NASCAR legend Richard Petty takes issue with team owners’ moves: ‘It’s been strange to me’

Jimmie Johnson will make his return to the NASCAR circuit on Sunday when he brings up the rear on the Daytona 500 however how he muscled his method to the entrance of his race crew is one thing that’s not sitting properly with stock-car racing legend Richard Petty.

Petty, 85, was basically stripped of energy inside his former eponymous crew that rebranded and rebuilt as soon as the 2022 season concluded. Petty turned Legacy Motor Membership’s ambassador and expressed his dismay with Johnson’s rise in energy.

“It’s been unusual to me,” Petty mentioned Saturday. “More often than not, I ran nearly all of the present. Jimmie introduced all his folks in. His manner of operating issues and my manner of operating issues are most likely a bit bit completely different. We most likely agree on about 50% of what it actually comes right down to.”

Legacy Motor Membership was often called Petty GMS Motorsports till January. Johnson bought an possession stake within the group in November.

“They don’t take over the racing half, they take over the entrance workplace,” Petty mentioned. “With sponsorships, appearances and all that stuff, Jimmie’s crowd is sort of controlling that. That’s one thing I by no means needed to put up with, I assume.”

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Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty pose for images at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on Feb. 16, 2023, in Daytona Seashore, Florida. (Chris Graythen/Getty Photographs)

He added: “He’s mainly going to wind up operating the present in 4 or 5 years utterly. He’ll most likely be the bulk proprietor or the proprietor of our operation. They’re issues utterly otherwise.”

Petty and Johnson are the one residing seven-time NASCAR Cup Sequence champions.

Johnson instructed The Related Press he was “disenchanted” after listening to Petty’s feedback.

“He’s not expressed them to me, for starters,” Johnson mentioned. “Actually, there are a number of transferring items to this. There are enterprise selections which are going down between Mr. Gallagher and the Petty household earlier than I ever arrived. These are particulars which are simply not my place to say.

“However a number of what Richard is chatting with relies on enterprise selections that he and his household have made and so they aren’t relative to my involvement.”

NASCAR Corridor of Famer Richard Petty prepares to drive a reproduction of his #43 STP Pontiac at WWT Raceway on June 3, 2022, in Madison, Illinois. (Sean Gardner/Getty Photographs)

Legacy Motor Membership will likely be operating two vehicles full-time and one automobile part-time. Noah Gragson and Erik Jones are the full-time drivers and Johnson is the part-time driver.

The Related Press contributed to this report.