Petty advises Nadeau to sit out rest of season

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Jerry Nadeau, injured Thursday while riding go karts, will not drive the No. 44 Dodge again this season, team president and CEO Kyle Petty said Friday.

	Jerry Nadeau Credit: Autostock

"He called me, said he was riding go-karts and was in the hospital," said Petty just before qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. "Then he called back later and said it was probably going to be (out) four to six weeks.

"Jerry's not driving for us next year, so the best thing for him to do is sit at home and do his stuff so he can come out strong next year. If he's smart he'll sit out the rest of the year. I think he will sit out the rest of the year.

"He hurt his shoulder and I think he tore some ligaments or some tendons or muscles. So it's going to have to repair itself. I think the doctors can do something for him, rehab and stuff. But it's a time thing. When you look at that, he should just take his time and heal himself."

Nadeau is rumored to be taking over MB2 Motorsports' No. 36 Pontiac in 2003.

In his absence, Steve Grissom was the chosen man to drive the Petty Enterprises No. 44. Grissom was the logical choice, as he has made nine starts in the No. 44 this season.

"(Nadeau) did a really, really good job for us while he was driving for us," Petty said. "We hate it. Now we've got to go find somebody for the next three or four races to get through the last part of this year.

"Steve was the perfect choice, the logical choice. He'd already driven our car so we had his seats at the shop."

Petty is uncertain whether Grissom will drive the car in the coming weeks, due to his obligations with Jimmy Spencer's No. 34 Busch Series team. He was elated Grissom could drive this weekend.

"All this stuff happened at 5:30 last night," Petty said. "The truck had left, and the boy that drivers the truck, Steve Mitchell, had gone home. We called him. He turned around and brought it back.

"We unloaded the car last night at eight o'clock, put Steve's seat in it, showed up this morning and it was race ready. If we had chosen another driver it would have been a cluster, up here trying to get a seat in the car and trying to get another driver in the car."