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Petty, Wood demise may drive remaining old timers away
By admin | December 7, 2008
By Richard Allen
Petty Enterprises appears to be on the brink of elimination. If rumors are to be believed, the long time NASCAR team is about to merge with, or rather be consumed by, Gillett-Evernham Motorsports.
For many long time NASCAR fans who feel as though the sport they once loved has turned away from them in recent years, this may be the last straw.
Many of these long time patrons, followers of the sports since the 1970s or longer, came to be fans because of the Petty organization. Richard Petty’s magnetism and winning ways drew many fans to NASCAR in the day when “The King” was dominating the short tracks and super speedways of the South and the nation.
And is so often the case, many fans were drawn to the sport to root against the sport’s top star. There were some who no doubt came to their first race to see someone beat the one who won the most.
A modern day comparison would be the “Tiger Woods Effect” in golf. Some come to cheer him and some come to watch in hopes that he will lose.
Many of those who wanted to see someone beat Petty often found themselves cheering the car fielded by Wood Brothers Racing. David Pearson, among others, drove for the team which fielded cars out of their Stuart, Virginia shop.
The #21 of the Wood Brothers and the #43 of Petty Enterprises have most likely finished 1-2 more than any other two cars in NASCAR history.
Like their old nemesis the Pettys, Wood Brothers Racing is in danger of slipping into history. The team announced last week they would cut their schedule to only 12 races in 2009. In the time of their greatest glory the Woods ran a limited schedule on purpose. This move has been forced by a lack of funding and the rising cost of competing over the length of the 36 race NASCAR schedule.
The end result of the demise of these two teams could be the hastening of the departure for many long time fans. The growing discontent with the direction the sport has taken in the last decade or so is costing NASCAR its older generation of fans.
Cars and tracks that are too similar. Drivers who are often chosen for their media appeal rather than their ability behind the wheel and too many pieces and parts being handed out by the sanctioning body have caused the gear heads who once lived and died with the sport to lose interest.
The Pettys and the Woods were the last remaining remnant of the form of racing older fans once fell in love with. Now, with these teams disappearing into the sunset, NASCAR may find the sun going down on an entire generation of once loyal supporters.
The demise of these two teams will be a particularly disappointing thing for a certain NASCAR writer who was born in 1967, the year in which “The King” won 27 races, and was named after Petty by a dad who had David Pearson as a favorite driver. My naming and the friendly rivalry it created between my dad and I is one of the great memories of my young life.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly column appears in The Mountain Press every Wednesday.
Topics: Articles |
December 8th, 2008 at 8:01 am
If the Pettys are done I can name 25 people that will not watch or attend anymore races. The only thing that held us to the sport was the hope of Kyle catching magic on last time and as always the next picture and autograph from “The King” those meetings never got old and he never, ever turned us down.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am
You are right, our group that used to attend four races a year, doesn’t even watch all of them on TV. the cookie cutter cars and the other manipulation of the sport is turning a lot of fans off (and not just young ones). Without the Pettys, Woods, Pearsons, and other legends, a lot of the class and history are gone.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Richard, They lost me a few years ago with the COT and all of the competition cautions ETC. I did the PA twice at Daytona, once for the Firecracker, and the 1969 500. When I pointed that out to Daytona, and asked to purchase tickets for last July, they never even answered my e-Mail. Any wonder that a lot of us old-timers could care less? Without the Petts and the Woods, there will NOTHING left of NA$CAR. Brian France seems not to care. I’m sure His father, and grandfather would roll over in their graves…
December 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Pettys….
December 8th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I think I’m done. I’ve been a Petty fan since the early 70s. It went from Richard to Kyle and I was supposed to be an Adam Petty fan right now. I don’t have a second-favorite driver and since Kyle is probably gone now, I may just start watching sports cars, since at least there’ll be a Petty there.
I think now is the time to retire two numbers. Do it officially. Let Gillette take oevr PE but make them change the number to 44 or whatever. Retire the 43 and the 3 and induct them into the Hall of Fame.
NASCAR has said they can’t retire numbers like other sports because in other sports, teams, not leagues, retire numbers but that isn’t true. When Wayne Gretzky retired, the NHL retired the number 99. No team in the league can use the 99. So there is a precendent.
If Petty Enterprises goes, so should the 43. And if the 43 goes, so should the 3.
Rick
December 8th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Just a thought: Kyle Petty has some sponsorship from Wells Fargo and Coca Cola…. Wouldn’t it be nice to see him put a deal together with the Wood Brothers for half a season? he won his first race in that car.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
If Petty goes under you can add one more name to the list that will no longer attend races or buy diecast.And I have been going since 1971 and have close to a thousand diecast.
December 8th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I hope the Woods can survive.They are a class act.I look forward to watching the #21 next year.It would be really neat to see them win again.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Rich,
The pettys and woods organizations for over 50 years built their own cars and competed like you’re supposed to…But, then Nascar gets into the car building business which again drives up the cost…Of course they say the opposite….The thing that made Nascar was some daring mechanics ability to make an ole heavy stock car go fast…now, it’s all about computers and this has driven off Nascar’s real fan base….The good ole Southern Working Men and Women….They can’t relate to what’s going on…with the Cars or Drivers…Don’t get me wrong Jimmie Johnson is a nice guy….But that’s the problem…Outside of Tony Stewart or a little of Kyle Busch you don’t have a personality at all….There’s no Earnhardts coming along either…Because most of the guys know nothing about the Cars, Nascar….or The Real Fans….This is a Southern sport and No matter whether you take it to New York or California…..It’s still an southern sport….One of the most stupid things Nascar does is end the season at Homestead-Miami….Where the Real Southern fans can’t relate to or would never want to go there..(unless they were armed)….I don’t care who owns Atlanta it was still the best season ender…..The most logical choice would be Daytona but, Most in the Nascar’s Headquarter’s don’t know anything about the History of Nascar little own about the Real Fans……….
(correction)