Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9411230003
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
DATELINE: PHOENIX LENGTH: Medium
Was The King, a prideful man, slightly ticked about being upstaged by this generation's premier stock car driver?
``No, I was just busy,'' Petty said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. ``I was gone, what, four days? We was in Chicago, Ohio and Indiana, just doing our own thing. Just because he won the championship, I still gotta work.''
Earnhardt's equaling of his mark was no big deal, Petty said.
``When I talk about champions of NASCAR, then I want to have somebody who's a winner,'' Petty said. ``And Earnhardt is definitely a winner. He races to win, so you ain't got nobody backing into nothing. He's got one speed and that's wide open, and that's the way the champion ought to be.''
The natural question, of course, is who is better - Petty or Earnhardt?
``There's no way you can say one was better than the other, because they're always running under different circumstances,'' Petty said. ``You can compare me with [David] Pearson and you can compare me with Cale [Yarborough], and any one of these drivers dominated certain segments of their careers. But when you throw them all into a box and ask who was the best NASCAR driver there ever was, there ain't no such animal.
``Back then, people didn't run for the championship,'' he said. ``The races paid more money than the championship, so we ran to win races. 1979 was probably the only time I really ran for the championship'' and won, he said. ``It used to be that when we ran, if you had trouble, you just pulled the car behind the wall. You didn't worry about that day. They don't do that now.''
``I think Junior [Johnson] was probably the first car owner to get into trying to win championships. You know, he got into a deal where he would change motors during the race and stuff like that.''
Johnson, ironically, never tried to win a championship as a driver. He was never interested in running the full season.
What is so interesting about Earnhardt's recent domination is that it comes at a time when stock car racing is more competitive than ever. At North Wilkesboro last month, the difference between Jimmy Spencer's pole-winning speed and that of the last-place starter was .283 seconds. And Earnhardt's seven titles have come in only 15 full seasons in the Winston Cup series.
``I can't imagine that,'' Earnhardt said. ``I keep thinking about it. It's impressive. It's hard to impress people in this day and time, but I've impressed myself. Really. I'm amazed at what we've done.''
Said Petty: ``It's destiny. It's something that gets beyond any of us. And we can't control that.''
Petty looked out across the garage and continued, ``All of these drivers that are here today are good drivers or they wouldn't be here. But there's still just three or four winners. Now, who picks them, I don't know. That's destiny.
``I had no control over my deal. I was destined [to do what I did] and that was it, even though I had to work at it.''
But is Earnhardt's success predetermined or hereditary?
``If you look at his [Richard Petty's] career and his background and where he came from and what he grew up in, he grew up the same way I did,'' Earnhardt said. ``He grew up in a racing environment. That's what he pursued.
``I do what I do, and I'm sure [car owner] Richard [Childress] did the same, because it was natural to do. It's what you were meant to do or put here to do.''
Then Earnhardt got to the heart of the matter.
``It's just a natural thing for me to race,'' he said. ``I'm so at ease driving a race car in competition. It's really ridiculous to think about. I'm more tense sitting here talking to press guys and to go out with the fans than I am driving a race car.
``When I'm in that car, I'm a pretty relaxed character. My heart rate is probably about 80 right now talking to you guys. When I'm in that car, it's probably about 60. That's what I enjoy doing. It seems like I was put here to do that.''
by CNB