MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It seems the Petty Enterprises organization has been promising for years that it was making strides “toward where we need to be.”
The truth is that NASCAR’s winningest and most historic team may have made a giant leap toward its future when it abandoned its sleepy little shop in Level Cross, N.C., which fielded cars for four generations of Petty racers, and moved its entire operation to the former Robert Yates Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C.
The Pettys are completely moved in, have hired a collection of new personnel, including crew chief Jeff Meendering, who will work with Bobby Labonte, and are working toward returning to the front of the pack.
But the move was an emotional drain for team-owner and seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty, as well as his son and the team’s CEO Kyle Petty.
“We’ve been cussing it and discussing it for four or five years,” said Richard, whose father, Lee, built the original Petty Enterprises shop next to the house where Richard, now 70 years old, was born. “It was hard for me to make that decision. Robert Yates moved out of here and that sped up our schedule. It was a gamble and it was hard, but it was something we all knew we needed to do. This is the first step for us getting this team back to where we need to be and getting competitive.”
Kyle said there was no question moving was the right thing for the team.
“I think we all felt like we needed to move… It was a lot more emotional for me than what I thought it would be,” he said. “I pushed him and prodded him (Richard) to move a long time ago and we never moved…
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to the old shop,” the younger Petty said. “It’s been hard on me, but I knew it was time to make a change. While it was hard on me, I can’t imagine how hard it was on my father because of all the history that our family made out of the old shop. When I was little, I grew up there doing stuff like riding motorcycles and playing around the shop. I have to admit that I had no idea how hard it would be to walk in and see Petty Enterprises with no race cars in it.
“Our heart and soul is still in Level Cross, but now that’s behind us so hopefully one day we’ll have the same feeling about this new place as we did with the old shop.”
With Kyle and Labonte driving, team manager Robbie Loomis sees a lot of great things ahead for the Petty organization.
“A building is just a building,” he said. “It is the people in this building that are going to make the difference. We have a lot of great people.”