a franchise from NFL.

However, if I had the cash, I could go build my own WC team from scratch and hire members to work it.

King Richard wanted (and may still want) franchising in WC so that his team(s) would make all the races.

This was discussed about ten or twelve years ago, before he retired. I think it was brought up not long after he broke his streak on starts because he couldn't make the field and had no provisionals left.

Sorry, I got to ramblin' again.

MountaineerTom · June 1, 2001

Update from http://jayski.thatsracin.com/

UPDATE: while hearing there were some personnel changes in the engineering staff are true, the part about Larry MacReynold's coming to PE is not true

AND A reorganization within the competitive framework at Petty Enterprises has led to a new position for Chris Hussey and an increased role for Doug Hewitt. Hussey, who serves as crew chief for the #45 Sprint Dodge, will now also be race operations manager for Petty Enterprises, facilitating communications among the three Winston Cup teams, the engine and research and development departments. Doug Hewitt, head of mechanical research and development, will have his role increased. "We are maintaining our system in terms of identical cars and in how we operate each week," said Kyle Petty, who drives the #45 car as well as serving as CEO of Petty Enterprises. "What we are looking to do is put more 'racer' into the decisions of what goes in our cars," Petty said. "A lot of times things look good on paper but don.t always translate into good race cars. We feel Chris, working closely with Doug, Greg Steadman and Bryant Frazier (crew chiefs for the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge and the #44 Georgia-Pacific Dodge), can put the 'racing' into our race cars. That, coupled with the engineering knowledge and expertise we have, will give us better and more consistent race cars each week." "We're moving forward. We're moving ahead," Petty said. "We're making whatever changes we need to make to be competitive and to run up front."(Williams Company)(5-30-2001)