APR news – theft, layoffs and 2003: On July 30, Andy Petree Racing suffered a financial blow when a safe containing cash [$291k?] was stolen from Petree’s office off Upward Road. An official with the State Bureau of Investigation office in Asheville said Wednesday that the SBI was still investigating the theft. When the theft happened, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department and the SBI questioned everyone in the shop and even employees who were recently laid off, said Kevin Youngblood, who was the parts manager at APR and was laid off earlier this year. “They wanted to keep everything hush-hush there at the shop, and it’s no wonder,” Youngblood said. “I know that there haven’t been any charges filed, but I do know that everyone at the shop was questioned about the safe. It wasn’t just the money missing. It was the entire safe.” Petree was in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Wednesday spending time with his family for the holidays. He refused to comment on the missing safe, but did discuss the upcoming NASCAR season. Petree is still seeking more sponsorship dollars to help fund his #55 Chevy for next season’s NASCAR circuit and hopefully rehire several of the employees who have been laid off this year. Petree has had as many 110 employees working for APR, but as of Wednesday there are just 25 employees, he said. “If we don’t sign a sponsor in the next few weeks, (the layoffs) aren’t going to make a lot of difference. We haven’t closed the doors yet but we had to do layoffs to sustain our business,” Petree said. Petree said that Ken Schrader, who drove the #33 Chevy for Petree in the late ’90s, will be the driver of the #55 car in 2003 if the team can land more sponsors to help pay the bills in the coming year. Schneider Electric was the primary sponsor of the car in 2002 and plans on being the sponsor again in 2003. Petree said he still needs more sponsorship money for the #55 car to run the full Winston Cup schedule next year. He said the #55 team already has two 2003 Chevy Monte Carlos built, one for speedways and the other for tracks requiring more downforce. (Hendersonville Times News)(11-28-2002)
