Being Petty's last winner is a 'heartbreaking' thought (cont'd)

His proudest moment with that family came in 1999, when he snapped what at the time was a two-year winless streak for the organization. No Petty car had won since Bobby Hamilton had triumphed at Rockingham in 1997, and when Andretti spun early in that Martinsville race, it appeared the skid would continue. There was no free pass back then, so Andretti had to race his way back onto the lead lap, which he did. Loomis called for a two-tire stop late to help the No. 43 car gain track position, and the tactic worked. Late in the event, with the laps winding down, Andretti found himself in fifth -- with Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton in front of him.

John Andretti and Richard Petty, May 2003

“

I am one of their biggest supporters, because when you work for them, you become part of their family.

”

JOHN ANDRETTI

"Mark and Rusty started racing each other really hard, and they wore their tires out," Andretti remembered. "I just sat in fifth. They ran each other so hard, I was like, 'OK, this is good for me. This is going to give me a shot.' The same was happening with Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, they were racing each other equally as hard. So once Mark and Rusty wore their tires off, I passed them, and the same with Jeff and Jeff. Jeff Gordon fell back, and I got him, and then I got Jeff Burton. They wore each other down for me, and I came through and got them one at a time. My car was real good for a long period of time, so I could run forever."

He ran the final 150 laps on the same left-side tires. With four laps remaining he passed Burton, a good friend with whom he had driven to the race. Those were the only four laps Andretti led all day. The win capped a huge weekend for Petty Enterprises, which had also won the Truck Series event a day earlier with driver Jimmy Hensley. On the way to Victory Lane -- where Burton appeared to douse him with Coca-Cola -- Andretti stopped on pit road to pick up Richard Petty, who rode the rest of the way hanging onto the door frame.

"The 43 should never go to Victory Lane without the King riding in it," Andretti said. "So he hopped on the door, and we drove into Victory Lane together."

It was a different time. A rookie driver named Tony Stewart won his first pole that weekend, though many didn't see it -- television cut away from qualifying to show the announcement of Wayne Gretzky's retirement. Jack Roush had yet to win a title. Hendrick Motorsports had already won four championships, but wasn't yet the juggernaut it is today. The sport was changing, with the larger teams accumulating more resources and personnel, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots beginning to show. Petty Enterprises was changing, too; soon Loomis would leave to become Gordon's crew chief at Hendrick, and the Pettys would begin to realize that running out of little Level Cross, N.C., came with a competitive price.

"A lot of things happened," said Andretti, who also won the 1997 summer Daytona race in a car owned by Cale Yarborough. "In this sport, it just takes a little bit. It's like you can fall back in a second, and it can take a year to catch back up."

But on that glorious April day in Martinsville, none of that mattered. Andretti had won, Kyle Petty had finished 10th, and Petty Enterprises was on top of the world. Later, Andretti was offered the car from that event, but he passed -- Hamilton had won in it first, so it belonged to him. But Andretti still has the photographs of that day, of him celebrating with the King in Victory Lane. Who knew that day would be Petty's last hurrah, and that Andretti would go down as not only the organization's most recent winner, but also its last one ever.

"Actually, in a way, it's heartbreaking," Andretti said. "I want them to be successful, whether I'm driving for them or not. They're wonderful people. I walk by my grandfather clock every day, it sits in my house here from that win. I'd like to be the last guy to win for Petty Enterprises if I was driving for them next year. And only for a short period of time, because I'd like to see them win again and again and again. I am one of their biggest supporters, because when you work for them, you become part of their family."