Petty team to switch to Toyota? (Update)
"We talk to everybody all the time; I've been talking to Volkswagen," said Petty, who visited Dollar General's annual Race Day at the company's headquarters.
After getting a few chuckles from a group of reporters Petty's tone became more serious as he talked more about his team's future.
Richard Petty Racing currently has two Fords driven by Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose in the Sprint Cup Series.
News outlets have reported that Petty met with representatives from Toyota in April to talk about a possible alliance.
"We've got to look at our team and look at our circumstances," Petty said. "We've got to look and say, 'Okay, what's going to be the best for us right now, what's going to the best for us two years down the road, what's going to be the best for us five years down the road?'"
05/09/14 Speaking of Toyota – was that Richard Petty meeting with representatives from auto manufacturer at Richmond? According to multiple sources, Richard Petty Motorsports is contemplating leaving Ford when its contract expires at the end of this year. One sticking point, however, could be engines. TRD currently has the capability to provide eight teams with engines.
Although there are only three teams from Joe Gibbs Racing and three from Michael Waltrip Racing exercising that option, who’s to say that either of those operations isn’t considering expansion in the future. Without TRD engines, a partnership with Toyota isn’t nearly as attractive. After having your cars powered by Roush Yates engines, Triad would certainly be a step up as Toyota and Chevy both appear to have the legs on Ford this year.