It's good to be The King
Sunday, Jun. 21, 2009
JEFF WILLHELM - jwillhelm@charlotteobserver.com
5/20/2009 - The signature Richard Petty smile greets fans at the dedication of the NC Auto Racing Walk of Fame in Mooresville Wednesday. Legendary NASCAR drivers like RIchard Petty, Buddy Baker, and others gather to dedicate the NC Auto Racing Walk Of Fame in downtown Mooresville Wednesday afternoon. JEFF WILLHELM - jwillhelm@charlotteobserver.com
Getty Images for NASCAR
SONOMA, CA - JUNE 21: Team Owner Richard Petty (L) celebrates with his winning driver Kasey Kahne (R), driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, after Kasey wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway on June 21, 2009 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)
AP
Kasey Kahne, right, applauds as Richard Petty has a drink of wine after Kahne won the NASCAR Toyota/Save Mart 350 auto race, Sunday, June 21, 2009, in Sonoma, Calif. Petty was in victory lane as a car owner for the first time in more than a decade. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)
AP
Kasey Kahne, center, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Toyota/Save Mart 350 auto race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., Sunday, June 21, 2009. At left is Richard Petty, who was in victory lane as a car owner for the first time in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
JEFF WILLHELM - jwillhelm@charlotteobserver.com
5/20/2009 - RIchard Petty is swarmed by fans at the dedication of the NASCAR Walk of Fame in Mooresville. 13 Legendary NASCAR drivers with names like like Petty, Baker, Earnhardt, Allison, Jarrett and others are honored with markers along the sidewalk in front of the Charles Mack Citizen Center in downtown "Race City". JEFF WILLHELM - jwillhelm@charlotteobserver.com
SONOMA, Calif. - NASCAR’s king experienced something he hadn’t felt in a while on Sunday.
Richard Petty was in Victory Lane again.
Petty, who won a NASCAR-record 200 races as a driver, got his first victory as a team owner in 10 years Sunday when Kasey Kahne won the Toyota/Save On 350 at Infineon Raceway.
“It was one of those days,” said Petty, who merged his team with Gillett Evernham Motorsports last winter.
“Everything fell together. The car was good, the crew was good and we had good strategy on pit road the whole day. It was one of those picture-perfect days, exactly what you need to win a race. You can only get those three or four times a year.”
A Petty-owned car last won in 1999, with John Andretti driving at Martinsville, Va. Since then, Petty Enterprises (now known as Richard Petty Motorsports), located in Level Cross, has been in steady decline.
But Petty kept at it, moving the team’s headquarters to Mooresville, N.C., then to Statesville after the merger with Gillett Evernham. He never stopped believing a victory would come.
“I’m a hard head,” he said. “That’s why I keep coming back.”
Petty said he learned something from the time he won his 200th and final race as a driver in 1984 until his retirement in 1992.
“It finally dawned on me, I’m not good enough to win any more races,” he said. “I (had) to get out.
"This is a little different. This is a team. It was a team when I was driving, but I wasn’t carrying the load. Now if I help give them the mechanics, the good stuff, they’ll run good. I’m a very optimistic person.”
Petty’s good day didn’t end with Kahne’s victory. Two other RPM drivers, AJ Allmendinger (seventh) and Elliott Sadler (10th) also had strong finishes.
“This feels like win No. 1 to me,” said Petty. “I’m involved, but not as involved as I was at Level Cross. When we moved to Mooresville, it kind of got away from me. But now in Statesville, it’s different. There’s a system in place.
“The basic deal is we want a continuation of what we did today. After looking at today, if we did do something different, we’ll do it again next week.”
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