The King still holds court at track
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The King was holding court, trying to explain why the words of a driver who has been retired since 1992 carry as much weight today as they did in the day when Winston was the name of the Cup game.
His audience interrupted, wanting instead to drain Richard Petty’s pen dry.
“Oh my God, I’m so excited,” said one woman, holding a teamissued glossy. “I know you guys are doing an interview. But, oh my God. Thank you so much, Richard. Oh my God.”
Another man with a photo tells Petty outside the No. 43 hauler, “I met you years ago.”
Join the club.
When Petty pops out of his chair, there’s still some spring in those 76-year-old steps, and he signs every photo, smiles for every snapshot and makes eye contact with the kids who know him only as the voice from “Cars” and not the Hall of Fame driver known as The King.
In the era of Junior and Jimmie, Petty is the rare throwback who looms as large in NASCAR as the stars of today. He’s still a familiar sight at racetracks in feathered cowboy hats, dark glasses and cowboy boots. His opinions still move the sports needle, especially when he’s jabbing fan favorite Danica Patrick.
The King is synonymous with Daytona, and he still knows how to steal the spotlight.
Petty opened Speedweeks defending his remarks that the only way Patrick can win a race was if “everybody else stayed home.” Pressed to clarify or back off his comments, Petty dug in his spurs.
“It bugs me that you’ve got to be political correct,” Petty said. “I’m not changing my outlook on the world just to be political correct.”
Saying the safe thing for the sake of playing nice has never been a Petty specialty.
His comments bugged fellow Cup champion Tony Stewart, Patrick’s teammate and boss, to the point where he challenged Petty to get in a car and race her. How about it, one more spin for old-timer’s sake, Petty vs. Patrick?
“That would be good,” a grinning Petty said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been on the track. But I think I could come back a little bit.”
Others drivers defended Petty’s opinion.
“You can’t call out The King,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, “because he’s The King.”
NOTES — Rookie Dylan Kwasniewski, 18, led a Turner Scott Motorsports sweep of the top three spots in qualifying for the Nationwide Series opener today at Daytona. He will make his series debut today starting from the pole. He topped the speed chart with a lap at 192.078 mph to grab the top starting spot in the rain-shortened qualifying session. Kyle Larson qualified second with a lap at 192.074 and Danica Patrick was third. … Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte are among the first-year eligible nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Mark Martin failed to make the ballot in his first year of eligibility.