Greg Biffle's crash at Texas caused more problems in the pits. Credit: AP

Significant others no longer faceless to public

Lunders, Bryan confrontation at Texas getting national attention

As a newlywed, Pattie Petty scored her husband's races. She'd been around the sport for years as a Winston trophy girl, knew its ins and outs.

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So when she and Kyle became exclusive, and she was thus forced to leave RJR (Ms. Winston was forbidden to date within the industry) she sat high above the track and logged the laps her man completed.

Hiring a scorer was much too expensive. Twenty bucks. She was free labor.

Then children came along, and Pattie stayed home with the kids as Kyle chased the Cup dream from Randleman to Riverside. There were no motor homes, and hotels weren't amicable.

She wasn't permitted in the pits anyway. It wasn't the Petty way. And the thought of sitting in a stifling-hot car all day with three screaming kids and no pit pass with which to shuffle them to and from the restroom was less than enticing.

Granted, she attended the close ones -- Charlotte, Rockingham, Wilkesboro, Martinsville. But primarily home was much easier. Admittedly, though, she says there were times -- say, when Kyle was wrecked by another competitor -- it was a good thing there was no camera in the Petty residence.

This was Kyle Petty's heyday, the Mello Yello Pontiac. This was lapping the field at The Rock. This was SABCO, a championship-caliber team. Wrecks hurt that bid, and at times Pattie would cuss and scream and throw a tantrum when someone wrecked her husband.

Greg Biffle's car riding away on a rollback was hardly the lasting impression of the on-track scuffle. Credit: Autostock

BIFFLE VS. BUSCH Greg Biffle was a little steamed after his contact with Kurt Busch at Texas. Busch, obviously, had a different take on the incident.  •   Complete story, click here Greg Biffle's girlfriend faces a reprimand from NASCAR about her pit-road confrontation with Kurt Busch's fiancee after the two drivers wrecked at Texas.  •   Complete story, click here A Lite tapContact with Kurt Busch sends Greg Biffle to the garage Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

These days she sits atop her husband's pit box on race day, but only because her son, Adam, insisted on it. He found it ridiculous that she didn't. So here she is, right out there for the world to see.

And there are times she still wants to kick and scream and throw a tantrum. Like last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, when Kyle's blown engine eliminated him from the race, and ultimately, she says, removed sponsorship dollars from the season's equation.

"That meant we don't have a sponsor," Pattie said. "And we're 33rd in [owner] points, so it would be harder to get one. One of the sponsors that was looking at us wanted us in the top 25 in points.

"I wanted to cry, but people would see me and construe that however they wanted. 'Why is she crying? Why is she upset? She has a motor home and a nice home, and she cries because her husband blew up?'

"They don't understand. It's a woman's nature to protect and stand up for what she believes in. We don't have a sponsor for the whole year and we're struggling, and every week is very emotional."

But after 28 years, she's conditioned to remain expressionless, stoic. Instant aggression can mean long-term consequence.

That's why Pattie feels for Nicole Lunders.

She's been there.

Lunders, of course, is Greg Biffle's girlfriend. She's the talk of industry (and beyond) this week, having confronted Kurt Busch's fiancée, Eva Bryan, after an on-track altercation between the drivers sent Biffle home early from the Samsung/Radio Shack 500.

Industry sources say Lunders is concerned about public perception of the incident. She will be reprimanded by NASCAR, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Pattie Petty knows what Nicole Lunders was going through on Sunday. Credit: Autostock

Obviously it's a big story. It was chronicled on SportsCenter. All week. On AOL's welcome page, it was the lead story on the sports tab. News of the incident scrolled across the CNN American Morning news ticker. Heck, even Jim Rome lamented about the catfight.

Drivers' significant others certainly have taken on an added role since the days Linda Petty sat in a car all day until summoned, at which time she would drop the tailgate on an old pickup truck and cook dinner for the entire crew.

"I told my mother-in-law, 'Good thing you're a good cook and can do that, 'cause I sure can't,'" Pattie Petty chuckled Wednesday evening as she exited the Victory Junction Gang Camp en route to pick up her daughter at the airport.

"It has changed tremendously. It certainly has."

It certainly has.

Drivers' wives and significant others used to be faceless, a virtual afterthought in the garage.

Now, it seems, they -- and their chosen actions -- are as visible as the men they so ardently support.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.