Full Throttle

It’s hard to believe but it has been 20 years since Richard Petty won his 200th NASCAR Cup Series race. The King’ (Richard Petty) did a lot of amazing things behind the wheel of a stock car. Winning 200 races, and then winning his 200th at Daytona, is just absolutely incredible. I don’t believe we’ll ever see that again. I certainly don’t know if you’ll ever see it done the way ‘The King’ did it. Having President Reagan there and winning his 200th at the same time - you can’t paint a better picture. But, we are still going to give it our best this weekend.

I guess I’ll have to go to ‘The King’ and ask him if I can get some of that magic of 20 years ago to rub off on me this weekend. I can’t think of a better time, track, or car to get my first Cup win than this weekend. I think a lot of people want to see that #43 Dodge back in victory lane - especially ‘The King.’ He’s still very involved in this operation. He’s always around, and that is something that is unique to Petty Enterprises.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have driven for some great people. Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt both had great stories. It’s the same thing walking around the shop at Petty Enterprises. Just to listen to ‘The King’ speak and tell stories. You just sit there and soak it all in. You can stop at the shop and see ‘The King’ and Dale (Petty’s former crew chief Dale Inman) both there. They will be reliving something that happened years ago and it’s pretty exciting just to be able to listen to their stories.

Times have changed, however, and that means different racing at Daytona. Today, we race under the control of a restrictor plate and that has changed the complexion of racing at Daytona. I understand the need for the plate, and safety should be the number one priority in our sport, but the restrictor plate really takes the racing out of the driver’s hands. I mean, sure, we are still the ones driving the cars, but to pass and draft, you need help from other guys. That’s tough when everyone is trying to win.

You just depend on too many outside variables at these races. It’s more riding around and trying to survive. If you get out of the night without a wrecked car you have done a pretty decent job. That is just the way it is these days with the plate. Nobody has the answer right now, but we all know that NASCAR has certainly tried, and it still working, on getting a better solution. I think everyone will be happy to see the tight packs gone.

We are all in same the position. Every driver Saturday night will need help from somebody else to win the race. Everyone is going to be counting on friends. Do I have enough friends out there? I don’t know, but I sure do hope so. I do know that I’ll have one of the sport’s biggest fans on my side. Driving the #43 Cheerios Dodge carries a lot of weight, especially racing it at Daytona. ‘The King’ will be expecting a lot, and I want nothing more than to share in the celebration that he had 20 years ago.

The Driver Diaries