Petty’s team is out of the family
Petty Enterprises, the venerable NASCAR team led by Richard Petty, sold control of the family business Wednesday to investment firm Boston Ventures.
Once one of stock car racing’s most powerful teams with “The King” himself at the wheel, Petty Enterprises fell into mediocrity during the last two decades and hasn’t won a race since 1999.
“The time has come for Petty Enterprises to take the steps necessary to get back to victory lane,” Petty, 70, said in a statement.
In a sport where it costs $15 million to $20 million to run a top-tier car, “Boston Ventures will provide us with the capital necessary to compete for wins and championships,” he said.
Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed, but the deal is only the latest in which NASCAR teams have sold ownership stakes to outside investors for added cash to stay competitive.
Last year Jack Roush sold half of his team to Fenway Sports Group, creating Roush Fenway Racing, and Ray Evernham sold control of his NASCAR team to financier George Gillett Jr. to form Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
Petty’s team fields two Dodges in the Sprint Cup Series: the No. 43 driven by Bobby Labonte and the No. 45 driven by Petty’s son Kyle.
Labonte, the 2000 series champion when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing, also signed a four-year contract extension Wednesday.
Boston Ventures has invested more than $2.5 billion in dozens of companies during the last two decades, including Six Flags Entertainment, Continental Television and Motown Records.
Petty Enterprises is nearly as old as NASCAR itself. The team was started by Richard’s father, Lee Petty, in 1949 in Level Cross, N.C., where it stayed until moving this year to Mooresville near Charlotte, where most Cup teams are based.
The team has won 268 races -- including 200 by Richard Petty, the all-time win leader in NASCAR -- and 10 championships, seven by Richard and three by Lee.
Although Richard Petty said he would retain a day-to-day role with the team as chairman emeritus, Barry Baker, a managing director of Boston Ventures, became Petty Enterprises’ new chairman and David Zucker was named chief executive. Zucker most recently ran video game maker Midway Games Inc.
Among their challenges is finding a new main sponsor for Labonte’s car for next year to replace current sponsor General Mills, which plans to leave the team, and scouting for an eventual replacement for Kyle Petty, 48.
“There is no doubt this is an emotional decision for our family,” Kyle Petty said of the sale to Boston Ventures. “We have labored over this decision for a long time, but it’s absolutely the right decision.”
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