#45-Kyle Petty said Petty Enterprises may have to join Jack Roush, Richard Childress and other car owners and sign with a business partner, to keep making a go of it in this sport. Richard Petty was in Montreal this week checking out businesses [and at a Montreal Canadiens agem]. And fellow Dodge team owner Ray Evernham has been talking with Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillet Jr. about a joint NASCAR business venture. Kyle Petty points to Petty Enterprises’ close ties with Evernham Motorsports, particularly on the engine building side, and said it just makes sense to check out some of the people that Evernham is considering working with. “There’s more to Petty Enterprises than just a race team going round in circles,” Kyle Petty said, mentioning the company’s other ventures. “So that makes Petty Enterprises a little different venture for a potential investor. “We have already folded our company into some of the stuff that Evernham Motorsports does, so as Ray begins to branch out and take on different partners, we need to find out who those partners are, and if there is an opportunity there we’d be foolish not to explore it.”(Winston Salem Journal) AND Richard Petty, owner of Petty Enterprises, was an invited guest of Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett at Tuesday’s Rangers-Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, Journal de Montréal reported this week. Kyle Petty didn’t shed much light on what his father and Gillett talked about Friday. “As (team owner) Ray (Evernham) begins to branch out and take on different partners, we need who his partners are if we want to stay in businesses (with Evernham ),” said Petty, who drives the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge. “If there’s an opportunity there, then we would be idiots not to explore it. We are exploring different avenues with different people.” The Petty and Evernham organizations both Dodge teams have grown closer in recent months. Evernham builds Petty’s engines and the two teams are sharing engineering knowledge. “Those conversations are between George and Richard. I really don’t know what’s going on there,” Evernham said. Petty Enterprises’ last victory came here eight years ago, but Kyle Petty said his family’s company is still attractive to suitors. “The main part of what we do is race around in circles,” he said. “This is our main job, but we have the (Richard Petty) Driving Experience that has 1,000 to 1,500 dates. We are starting a defensive driving program. There’s a lot of stuff going on outside of this and that makes Petty Enterprises a little bit different opportunity for an investor.”(USA Today)(3-31-2007)
