The King (Richard Petty), back in victory lane with Kasey Kahne..

[hemi68charger]

It was truely very cool to see Petty again in Victory Circle, it's been too long. I could only image the awe Kasey must have to know he won the first Petty victory in many many moons.. And to have the King himself congratulate you... Wow...

[72chargerSE]

ALL HAIL KING RICHARD!

[69*F5*SE]

Hail hail to the King   

[skip68]

That's an honor.   

[Ponch ®]

He'll be winning a lot more next year when he's in a Toyota.

[Ghoste]

Like I need another reason to not watch it. 

[TruckDriver]

Yup! I was happy as all heck to see this happen! 

He'll be winning a lot more next year when he's in a Toyota.

I heard those rumors too since Dodge hasnt paid Richard a dime yet for sponcership. 

[tan top]

Hail hail to the King   

the KING 

[Brock Samson]

yup,. put a smile on my face, especially at a Toyota badged race paced by a freakin prius for Gods' sake... 

[TUFCAT]

yup,. put a smile on my face, especially at a Toyota badged race paced by a freakin prius for Gods' sake... 

This is why I hate nascar, ....and haven't watched a race in ten years.

[72chargerSE]

Chrysler blue runs deep in Petty's veins......TOYOTA??? Never.

[NHCharger]

yup,. put a smile on my face, especially at a Toyota badged race paced by a freakin prius for Gods' sake... 

Not many people in the stands from what I saw. Only caught the last 20 laps.

The rumor is Kasey is switching to yota while Elliot, Reed and maybe AJ continue to drive Chargers yeah makes no sense, but the only difference is who supplies the engines.

The day the #43 is stuck on a yota will be the day NASCAR looses another 20% of it's fan base.

[Ghoste]

Chrysler blue runs deep in Petty's veins......TOYOTA??? Never.

That's what some people said just before he went Pontiac.  Chrysler may run in his veins but food needs to run in his stomach and at the end of the day, it just comes down to a business decision for him.

[chargerboy69]

Chrysler blue runs deep in Petty's veins......TOYOTA??? Never.

Kahne will start running Toyota's in August.  Well at least only for the rest of the year.  Rumor has it he wants to drive with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman at Stewart Haas Racing.



UPDATE 2: Sirius Speedway has learned that Richard Petty Motorsports will begin fielding Toyotas for driver #9-Kasey Kahne in mid-August, with at least part of the team remaining in Dodge livery for the time being. Published reports this week claimed the team will begin fielding Toyotas for Kahne at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11, but an RPM source speaking on the condition of anonymity tells Sirius Speedway that the change will not happen until team officials are able to hammer out a financial settlement with their current manufacturer. "Dodge owes the team a ton of money, and they're trying to negotiate some kind of settlement right now," said one source. "Until that's done, the team cannot make a move. Once the settlement is signed, you'll see Kasey Kahne in a Toyota." RPM's familiar #43 – driven by Reed Sorenson – will remain in Dodge livery for the foreseeable future. A decision on future manufacturer affiliations for the #19 and #44 cars -- driven by Elliott Sadler and AJ Allmendinger – is pending.(Sirius Speedway)(6-22-2009)

[elanmars]

why do the nascar cars all look the same? they look nothing like their general public counterparts, unlike the cars back in the day. they all look plastic, round and blah.

[TUFCAT]

Chrysler blue runs deep in Petty's veins......TOYOTA??? Never.

That's what some people said just before he went Pontiac.  Chrysler may run in his veins but food needs to run in his stomach and at the end of the day, it just comes down to a business decision for him.

When Petty switched to Pontiac it was because the Dodge Magnum wasn't competitive. Now the Dodges are competitive.

If he leaves Dodge, it will be purely about the money.

Greed, greed, and more greed....is there any loyalty left?  Anywhere?

[elanmars]

Chrysler blue runs deep in Petty's veins......TOYOTA??? Never.

That's what some people said just before he went Pontiac.  Chrysler may run in his veins but food needs to run in his stomach and at the end of the day, it just comes down to a business decision for him.

When Petty switched to Pontiac it was because the Dodge Magnum wasn't competitive. Now the Dodges are competitive.

If he leaves Dodge, it will be purely about the money.

Greed, greed, and more greed....is there any loyalty left?  Anywhere?

why be loyal if he isn't getting paid much? why doesn't dodge step it up? doesn't make sense to be "brand loyal" if you're treated like crap.

[TUFCAT]

I'm almost positive.....Richard Petty isn't hurting for money.

[chargerboy69]

why doesn't dodge step it up? doesn't make sense to be "brand loyal" if you're treated like crap.

Dodge does not have the money to step it up.  GM and Chrysler are both pulling all funding out of the Truck and Nationwide Series and cutting way, way back in the Cup Series.  In a totally unrelated note, remember GM and Chrysler are now being run by the Government.  But that has absolutely nothing to due with it. 

[Ghoste]

Especially a government well supported by people who generally don't like cars or motorsports.

[NHCharger]

remember GM and Chrysler are now being run by the Government.  But that has absolutely nothing to due with it. 

When Chrysler presented it's advertising budget to the government, I believe around 134 million, the gubbament told them they could only have half of it. A majority of the race budget is in the advertising budget.

On a side note Toyota announced it is pulling all of it's funding for the trucks and nationwide series. It will only supply teams parts and engineering.

[Ponch ®]

Kahne will start running Toyota's in August.  Well at least only for the rest of the year.  Rumor has it he wants to drive with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman at Stewart Haas Racing.

I'm not surprised, considering how those two were practically blowing each other (figuratively) in their post-race interviews.

[WINGR]

It was truely very cool to see Petty again in Victory Circle, it's been too long. I could only image the awe Kasey must have to know he won the first Petty victory in many many moons.. And to have the King himself congratulate you... Wow...

Amen brother, they both deserve this great honor. When Kasey gets top quality equipment he can run with the best of them. Petty has to stand true and stay with Dodge, I hope that the switch that has been rumoured is just that, a rumour. If this was true that would be a discrace to Petty as well as to Kasey. I would have to believe that neither one of them would want this.


WINGR

[Ghoste]

Does Petty even own Petty Enterprises anymore?  I thought he had sold it to some group of Wall Street investors group or something a while back and he was little more than a day to day manager now?

[Aero426]

Does Petty even own Petty Enterprises anymore?  I thought he had sold it to some group of Wall Street investors group or something a while back and he was little more than a day to day manager now?

Petty is pretty much a figurehead in the new group.   

He sold controlling interest in Petty Enterprises to Boston Ventures.      When that did not attract sufficient sponsorship, they closed Petty Enterprises and "merged" with Gillett Evernham.    The reality is that only a few employees of the old Petty Enterprises came over to the current deal.   Gillett is the majority owner.   It has not been said how much Richard owns.    Boston Ventures kept the Richard Petty Driving Experience, which was the profitable portion they wanted anyway. 

[Ghoste]

So at the end of the day it wouldn't matter whether Petty was sentimental about Chrysler and willing to stay with them for free or if he was a hard nosed business shark who only follow the money trail, the decision will be made by someone else (or a board of someone elses) and he has little or absolutely no input to it.
Ironically, debating here about whether he would go to Toyota or not as a pure business move is a moot point now since he already made a decision to sell his racing enterprise as a pure business move.