News
Email
Print
Pettys sell storied racing team
Boston Ventures gets controlling interest in Petty Enterprises
AP Photo
Richard Petty poses for photos with investor Andy Davis of Boston Ventures.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 12, 2008
Richard Petty has finally acquiesced to what has seemed the inevitable for more than a year and has agreed to sell controlling interest in stock-car racing's most storied team, Petty Enterprises, to Boston Ventures, an investment company.
It may be the most dramatic sign yet of the changing nature of NASCAR racing amid the soaring costs of a Sprint Cup operation.
"Everything has changed so much from where we first started," Petty, soon-to-be-71, said at a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway yesterday. "As time progressed, it got away from us, from the family standpoint.
"Other investors were coming in, making NASCAR grow from the outside in. We just got behind — we tried to do it from the inside out.
"We sat down and talked about it: 'If we're going to play this game, we got to get in this game.'"
Thus, the Pettys join NASCAR owners Ray Evernham, Jack Roush and, Michael Waltrip in going the "investment" route. Those men have all sold major interest in their teams to investors from outside the sport over the past year and a half. Evernham sold to wealthy sportsman George Gillett, Roush to the Boston Red Sox' Fenway Group and Waltrip to Rob Kauffman, a European investment businessman.
Gillett had expressed interest in buying into Petty Enterprises, after buying controlling interest in Evernham's operation last fall. But Petty apparently turned him down. Petty Enterprises has been closely aligned in engineering and engines with Gillett-Evernham, and it's not clear if this move might affect that relationship.
David Zucker will be the team's new CEO, replacing Kyle Petty, and Barry Baker will be the new chairman, after what Boston Ventures calls "a significant investment."
Neither Boston Ventures, a private equity company with more than $2 billion invested in media, entertainment and communications (such as Six Flags parks and Motown Records), nor the Pettys revealed the money or terms involved. At least one report said that Boston Ventures had bought a controlling interest.
Richard Petty will become chairman emeritus, although what level of control he will retain hasn't been revealed.
Zucker's most recent job was as head of Midway Games, and he spent eight years at ESPN, working with ESPN2, the X-Games, and ESPN International.
"My plans are to work with Richard and the Petty management team to build the business, and to leverage Boston Venture's expertise in areas like marketing relationships and financial management," Zucker said.
"One of the reasons I'm comfortable coming into this role is that Robbie Loomis is in place leading team operations. Robbie knows how to build a winning racing organization … and I'm looking forward to helping grow the organization."
Petty won 200 Cup races during his career, but he is conceding that his team, started in 1949 in Level Cross by his father, Lee, can't turn things around on its own.
Petty Enterprises has won 268 Cup races and 10 titles, but its last Cup victory was in 1999 by John Andretti and it hasn't really been a force since 1983. Richard won three races that season but left the company at the end of the season and won his record 200th race in 1984 while driving for another owner.
Petty drivers have won three times on the circuit since 1983.
Kyle Petty, whose last tour win came in 1995 and whose future at the wheel, at 48, is murky, said that the move was painful to concede: "There is no doubt this is an emotional decision for our family — for my dad, my mother, me, my sisters, the grandkids, all of us.
"We labored over this decision for a long time. But it's absolutely the right decision. Not just for our family, but for the 152 families that depend on Petty Enterprises.
"My grandfather founded Petty Enterprises in 1949, and over the years we have won a ton of races and 10 championships. But most importantly we created livelihoods for many families. And the investment by Boston Ventures will secure the future of Petty Enterprises for many generations."
But will it secure success? Or is it coming too late in the game?
Despite having two of the sport's most charismatic figures, Richard and Kyle, and 2000 tour champion Bobby Labonte at the wheel of one of the team's two Dodges, Petty Enterprises has lost major sponsor General Mills after 10 years. Losing that financial backing put the team in a tailspin.
With the new backing of Boston Ventures, the Pettys also announced yesterday a four-year contract extension with Labonte, whose last tour win was in 2003.
"I have known all along this is where I want to finish my career," Labonte said. "The future is very bright for Petty Enterprises.
"As we continue to develop and learn from this new car, we will increase our testing and engineering support. The investment from Boston Ventures will allow us to compete on the same level as the bigger Sprint Cup teams."
Richard Petty has been reluctant the past few years to make major changes in the structure of the family business, but last year he moved the team's headquarters from Level Cross to Mooresville, and yesterday he said, "The time has come for Petty Enterprises to take the steps necessary (to be competitive).
"This is something I have taken a great deal of time to think about … and I'm comfortable with the decision I have made, to have Boston Ventures as my partner in Petty Enterprises.
"Boston Ventures will provide us with the capital necessary to compete for wins and championships.
"Over the years, many of their investments have been partnerships with family-owned companies. In each of those cases, Boston Ventures has stayed true to the family mission, while improving the overall well-being of the company."
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
