Richard Petty: #9 is Chase Elliott’s if he wants it

His father Bill Elliott in the #9 in 1985

On Wednesday, NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner Richard Petty said he's not "emotionally attached" to #9, which Marcos Ambrose carried at Richard Petty Motorsports and which Sam Hornish Jr. will carry this year. "We inherited that number [when Petty bought the remnants of the Ray Evernham/George Gillette team]," Petty said. "It doesn't mean anything to me, but it does to the sponsors we'd already signed for this year. If the kid wants it next year, though, that's fine with us."

"The kid" he refers to is Chase Elliott. His famous father carried number 9 for most of his career, getting 38 of his 44 victories and his championship with it. "Awesome Bill" carried 17 other numbers during his Sprint Cup career, most notably 11 with Junior Johnson, 21 with the Wood brothers and 94 with the team he created and owned late in his career. Chase Elliott will run five Cup races this year in #25 for Hendrick Motorsports. Don't be surprised if that number is 9 when the 2016 season opens in Daytona Beach. AutoWeek