KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- George Gillett, majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, had just seated himself at a microphone in the media center at Kansas Speedway on Saturday when his cell phone rang.

The ring tone offered a rousing rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, the song that is the anthem of the Liverpool Football Club that Gillett and his family also own a 50 percent stake.

“

I would resist the concept of chaos -- because if we're in chaos, then there are a number of other teams that are a step beyond chaos, whatever that is. And I don't think that's the case.

”

-- GEORGE GILLETT

Glances were exchanged around the room. Who could it be? Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah Al Saud of Saudi Arabia? King Richard Petty of Level Cross, N.C.?

It turned out it was neither. It was Geoff Molson of the beer-brewing Canadian Molson family, sort of royalty in their own right.

"That's my other beer-drinking buddy, Geoff Molson," Gillett said before telling Molson he would return the call later, flipping the cell off, and getting down to the real business at hand -- which was explaining what he recently was doing in the Middle East, and just what in the heck is going on with his NASCAR operation.

Gillett went on to make it clear that he certainly will never walk alone in any of his many future business endeavors, which may include helping found a stock-car racing series in Saudi Arabia and could eventually include welcoming Saudi investors to claim a "very small" stake in the otherwise all-American RPM.

Gillett also said that RPM's pending merger with Yates Racing remains on track and that he fully expects RPM's cars to switch manufacturers from Dodge to Ford beginning next season. He did, however, backtrack on what appeared to be an earlier pledge to definitely run four cars in the Cup Series next year.

"We'll have for sure three teams, and hopefully four," said Gillett, who said he could not give specific names as to which drivers would be in which cars -- despite earlier reports linked to the organization that listed Kasey Kahne, A.J. Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler and Paul Menard as comprising the RPM stable in 2010.

Gillett said his main reason for making a rare media appearance at Kansas Speedway was to clear up misconceptions about his recent trip to Saudi Arabia.

"As I came back from Europe, I came back into a maelstrom of massively inaccurate stories," Gillett said. "[On Friday], I was watching practice and qualifying coverage and people were saying things on television who are perfectly well-intentioned people. But somebody or other has given them the wrong story."

Gillett admitted that his company's attempt to make an announcement last Wednesday that it had entered into a "commercial collaboration" agreement with F6, a leading Saudi Arabia-based sports management firm, probably "was not the way to go and produced more questions than answers."

The Saudi firm, founded and led by Saudi Arabian Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah Al Saud, will work with Gillett's team "to explore business opportunities" in soccer, stock-car racing and interactive media in Saudi Arabia. Gillett explained further on Saturday that he was talking with his Saudi contacts about possibly building academies for young soccer players in the Middle East and North Africa when the subject of stock-car racing came up.

"In the midst of those conversations, the light went on and I said, 'My goodness, what an opportunity this might be if we could create a series in the Middle East for stock cars,'" Gillett said.

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"That's what happened. We have had extended conversations now about developing a race series. There are several extraordinarily good road tracks there. They have identified 14 sites -- or more -- in the Middle East where they could put an oval track or two, or 14. So that was the genesis of the conversation."

Gillett went on the stress that the conversations were very preliminary in nature, as were any minor discussions that may have taken place about Saudi investors eventually purchasing a minority stake in RPM.

He also further addressed RPM's pending merger with Yates Racing, which will include the switch in manufacturers from Dodge to Ford, and took issue with those who suggest that RPM is floundering in chaos at the moment.

"You all know what we have faced," Gillett told the assembled media. "You all have characterized that we've had chaos or pandemonium or whatever crazy words you've used. We have had some very natural shifts. When Chrysler went through bankruptcy, there was a very clear understanding on your part [in the media] and ours that we were going to have to find a new manufacturer. So we have been working on that, and we're very pleased with our letter of understanding with Ford. It certainly appears that we will be with Ford Racing next year.

"I would resist the concept of chaos -- because if we're in chaos, then there are a number of other teams that are a step beyond chaos, whatever that is. And I don't think that's the case.

"The loss of Chrysler and Dodge was a serious loss. Dodge has been a very good partner for us. ... The prospect of having to go find a new home was a daunting challenge for us, particularly in the middle of a season. But I think our people have responded well to it."