Conversation: Andy Petree

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR team owner Andy Petree made a landmark move recently when he decided to auction off virtually his entire inventory of Nextel Cup hardware and equipment.

Petree, who won a pair of NASCAR championships as Dale Earnhardt's crew chief in 1993 and 1994, moved toward team ownership after the 1995 season when he took control of the operation formerly owned by brothers Richard and Leo Jackson.

	Andy Petree

Petree built a two-car operation and each car won a Cup event in 2001, driven by Bobby Hamilton and Joe Nemechek. But in the interim a bad economy and lack of sponsorship virtually knocked Petree back to square one.

But at the start of 2003, Petree began a return to prominence when he hooked up with Midwest driver Paul Menard backed by his businessman father, former Indy car owner John Menard.

During a break in a recent Busch Series test session at Daytona International Speedway, Petree sat down with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to discuss his team's future, its current "yard sale," racing's economic climate and Nextel Cup's championship format.

Q: You're having a big yard sale up at your complex in East Flat Rock, N.C., through Sunday. What exactly are you selling?

Andy Petree: We're selling all of our Winston Cup stuff because we've kind of changed the way we're doing our deal, this year. We're running all Busch cars, which we didn't have that many of, so we're having to build all new cars and all new engines.

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There really wasn't any sense in keeping all that Winston Cup stuff around. We had enough stuff lying around to do two Winston Cup teams and a Busch team -- and now we're just a full-time Busch team.

It didn't make much sense to have, I think 185 gear sets in the shop; when 60 will do you plenty (so) we're just getting rid of a lot of stuff we don't need that's taking up space and resources.

We're just liquidating all the Winston Cup stuff and a lot of the obsolete parts and things. We've never had a sale in the eight years I've owned the team so we've got tons of stuff, just everywhere, so we're getting rid of all of it.

Q: Describe your feelings at divesting yourself of that part of the operation. You can be pragmatic and talk about clearing the space, but despite the frustration, you had some success, too, so you've got to be sorry to see it go.

Andy Petree: I guess there has been a lot of frustration -- over the last few years, anyway. The first few years were very encouraging. We were building on something that basically started with very little, and got to the point where we were winning, with two teams, in 2001.

	Bobby Hamilton won at Talladega in 2001 while driving for Petree. Credit: ASP

We thought we had things on the right track but then we hit a bump in the road with the economy and weren't able to keep our sponsorships on the Winston Cup cars, so we just shifted our focus and went down a different road with a young driver, Paul Menard.

Now we're back in the Busch Series full time. It's a change of pace for me and I'm enjoying it more, because when you're frustrated like we were -- at least the last year in Winston Cup (2002) -- it really beats you down and it's not much fun.

I personally feel a little more energized. We've got a lot of new people, some young guys and a young (23 years old) driver and I'm just looking forward to having some fun with this deal this year and not really looking back.

Q: Hooking up with a young talent like Paul, do you feel like you're building the future of Andy Petree Racing?

Andy Petree: Well, it's definitely a new chapter for us. Who knows where it's going to go? We have plans to race for a couple of years in the Busch Series and then take it to Nextel Cup in the third year.

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We'll just see how it goes. We're taking every day, a day at a time and try to build this program a step at a time and to have fun while we're doing it.

Q: Exactly what is Paul's schedule going to be this season? In addition to the full Busch schedule, is he going to run any ARCA, Craftsman Truck or even Nextel Cup races?

Andy Petree: Right now, we're up in the air about what we're going to do with our Cup car because we're focused on our Busch team. We do have the ARCA race scheduled here at Daytona for Paul, with Monaco Coaches as the sponsor.

Monaco is also going to sponsor us for three truck races. Paul's going to drive one of them, I'm going to drive one of them and we still haven't decided who's going to defend our (truck race) title at Richmond that we've won for the last two years (with Tony Stewart).

Q: From a team owner's standpoint -- especially a hands on owner as you are -- how much these days is business and how much is racing?

Andy Petree: Well, you can't race without doing the business part first, I can tell you that. You have got to make sure you've got that handled and I'm fortunate to have some good people in the front office and I do pay attention to it.

My passion is working on the racecars and racing, but if you don't run a good, tight ship and a (good) business, you won't have the opportunity to race. You've got to keep your eye on both balls.

	Joe Nemechek won in November 2001 driving Petree's No. 33. Credit: ASP

Q: What kind of (economic) climate are we currently racing in, and do you see a light at the end of the tunnel?

Andy Petree: Oh yeah. This sport's very resilient. It's been through a ton of ups and down. Like we said, the economy that we talked about has hit a few bumps, here, but I see it coming back.

I see NASCAR making some great decisions on things, going forward.

Q: What's your take on the new Nextel Cup championship format?

Andy Petree: The announcement they made on the point system for the Nextel Cup and the way they're going to decide that championship I think is brilliant. I think it's going to bring tons of new fans to us, because I'm a fan first.

I was a fan of this sport before I ever got involved in it. I really enjoy the excitement and I think they put a ton more excitement in it with this new program.

Q: What is your long-range plan with Paul?

Andy Petree: Our long-range plan is to get back to Nextel Cup. As far as racing goes, about three years is as long as you can look, and we're looking at a three-year deal that we've signed with Menards.

It's a three-year Busch deal with the third year being optional to go to Nextel Cup if we're ready, if he's ready and if the team's ready. We plan on being ready.

We plan on putting good numbers up in the Busch Series, hopefully being a championship contender both years, winning races and if we do that we'll be ready to go to the Nextel Cup in the third year.