Even Petty unsure of how to celebrate team's victory

SONOMA, Calif. -- It was like old times Sunday at Infineon Raceway. Or was it?

The truth is that there was a time when a return to Victory Lane for any organization with Richard Petty's name attached to it would have been cause for a great celebration throughout NASCAR. No one would have had to think about how to react to it; they simply would have rejoiced.

The truth of Sunday's victory for Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Dodge team for Richard Petty Motorsports was that most folks, including Petty himself, didn't quite know how to react to it. It wouldn't be wrong to say that some even treated it almost with an air of indifference.

Video Highlights

• SPEED's Victory Lane
• Press Pass: Kahne
• Final Laps: No. 9 wins
• Victory Lane: Infineon
• Race Rewind: Infineon

Kahne was ecstatic, and rightly so. It was his first win of the 2009 season and the first victory of his career at a road course. Crew chief Kenny Francis and the rest of the team members rightly celebrated with great joy and fervor.

But it was far more their hour of triumph than it was Richard Petty's.

Was this really the first victory for the King since 1999, when John Andretti won at Martinsville for the since-deceased Petty Enterprises? In a way, sure. In another way, um, not so much.

Petty will be the first to tell anyone who asks that he isn't all that involved with the newly named RPM these days -- which really is the old Gillett Evernham Motorsports operation, which really was the old Evernham Motorsports. When Petty Enterprises ceased to exist after 60 years of operation earlier this year, essentially closing its doors and selling off Richard's name and the services of a few other close friends such as Robbie Loomis and Dale Inman to the family of George Gillett, everything changed.

That's why even Richard Petty seemed unsure how to answer the question when he was asked if Kahne's win Sunday gave him the same feeling of accomplishment as 10 years ago, or if this was more like win No. 1 in a new life.

"I guess this is win No. 1. ... The basic deal is just a continuation of what they've been doing," Petty said.

Starting over

It was only recently that Richard Petty Motorsports had to lay off nine people to ease the financial strain brought on at least in part by dwindling manufacturer's support from Dodge. Loomis admitted Sunday that Kahne's victory will go a long way toward helping put some smiles back on the faces of RPM employees back at the shop -- although it's unlikely the nine recently laid off will have much to grin about unless they get hired back.

"This is huge for us, and this is huge for Dodge," Loomis said.

Kahne and Francis admitted that the recent financial difficulties had been wearing on the minds of everyone, including themselves.

"What we've tried to do is not let that distract us," Francis said. "It's been difficult, really, to be honest with you."

Kahne added: "I would say that the times are tough, and there's a lot that goes on to make these cars show up at the race track. To see the fans out there [Sunday] and to be able to win a race is pretty awesome for myself and for our whole company."

No question about that. Kahne drove a brilliant race, Francis and the rest of the crew members executed nearly perfect pit strategy. Nothing should take away from any of that.

But this race victory belonged more to them than to the man whose name heads up the company Kahne drives for these days -- not that Petty can't savor it at least a little, too. He's still there for moral support on race days, even if, again, he would be the first to admit that he's not relied on for much else any longer.

"It's kind of a deal like after I quit driving in '92, and then I was not involved in the cars near as much," Petty said. "And over a period of years, you got to be more of an owner than you was a mechanical deal or telling the drivers what to do or whatever. You'd usually give it up to the crew chiefs and the drivers to do what they want. They can go to the engineer and figure out what's going on."

With a chuckle, he then added: "So all they want me to do is bring in money so they can go racing."

More to it

That's not quite true. Kahne genuinely seemed to enjoy sharing his victory with the King, and for that he should be commended. The record winner of 200 Cup races deserves respect.

Plus, Petty does play a role, however limited, in the organization that now bears his name. And when he sold his name to the Gillett family, he did so in the hope that he could someday soon stand triumphant in Victory Lane once again.

He got to do that Sunday.

"I think that was really cool to see Richard in Victory Lane with us, and it's a big deal," Kahne said.

Petty obviously enjoyed it.

"I'm a hard head. That's the reason I keep coming back," Petty said. "It was the same deal that I run into when I drove the car, OK? I drove, and I won in '84, I guess, and then didn't win anymore. When it finally dawned on me, 'You're not good enough doing your job to win any more races, so you'd better get out.'

"But this is a little bit different because you've got to figure it's a team. Of course it was a team when I was driving, and I wasn't carrying my end of the deal. But when you've got drivers like we've got now who are carrying their part of the load, then it's up to me to push the mechanics or push everybody to give these guys the very best that we can give them. And when we give them the good stuff, then they're going to run good."

Sunday they gave them all the good stuff. In addition to Kahne winning, two other RMP entries finished in the top 10 -- with A.J. Allmendinger finishing seventh and Elliott Sadler 10th.

Yet there was a time when it seemed a return to Victory Lane for Petty would have set off speculation that the name is bound for a return to glory. That kind of talk was muted at best Sunday, even by Petty himself.

"You know, I hope it is. That's what we set out to try to accomplish," Petty said. "But it was one of those days. Everything fell together. The car was good, the crew was good; they made really good strategy on making their pit stops, the whole deal. And it was one of those picture-perfect days. They did exactly what they needed to do to win the race.

"You get maybe three or four of those chances a year. You might win more races than that, but a lot of times you've got to overcome other circumstances. They had everything lined up. ... Hopefully it's the beginning of something else, but it's just another day. We've got to get ready now and go to New Hampshire and back this one up."

There was more good news. Chuckling, Petty added: "From a financial end, we'll be there next week. We've got enough money to get to the next race."

For that, though, Richard Petty Motorsports owes more to Kasey Kahne and Kenny Francis than to Richard Petty. That's the plain truth these days, which are nothing like the days of old.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.