Kyle Petty no longer a part of storied Petty Enterprises (cont'd)

"I don't know what the division is, and it's got nothing to do with me because it's my father's company," Kyle said. "So it's between Richard Petty and Boston Ventures. Me talking about it is about like anybody else talking about it from the outside looking in.

"I was not privy to any of the meetings. I was not a part of it. Once David Zucker took over as CEO, then I was out of the loop. So I've got no skin in this game."

Troubling times

No one is quite sure exactly what's going to happen to Petty Enterprises these days. But times are a-changin' in NASCAR -- and in this case, writes Joe Menzer, not for the better.

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Around the Track

CNN's Michael Jones and NASCAR.COM's Mark Aumann discuss the future of Petty Enterprises.

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Kyle Petty said he is not as sad about the apparent end of Petty Enterprises as NASCAR has known it as some might believe.

"You know, it is what it is -- and that's really the way I look at it," he said. "The sad day for me was when they moved from Level Cross [N.C., to Mooresville this past January] -- because I had grown up at Petty Enterprises and was from Level Cross. That's where my grandfather was and that's where my father was, and I made the quotes then that there was probably a time in my life when I felt like being in Charlotte was important for the health and the growth of the company. But when we decided to finally move, I didn't think that was the time to move. So I was not for moving from Level Cross. So as far as I'm concerned, it was Petty Enterprises when it was in Level Cross; it was something totally different when it moved to Charlotte."

Mooresville, where the Petty shop currently is located, is on the outskirts of Charlotte. Petty was asked if making a move to the Charlotte area earlier -- or if having an investment group such as Boston Ventures come on board earlier -- might have made a difference in the outcome for Petty Enterprises.

"I think you can just about make an argument six different ways for when the right time was, when the wrong time was with all that," he said. "But I think if you just look at the facts of when the move came, it was almost a perfect storm where everything came together at exactly the wrong time to create something where it was the wrong timing for everything. At the same time Petty Enterprises was sold to Boston Ventures, [television] ratings dropped, attendance [at the races] dropped, sponsors began to pull back, and the economy went in the tank. All at the end of the election year, and I think you can throw a lot of other factors into it.

"Whether they helped us or hurt us or whatever, there are enough conspiracy theorists out there to figure out which is which. I just think it ended up being a perfect storm in the wrong way. If you had sold 10 years ago or if you had hung onto it, where would it be now? I can't answer that."

In the end, whatever happens with the company founded by his grandfather Lee will come down to the bottom line, Kyle added.

"It's part of business now," he said. "Look, it's like I've said before, this is only a sport on Sunday afternoons -- from 1 o'clock to whenever they throw the checkered flag. It's a business the rest of the time. I don't think the NASCAR industry and the NASCAR teams are immune to this. We're at one end of spectrum that we're looking at right now, and you look at Petty Enterprises; then you go to the other end of the spectrum and you look at Rick [Hendrick] and all the Chevy dealerships he has and look at his boss -- meaning the guy in Washington looking for a bailout. It's going to affect the top of the sport to the bottom of the sport for a little while here, and we're just going to have to figure out a way around it."

So for now, Kyle Petty is just another Cup driver without a ride for 2009. He's looking at possibly not suiting up to drive any Cup races for the first time since 1979 -- when he ran five races for Petty Enterprises at the age of 18, and Richard won the last of his seven championships.

"I'm going to do my six TV races for Turner [Sports]," Kyle said. "I'm still working with SPEED, doing [the] Tradin' Paint [show] and I'll be able to do a couple different things with them, maybe with the Grand American division or a couple other things. I'm just going to take a step back and see what goes on, and see where the sport goes and see where motorsports goes for the next little bit and try to figure out what I'm going to do. I'm going to run the 24-hour [Rolex] race at Daytona. That may be my only race of the year; maybe I'll run more races. I don't know what I'm doing.

"If the right opportunity came along, I think I'm like Bill Elliott. I'm not ready to retire. I may not be there every week, but I don't consider myself retired. You know what I mean? So if the right opportunity came along where I thought we could be competitive, with the right leadership and the right group, I think I would be [interested]. But right now, just [looking at it] as a sports fan over the last eight or 10 years, it's a business decision. If somebody has the money -- if you have the sponsorship and you have the dollars -- it's easier to find something. But right now, there aren't a lot of people out there with money."

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