San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
DETHRONED KING: PETTY UNHAPPY WITH JJ
Richard Petty may still reign as NASCAR’S King, but with Jimmie Johnson wresting control of Petty’s old race team, he is definitively not the boss.
The Hall of Famer essentially has been stripped of power inside his former eponymous team that rapidly rebranded and rebuilt since November. Johnson and Petty are the only living seven-time NASCAR champions — and that appears to be where the similarities end inside Legacy Motor Club’s front office.
The 85-year-old Petty, who is officially Legacy’s ambassador, said Saturday he has bruised feelings and little say in the direction of the race team since Johnson bought into the ownership group.
“It’s been strange to me,” Petty said. “Most of the time, I ran the majority of the show. Jimmie brought all his people in. His way of running things and my way of running things are probably a little bit different. We probably agree on about 50 percent of what it really comes down to.”
Ahead of today’s Daytona 500, an unfiltered Petty said he was irked by Johnson’s rise in power. “Yes, it does” bother him, he said.
But Petty conceded it was “probably time for a change” because through several incarnations of his race team — the latest Petty GMS — his cars had never risen above the middle of the pack. GMS founder Maury Gallagher, chairman of Allegiant Air, purchased Richard Petty Motorsports in 2021 and Petty, whose 200 Cup wins as a driver are a record, served as the front man.
Johnson told The Associated Press he was “disappointed” that Petty publicly expressed his displeasure, adding: “Of course, we’ll have conversations.”
“He’s not expressed them to me, for starters,” Johnson said. “Honestly, there are a lot of moving pieces to this. There are business decisions that are taking place between Mr. Gallagher and the Petty family before I ever arrived. Those are details that are just not my place to say.
“But a lot of what Richard is speaking to is based on business decisions that he and his family have made and they aren’t relative to my involvement.”
One of Johnson’s first decisions: Strip the Petty name that dates in NASCAR to 1949.
“When Jimmie came in, it was going to be hard to be Johnson Petty GMS,” Petty said. “Jimmie’s thinking further ahead with his crew and came up with a new name.”
Petty remains NASCAR’S most recognizable personality, wearing his feathered Charlie 1 Horse hats, dark glasses and cowboy boots. He’s never stopped signing autographs, making personal appearances or gladhanding sponsor.
“They don’t take over the racing part, they take over the front office,” Petty said. “With sponsorships, appearances and all that stuff, Jimmie’s crowd is kind of controlling that. That’s something I never had to put up with, I guess.”
Drivers skip practice
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and his six fellow Toyota drivers skipped the final practice for today’s “The Great American Race.”
Sixteen of 40 cars did get in a final practice, but not pole-sitter Alex Bowman or his fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
Brad Keselowski topped the speed chart in his No. 6 Ford, reaching 191.201 mph during his 14-lap stint.
Hill wins Xfinity race
It wasn’t the Daytona 500, but Austin Hill gladly took the win.
Hill won the Xfinity Series season-opening race Saturday night for the second consecutive year to diminish some of the sting the Richard Childress Racing driver felt two days earlier when he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500.
Hill rebounded and drove from last to first at Daytona International Speedway. The Chevrolet driver was declared the winner after a long NASCAR review of the finishing order. The race went into overtime and Justin Allgaier was the leader until Allgaier’s teammate, Sam Mayer, went high in an attempt to make the race-winning pass.
Contact between Hill and Mayer caused Mayer to spin and his Chevrolet to f lip onto its roof, bringing out the race-ending caution. NASCAR then had to review timing and scoring to determine who was the leader when the yellow was thrown.
NASCAR needed nearly 10 minutes to determine Hill was ahead of Allgaier when the race ended. Allgaier settled for second.