Having been at the forefront of NASCAR, whether driving or outside the track, Richard Petty seems to be stepping down slowly.
Richard Petty Motorsports changed their name to Petty GMS Motorsports when GMS Racing owner Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. purchased a majority stake in the team. And now with the return of Jimmie Johnson as another owner of the team, they changed the name again to Legacy Motor Club, thereby removing Petty from the team’s name altogether for the first time.
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But it is not just the name that Petty is conceding to new ownership but also his control of the team. In a recent interview, Petty revealed his differences of opinion with Johnson regarding the team.
“It’s been strange to me, Most of the time, I ran the majority of the show. Jimmie brought all his people in. His way of running things and my way of running things are probably a little bit different. We probably agree on about 50% of what it really comes down to,”Petty said.
He said that team’s front office is taken over by Johnson’s crew, before that he sees Johnson as a majority owner of the organization in the future.
“They don’t take over the racing part, they take over the front office. With sponsorships, appearances, and all that stuff, Jimmie’s crowd is kind of controlling that. That’s something I never had to put up with, I guess”.
“He’s basically going to wind up running the show in four or five years completely. He’ll probably be the majority owner or the owner of our operation. They’re looking at things completely differently,” Richard Petty said.
“Jimmie’s very observant. He takes on everything. Jimmie controls everything, basically. You’re making postcards and stuff, he has to approve it. He approves everything. He’s a pretty busy man right now'”.
While Petty revealed that he is bothered by such new changes, he also admitted that it is time for change in the leadership of the organization.