What's in a name? For Gillett and Petty, plenty (cont'd)

"That was one of the first stipulations, before we talked about money or percentages or anything. That was at the top of my list," Petty said. "I had eight or 10 things where I said, 'OK, if you agree to this, we'll talk a little further.' That was at the top of the list. He had no qualms at all. He'd bought the hockey team and then bought a soccer team and didn't change any of that, because those people had already had continuity, OK? And he's not been here with Gillett Evernham long enough to get continuity. What, three or four years? So then he takes a company that's been there 60 years and he plays off of that. I think he looked at that real strong."

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Now George Gillett, who already owns the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League and a piece of the English soccer club Liverpool, adds another historic name to his portfolio. Petty Enterprises wasn't exactly in a position to be demanding, given that former majority owners Boston Ventures, a private equity firm, had been unable to secure any new sponsorship, and lost what little existing backing it did have. The team that had won 10 championships and 268 races was on the brink of complete ruin. Now it's been rescued by a larger, more successful organization that won two races last year, and in the process somehow kept the legacy of its last name intact.

"We would have erred greatly had we considered anything else," said Foster Gillett, who oversees the family's soccer, hockey and concert holdings, and is working with race team CEO Tom Reddin to learn the motorsports business. "It was the only thing that ever came to our minds. I talked to my father about it, and he'd already thought of it. Richard was obviously very, very pleased that it went forward."

So now the Petty name graces not a struggling, one- or two-car organization, but a four-car team with realistic goals of winning races -- something a Petty-owned car hasn't done since 1999 -- and making the year-end championship Chase. Kasey Kahne, who won twice last season, is in the flagship No. 9. Elliott Sadler is in the No. 19. Reed Sorenson takes over Petty's old No. 43, and A.J. Allmendinger slides behind the wheel of the ex-Petty No. 44, which replaces GEM's old No. 10. All are slated to run full seasons with the exception of Allmendinger, who as of Monday had backing only for the first five event of the Sprint Cup schedule, and seven or eight total.

But that's a minor headache combined with the battle for existence Petty has fought the past few years.

"I think we have 40 people in engineering up there," said Loomis, the new team's director of race competition. "At Petty, we were sitting at about 10. There's a lot of strength in those numbers, and they've had a lot of on-track success with the [No.] 9. I told somebody the other day, the key is to not stir up too much dust there, and help those other two teams to where we can push the 9 into the Chase."

Petty employees thinking Chase? That would have been unheard of until a few weeks ago. No, it's not the same old Petty organization, the one Lee Petty founded up in Level Cross, N.C., where his initials can still be seen scrawled in the concrete foundation of the original A-frame shop. Monday, Richard Petty didn't seem too broken up about it. He says he'll have more of a voice in day-to-day decision making than he did at Petty under Boston Ventures, which will retain a sliver of ownership in the new team, but won't wield any real influence. He's been around long enough to know that things change. He's seen Junior Johnson, Bud Moore, North Wilkesboro Speedway, and now his own team come and go.

"Basically when we went in business with Boston Ventures, we went into a different stage, not a wholly-owned situation, not a full Petty situation with a bunch of Petty people," he said. "... But how many companies are still solely owned by the people that started them after 60 years? We were in business 60 years. Very few privately owned businesses stay in business 60 years. They might stay longer than that, but they usually go into a corporation. Just the economy, and even the trend of time before the economy changed, NASCAR is getting to be such a big business that it's hard for just an individual to make it work."

The possibility of winning again seems to make up for it. The King is clearly jazzed. "They've got four or five top teams [in NASCAR]. I think we're the sixth one now. We're not the 15th, 20th team, which I was before joining up with George," Petty said.

Reddin can see it. "He's very excited about working with the 'kids' as he says," said the team CEO. "He's got a lot of kids now he can coach. He's big on the difference between drivers and winners, and helping the drivers figure out how to become winners, and not just be great drivers."

Gillett, of course, gets plenty out of the deal, too. He adds a fourth car, meeting the NASCAR-mandated limit. And to court potential sponsors, he has Petty, that iconic figure in boots and a light blue shirt. Until the recession, the Pettys were so good at attracting and retaining sponsors that they were the only team in NASCAR able to find backing without putting competitive cars on the track. Of course, economic reality cut a huge hole in that safety net. But being associated with the King, and all those championships and all those race wins and all those fans won over one by one, still means something.

"We don't come to racing to see our name, we come to win and enhance our chances of being victorious," Foster Gillett said. "I think it's a great honor. Richard's a wonderful man, and Richard and George have a wonderful friendship, and that's part of why this is happening the way that it is."

Just please, keep those beer logos away from the 43 and 44 cars. Although Budweiser backs Kahne's vehicle, the longstanding Petty rule of no association with alcohol remains intact -- sort of. "You'll see no Budweiser decals or any beer decals on those particular cars," Petty said, "because my mother would come back and haunt us all." He's still a Petty, after all.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.