Kyle Petty, the son of seven-time Daytona 500 winner Richard Petty, knew the day would come when NASCAR's first family wouldn't be at stock car racing's Super Bowl. But he's not happy about it.
Petty, who dropped by the infield Saturday to do some TV work and promote a celebrity golf event he'll host later this year in Phoenix, will be home in North Carolina on Sunday.
"I won't even watch it on TV, that's what it's like," said Petty, who's run the 500 more than 25 times. "It's crap is what it's like."
Petty found himself out of a job when Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports and was rebranded Richard Petty Motorsports. The move kept the Petty name in the business, but Kyle Petty said he feels no loyalty for the new team.
When asked about Reed Sorenson posting the fastest time during Saturday's practice while driving the iconic No. 43 Dodge that Richard Petty drove to seven championships, Kyle Petty grimaced.
"It means nothing to me," he said. "Let's be real honest. There's Richard Petty Motorsports or whatever you want to call it. But there is no Petty Enterprises."
AJ Allmendinger made sure Petty's old ride -- the No. 44 -- got into the 500 thanks to a strong finish in a 150-mile qualifier Thursday.
Petty has no plans in the works for a Sprint Cup ride this season. He competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona last month, finishing 44th with teammates Leo Hindery Jr., Bill Lester and Darren Manning. He said he plans on driving in the Grand-Am race in Virginia in April.
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NASCAR GAMING: NASCAR and EA Sports have created a driving game for the immensely popular Wii.
NASCAR Kart Racing hit shelves earlier this week, and several drivers gave the Mario Kart-based game strong reviews.
"Awesome. It's cool," said Elliott Sadler, one of the biggest video gamers in the garage. "I was thoroughly impressed. It's very fun. It's very accurate."
Sadler even thought his character was spot-on.
"I looked good," he said.
The game features current drivers Sadler, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano racing in go-carts at 24 unique tracks.
"I love all the sling-shoting you can do," Sadler said. "The most annoying thing is you can be racing against Kyle Busch and he can hit this button and throw up Kyle Busch billboards in front of your screen, almost like a smoke screen you can't see through. It's got some cool effects like that."
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SPEED'S SPEED: Rookie Scott Speed is lacking, well, speed.
After wrecking his first two cars, Speed switched to a second backup car and has struggled to stay with the pack in practice. That's not good on a 21/2-mile, high-banked tri-oval superspeedway.
But Speed could have one advantage: This car is clearly better than his others through the turns, making it easy to handle but still difficult to gain ground on the long straightaways.
"If it gets hot and greasy out there, I think it will play into our favor," Speed said.
The 500-mile event will be one of the longest for Speed, a former Formula One driver. How will he cope?
"I'm going to bring a snack in the car with me," he said.
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ROUSH FENWAY BRANCHING OUT: There was a time when Cup teams' primary sponsors only grudgingly gave up a little time or ad space to a secondary sponsor.
With today's economic woes, Roush Fenway Racing is asking its biggest supporters to give a little in order to generate new business.
"The solution for everyone is clear: the portfolio of current sponsors needs to be maintained while the number of new sponsors needs to increase significantly," said Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith.
The owner of the Fords driven by Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray is working with major sponsors such as Aflac to open doors for possible investors. The company also has retained Fenway Sports Group to reach out to Boston Red Sox advertisers to see if they want to reach a new audience.
"Our current sponsors are not only allowing us to open up their team/driver inventory to new partners but they are also providing additional marketing support for those new sponsors," Smith said.
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long contributed to this report.
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