AVONDALE, Ariz. -- George Gillett Jr. speaks with a sense of awe whenever he mentions the name of Richard Petty.

"There is a little tremble in my voice when I talk to him," Gillett said Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. "He is The King -- and that's not a title somebody gave him, it's something he earned."

Gillett, who took over majority ownership of what is now known as Gillett Evernham Motorsports on Aug. 6, has been involved in talks with Petty for months about possibly incorporating Petty Enterprises into his new racing operation. Those talks aren't really ongoing at the moment; but they aren't dead, either, according to both parties.

In a rare conversation with the media, Gillet said Sunday that he's still willing to listen if The King wants to hold court. Earlier, Petty said that he's still willing to listen to anyone who might help better his family-owned business -- but not at the price of giving up the "family-owned" portion of it.

Gillett pointed out that GEM will continue a business relationship with Petty Enterprises that began before he assumed majority control of the company from Ray Evernham, who founded the operation as Evernham Motorsports in 2001. Under that arrangement, GEM is responsible primarily for providing Dodge engines for the Petty Enterprises teams, which include the No. 43 driven by Bobby Labonte and the No. 45 driven by Kyle Petty at the Nextel Cup level.

"We hope to have at the least a commercial relationship with them in terms of continuing to supply their engines to them, and perhaps their chassis," Gillett said. "They've got engines that make them go fast, and they're doing well. They haven't had any broken engines, and it's been a good relationship.

"Whether it goes any further than that, that's really up to Richard. It's not up to us. We're hugely respectful of him, and if he wants to talk in the future, we'd certainly listen. But at this point, it's a commercial relationship."

Petty said anything is possible. But as he has done in the past, he again made it clear that it would have to be on his terms.

Petty Enterprises announced only last week that it is moving its race operations from Level Cross, N.C., to the shop that used to house Robert Yates Racing in Mooresville, closer to Charlotte and the epicenter of the stock car world. (Continued)