No one is quite sure exactly what's going to happen to Petty Enterprises these days. That includes some of the key folks at Petty Enterprises.

Only a couple of things appear certain: the No. 43 car will survive, and Richard Petty will remain a part of whatever entity emerges on the other end of merger talks with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

But times are a-changin' in NASCAR -- and in this case, not necessarily for the better.

This is a sport built upon its rich and storied history, and no racing organization boasts a more proud or productive past than Petty Enterprises. Between founding father Lee Petty, who won three Cup Series championships, and current family patriarch Richard, who won a record 200 races and seven championships, no operation has secured more hardware in the nearly 60 years the governing body and royal racing family have been in business together.

In the process, not only did Lee and Richard become racing icons -- but so did the entire Petty family. Kyle Petty, Richard's son, has won only eight times on what is now known as the Sprint Cup Series circuit, yet he is considered one of the leaders in the garage area and his opinions, which are many, are sought on all the issues of the day.

One of those issues on this day, in the wake of reports last week that Petty Enterprises was on the verge of merging to GEM and essentially ceasing to exist as an autonomous entity for the first time in the history of NASCAR, is what happens next when and if that calamity comes to pass?

The second cousin

Dale Inman doesn't own the Petty last name, but he might as well be known as Dale Inman-Petty. He is Richard's second cousin and former crew chief -- a man who oversaw all seven championship runs Richard made and then further proved his mettle in the garage by helping a non-Petty, Terry Labonte, win his first championship.

Inman has watched from only a short distance as the slumping economy has ravaged the sport, leaving the unemployed in its wake. This recession knows no names, grants no reprieve for past accomplishments.

Inman grimaced as layoffs began last week at Petty Enterprises and continued Monday with the announcement of more jobs being lost or put on hold.

"This is killing Richard," Inman said sadly on Monday.

The layoffs appear to be the precursor to more bad news at least for racing purists who want to see Petty Enterprises continue to operate as a stand-alone race team. Inman said he knew more than he could tell and that some kind of significant announcement could be coming within a few days.

Kyle out at Petty

If you want to know what's going down at Petty Enterprises these days, don't ask Kyle Petty. "I don't work for Petty Enterprises," he said.

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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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"All I can tell you is that the No. 43 will survive and Richard will continue to be involved on some level," Inman said. "NASCAR would want that."

The governing body should insist upon it and probably more. But the truth is, realistically, there likely is little else it can orchestrate to prop up the struggling organization of one of the founding families of its sport.

How did they get here?

This wasn't supposed to happen to Petty Enterprises -- not after it took what many figured was the preemptive and bold strike to sell part of the organization to an outside investment group, Boston Ventures, this past May.

On that day, the goals announced by new managing director Andy Davis sounded noble and glorious. Sure, Petty Enterprises hadn't had a car win a race since 1999. But everything seemed possible on that day.

"Our goals for the race team are to bring the 43 and 45 cars back to Victory Lane, and adding a third car as soon as possible," Davis said then. "It is our plan to invest significant dollars in people, technology and equipment to make this happen.

"We are not that arrogant to think that this will happen overnight. We totally recognize that there is fierce competition out there ... but it is our goal to bring Petty Enterprises back to its former glory."

They signed Bobby Labonte, the respected veteran driver of the No. 43 made famous by Richard, to a four-year contract and kept on talking a good game. But the game changed, and quickly. Or at least the economic engine driving it did.

It all happened so fast that it soon became evident the Boston Ventures infusion of capital and ideas came too little, too late to save what was left of Petty Enterprises without further, even more dramatic and almost immediate outside intervention.

Robbie Loomis, who heads up the racing operation end of Petty Enterprises, lamented late in the season that his was a two-car deal trying to compete against mega-teams that were pulling information and resources from up to seven teams at a time. That was not the supposed level playing field Boston Ventures signed up to play on.

Hence, the merger talks with GEM -- which already was providing Dodge engines to Petty Enterprises. If the merger comes to pass, it appears the No. 43 would be folded into what currently would become a four-team operation at GEM.

Where does that leave the No. 45 car previously driven by Kyle Petty after the death during a racing accident of his son, Adam, in 2000? Or what was supposed to be a third car, driven at least part-time by advertised up-and-comer Chad McCumbee?

It leaves them in limbo, as it does the entire operation previously, and proudly, known as Petty Enterprises. When and if that becomes official, it will be a sad day indeed for NASCAR.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.