Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 15, 1992 TAG: 9201150026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LEVEL CROSS, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
PETTY WANTS TO FINISH IN A COMPETITIVE CAR
As Richard Petty's 35th and final season in NASCAR stock car racing approaches, he seems more comfortable with the concept of retirement.Petty stood in his museum Tuesday at the same spot where he announced on Oct. 1 that 1992 would be his last year of racing.
Petty was frank about the subject Tuesday. He came right out with it. He's just not good enough anymore.
"I feel like a lot of it has come down to me - that I drive a whole lot different than what I used to," Petty said.
"Maybe I'm not near as aggressive. I think a little bit too much about what's going on instead of going ahead and doing it, and stuff like that."
Petty also said that it was after the wreck at Daytona in 1988 when he first started thinking about hanging it up.
In the Daytona 500 four years ago, Petty flipped down the front stretch in the most spectacular crash of his career. He was battered and bruised, but essentially unhurt.
"I was laying there [in the hospital] and Lynda and all the kids walked through and the first thing Lynda said was, `Are we having fun?' And I'd always told her I'd quit when I wasn't having any fun. That was probably the beginning of it."
And, of course, he has been consistently uncompetitive since then. His last win - the 200th - was in 1984.
"I think the good Lord gave me 25 years of good luck," Petty said. "And I'm trying to stretch it."
Petty will try to stretch it 29 more races, and he won't just be going through the motions.
"This year, hopefully, we can do a little bit better," he said. "Hopefully, we will have some good finishes. We want to show people we're not out here just finishing up a career."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING