The situation at Richard Petty Motorsports remains tenuous at best, despite reports to the contrary. Last week team officials said everything was set for this weekends Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway as well as the season finale the following week. But five truck drivers remained in Fort Worth at Texas Motor Speedway waiting for the call as to whether they were heading west to the next race or back to the shop in the east as of Tuesday evening. The organization has been in limbo as team owner George Gillett is still reeling from the financial hit he took Oct. 15 when the English soccer team he co-owned — Liverpool Football Club — was taken over.
RPM had planned to run two cars next season with AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose. However, until money can be secured to settle the current debts at RPM, its uncertain how much longer the organization will be around. Sources told FOXSports.com that Richard Petty, the team’s namesake, was in talks with Andrew Murstein, President of Medallion Financial Group, in a bid to gain financial control of the company from Gillett.
As a backup plan for Paul Menard, who has already announced that he will leave RPM to drive for Richard Childress Racing in 2011, the #10 Stavola Labonte Racing Chevy stayed within two hours of Texas Motor Speedway in case it needs to turn around and head to Phoenix for Menards use. Stavola Labonte Racing has a technical alliance with RCR.(FoxSports)(11-10-2010)
UPDATE: Eight Richard Petty Motorsports Fords scheduled to compete this weekend at Phoenix international Raceway remain at Texas Motor Speedway today, waiting to be paid for so they can be released to travel to PIR. Reliable sources tell Sirius Speedway that as of 1:00 pm/et today, the cars sit on an unmarked, white Roush Fenway Racing transporter in a parking lot at Texas Motor Speedway. Alongside sit the respective Richard Petty Motorsports transporters, empty and waiting for permission to load the cars and begin their drive from Fort Worth to Avondale, Arizona.
‘The plan was to take RPMs Phoenix cars to Texas and hold them there until the check cleared,’Â said a source close to the situation, speaking on the condition on anonymity. ‘The money was supposed to be there Monday, but that didnt happen. It didnt happen again yesterday, and everyones still there today, on hold. Everyone knew this was going to happen before they left for Texas. Our hands are tied and theres nothing we can do but wait.’Â
A representative for Richard Petty Motorsports said early this afternoon, ‘(The transporters) are headed to Phoenix. Were all scheduled to leave as planned tomorrow morning. Nothing has changed.’Â Federal regulations allow transporter drivers to drive for only 10 hours before getting 10 hours of rest. It is approximately 18 hours from Texas to Phoenix, and teams are required to sign in at the track at 7:45 am/et (5:45 am local) on Friday.
Richard Petty Motorsports employees have been required to work on their cars at Roush Fenway Racing in recent weeks, since Roush will not release the cars until they are paid for. RPM faces other financial obligations in the near future. The team is scheduled to make winnings and retainer payments to each of its drivers on the 15th of this month.(Sirius Speedway)
UPDATE 2: ESPN2’s NASCAR Now reported that the hauler’s loaded up and left TMS’s parking lot around 5:45pm/et, heading to Phoenix.(11-10-2010)(11-10-2010)
