Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
``I'm tired of [messing] around with stuff that's not competitive and running cars that can't be competitive,'' Petty said at his shop Monday during the first day of Charlotte Motor Speedway's annual NASCAR media tour. ``I'm tired of being pushed away from the race car. Wherever the race car is, that's where I'm going to be.''
``No more Mr. Nice Guy,'' said car owner Felix Sabates. ``I like the new Kyle Petty.''
Petty said he took a fresh look at what's important in his life following the deaths of crew chief Barry Dodson's two teen-aged children, Trey and Tia, in an automobile accident in Darlington, S.C., on Thanksgiving weekend.
``My family is my number one priority, and after my family comes this race team,'' said Petty, who finished 15th in points last year with no victories and seven top-10 finishes. ``I've been at this shop this winter more than I have been in the last four years.''
``He's been here cutting metal and fitting seats in the car,'' Sabates said.
Dodson broke down as he tried to describe the gratitude he had toward Sabates, Petty and the team following the deaths of his children, who lived with Dodson's ex-wife in Darlington.
``When my kids died, I can't tell you what they did for me,'' he said. ``And I think the only way I can pay it back is to win races.''
Later, Dodson said dealing with the loss is ``like you've got 50 pounds of lead tied to your chest every day. But nobody else in Winston Cup racing stood by me the way they did.''
Dodson, after being sacked by Darrell Waltrip last summer, joined the team in the wake of the firing of Robin Pemberton, but Petty still struggled to qualify well and finish in the top 10. He led 7.6 miles all year.
``How did it slide? I don't know,'' Petty said.
Sabates, however, had some answers.
The atmosphere around the team was too much ``like a country club,'' he said. And Petty had too many personal appearances - 114 - for his ex-sponsor, Mello Yello, Sabates said. This year, Petty will have 10 for new sponsor Coors, he said.
``We got a little behind because all the cars we won races with were sold,'' Sabates said. ``I came in here one day and all the cars we had won with, Robin had sold them.
``The car we won with at Rockingham four times we found in Missouri somewhere. The car we won with at Pocono was a show car in Florida. We bought them back.''
``I'm going to be a little more hands-on this year,'' Petty said. ``I'm going to be a little bit more assertive. Basically, I'm going to be a little bit more of a [jerk] than I was in the past. If you don't blow your own horn, nobody's going to blow it for you.''
HEAVY HITTERS AT HENDRICK: Before the afternoon visit to Petty's shop, the tour swung by Hendrick Motorsports for a visit with Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader.
Schrader revealed he had spent several days in a hospital just before Christmas with a virus infection that left his arms and legs numb and partially paralyzed. He said his limbs are 80 percent recovered.
And Gordon said he knows some of his fellow drivers can't stand him and his golden boy image, but ``I don't pay any attention to that stuff.''
Does the Brickyard 400 champion feel the resentment?
``Nobody comes out and tells me, but yeah, sometimes certain passes that could be made very easy [by other drivers] might be a little more difficult.''
BRUTON'S BIG TEXAS PLANS: Charlotte Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith said the new 160,000-seat track he had proposed for the Dallas-Fort Worth area has already been designed, but he is still deciding on a location.
He said he expects, however, to move dirt in a month and have the track finished and ready for racing in 1996. And he also expects to have a Winston Cup race at the track in 1996.
Smith is going public with his company and said he expects to sell 25 to 27 percent of his stock.
by CNB