Petty taking shots at big owners

Kyle Petty

Kyle Petty is taking some hard shots at NASCAR's inability to hold Cup team owners in check and to keep the sport's biggest owners from getting even bigger. On his weekly TV show Petty pointed to the close ties between four-team owner Rick Hendrick and Tony Stewart's new two-car team, terming that essentially a six-car operation. Petty drew praise from fellow small-team owners for his blunt assessment about NASCAR's failure to keep the playing ground level. Petty termed the new Stewart team as "Hendrick South." "And I said that's no different than Jack Roush and Doug Yates," Petty said, referring to those Ford team owners who have partnered in what clearly looks like a six-car operation. Petty also pointed to the new closer business ties between Chevy owners Richard Childress and Teresa Earnhardt's DEI as another example. Petty — with a two-team operation — said: "They just went from super-teams to mega-teams." Winston-Salem Journal