1on1: Dale Inman (cont'd)

Q: What's your son-in-law's name, and what's he up to now?

Inman: Chris Hussey. He works for Childress now. He's one of their engineers.

Q: What exactly happened to Lynda Petty's brother?

Inman: We were at Talladega, and we burned a left-front wheel bearing out. And Richard came in and got out of the car. We had a water tank that wasn't as safe as it should have been. He was putting air into it to get pressure. He squirted some water into it and it blew up. It was a freak thing. It was really sad. He left small kids [behind]. That was Lynda's brother Randy.

Q: It's a great sport, but what has been said about it is that it can bring you to the highest of highs and lowest of lows, right?

Inman: Oh yeah, it's like that. The races themselves can be like that. There have been two different times in Richard's career -- one time at Bristol and one time at Dover. Two different times where he coasted by, leading when he got the white flag, and he couldn't coast by one more lap to get the win. That's disheartening. You work so hard for 500 laps or 500 miles and think you have it won, and then something like that happens. You are so close and then you miss out.

Q: What was your reaction to Kyle Petty recently failing to qualify for the race at Martinsville in the No. 45 Dodge of Petty Enterprises?

Inman: Kyle missing that race, god-durn it that hurt. We missed races with Richard, too, and those hurt. It's not like a death and I've never been involved with a home burning, so I can't say it's as bad as something like that. But it's close.

Q: On the more positive side, you've got other things going on in your life right now, too, like grandkids to watch playing ball. How is that?

Inman: Yeah, we went to a ballgame the other night. My granddaughter is pitching now. She's a freshman, pitching for the varsity [softball] team [at Randleman High School]. ... But she's doing great. And the [grandson], according to my daughter, Tuesday at 4:15 I've got to be at his game in Randleman, too. He's in the seventh grade and he starts [on his middle school baseball team]. That part of my life is great.

Q: You still are spotted at the Petty shop once or twice a week, even after it was moved from Level Cross, N.C., near your home, to Mooresville nearly 90 minutes away. How is all that working out for you?

Inman: I don't have to be around the shop all the time. I go do some spotting for Bobby during practice. I go up there with the spotters and watch the race. And they make it as easy as they can for me with the travel. Whenever Richard isn't doing something special, I can travel with him on his plane. That makes it as easy as it possibly can be, but it's still rough.

But I enjoy being at the racetrack. I really do. It's in my system and I can't get it out. I'll be 72 in August and it's like everything else. But if I didn't stay active, I don't know what would happen to me. But I don't hurt myself working, either, trust me.