Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Richard Petty says, "Dirt track racing is not professional"

WOW, yet another NASCAR blunder.

Why must we take words and flip them to create drama or slight in regards to racing constantly. Yes...he in a way said that. But in the context of the sport, the series and the growth......NASCAR did years ago get away from dirt. They did build massive complexes, superspeedways, custom short tracks with tons of bleachers to get away form the good old boy, redneck, down home stereotype. What he said, in regards to "them working so hard to get asway from that aspect of racing" is %100 true.

Now...at the time, it was the time to move and the time to capitalize and they were %100 correct in the moment to try and bring those corporate dollars to the table as you should absolutley strike when the iron is hot. Now they want to get back and they want to to capitalize on the strength of a community that wasn't hit as hard as theirs....which from a busniness standpoint, makes sense again.

But Richard Petty isn't incorrect in his statement. Maybe his words open dialogue that can create misunderstanding, but the idea of what he said is absolulty correct in that they worked hard to get away from that part of racing and now are heading back.

Whether you agree with the direction NASCAR has gone in the past 2-3 decades is irrelevent. But trying to stir up drama over a man who has lived through it all and is the last connection to the good old boys part of the sport is really just ignorant and silly.

We like it home grown & back to the roots.... not that boring corporate "entertainment"

No truer words have been written about the demise of NASCAR than those right there.

Just like weed , homegrown is usually an inferior product , but not always !

I respectfully disagree with you.

Here is part of what he said "But dirt track racing is not professional, so we're going backward. It would be like taking a professional football team and going back to play at a high school field". So saying that "yes.....he in a way said that" is spin. He did say that, and I took it as a cheap shot.

While the venues are smaller in crowd capacity, tracks like Knoxville, Port Royal, Eldora, Lucas Oil, Lawrenceburg (to name a few) are professionally-run, top-notch facilities. Series such as the WoO (sprint car and latemodel), All Stars, USAC, Lucas Oil LM, etc are professionally-run organizations.

Maybe he's just tired of getting beat by former dirt track drivers.

Unless they add sprint cars, latemodels, or NE modifieds to the Bristol weekend, I'll pass on another NASCAR crap show anyway. The trucks at Eldora would be passed by a street stock. Can't imaging Bristol will be any different.

Richard Petty has always been a real dick...Probably pissed because his mismanaged NSL died a quick death. Let me remind the redneck what professional means.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professional

Member of this message board since 1997

While I have grown up a Petty fan my whole life as I was a Kyle Petty fan as a kid (yes I know all the jokes and aware of his crappy record), and I can say that although Richard is a great human being and very was a great driver for his time, he really is not a good business person or really knows anything about racing as a whole. He miss managed his business and watched it die a slow death because he could not get out of his own 1960-70's way. He can be very narrow minded when it comes to a lot of issues but at least he does not do it in an abrasive way. When I read or hear about things he says about the sport & motorsports in general I always take it with a grain of salt because more often than not his opinion is not one to be taken seriously. Yes he is an ambassador for 1 form of motorsport in which he is the link of the present & past  and is held in high regard. When it comes to business decisions though, I would probably do the opposite of what Richard Petty says considering his track record of letting Petty Enterprises fall, multiple sales & mergers of that team, NSL, was heavily for Nascar going to big cities like Chicago and losing Rockingham & Wilkesboro, and now is basically there for sponsor appeal. I think he only owns about 3-4% of RPM so it is mostly just a naming rights deal. I don't think it is something that anyone should take too seriously or get offended about when you really consider the source.

I may be wrong but I believe it was also Richard Petty who also said something like 'If you want to see the best horsepower go to a super speedway , if you want to see the best chassis go to a short track and if you want to see the best drivers go to a dirt track.' Nuff said.

I take it you never lived in Colorado or Californa....

I guess I don't know why we let what one person says determine the overall state of something.  This isn't a Nascar blunder.  It's a comment from one car owner.  This is very similar to the "outrage" from the NFL fans a few years back when 11 players decided to kneel one week before a football game and everyone claimed all NFL players were spoiled babies, inconsiderate, etc. etc.  There are 1696 players suited up every week.  This means .6% of the players disrespected the flag.  (I realize this has now become a bigger issue, but I'm referring to the early days and the Colin K. debacle)

So, 1 out of 35 or 40 Nascar owners publicly voices his (stupid) opinion and now we have a Nascar blunder?   I think we need to focus on all of the drivers/owners who actually love the idea vs. the 1 that hates it.  

Well I gotta say I disagree. First thing petty should have done was keep his mouth shut. Is nascrap grasping at straws ? You betcha,  a 3500 pd race car on a high banked dirt track is going to be a joke. Whatever distant they choose for this fiasco doesn't matter. 

Petty doesn't matter and the backlash nascrap gets from this is going to show what idiots are running the show. 

Burton Smith talked nascrap into doing this at a facility he owns in hope of packing the place because he is tired of seeing empty seats

Richard Petty once said "on a super speedway you find out who has the best Engine

on a short track you find out who has the best chassis

on a dirt track you find out who has the best driver."

I would say that is still true!

I think his quote about dirt track racing not being profesional is just the ramblings of an old man approching senility.

Was it "profesional" for nascar to create the past champions provisional just so he would be in a race when he got to old & to slow to make the race on his own?

Perhaps someone should inform Mr. Petty that several dirt tracks in Central PA have bleachers that once resided at NASCAR tracks but were ripped out due to diminishing demand for their piss poor product. Boring racing and the most idiotic, gimmicky championship format in the history of motorsports among many other things are sinking the ship. My mom once told me that before you bitch about someone else's house being dirty, you should make sure your own house is clean. Not only is his sport swirling helplessly down the shitter to the point where they're throwing every gimmick in the book against the wall in hopes that something will stick, but his own team hasn't done shit since the early 80's. Maybe he should worry about cleaning his own house.........

Exactly!  

Never was a big Richard Petty fan, but didn't dislike him either.   I've never been able to stand Kyle Petty and still can't to this day.   I don't particularly get excited either way about anything either of them says, so I'm with you on that Nick.