He found out last week the car would have to race its way in.
Now, the seven-time NASCAR champion is questioning rules that allow owners to transfers points from one car to another -- moves that essentially knocked Petty driver AJ Allmendinger out of the top 35 in the points standings.
"It doesn't make any difference what kind of rules you throw out there, somebody's going to figure out the best thing for them," Petty said Friday. "And that's what everybody's done."
Petty said NASCAR officials first told him in November the Valvoline-sponsored car would be in the season-opening race. Although the No. 44, formerly the No. 10 Dodge of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, finished 37th in points last season, officials expected it would have one of the 35 guaranteed spots after several teams merged and another was sold, eliminating two cars in the top 35 in points.
But deals were made to transfer owner points from two defunct cars to Richard Childress Racing (Clint Bowyer) and Penske Championship Racing (Sam Hornish Jr.).
"We go out and talk to sponsors and stuff, and say, 'OK guys, we're in and we've got more to sell,"' Petty said. "It puts us in a bad situation with the sponsor because that was part of our selling point. And all of a sudden we don't get in, and they don't blame NASCAR. They blame us as an organization for leading them down the path."
Similar deals happen all the time in NASCAR, but the sport witnessed more than its usual share this offseason because of the slumping economy. NASCAR doesn't allow teams to buy points, but transferring them is allowed in mergers or if an owner buys into another team and brings the points with him.
Still, Petty believes owners are finding ways to stretch the intent of the NASCAR rules.
"They've got a set of rules somewhere, but they've got them," Petty said. "We ain't got them. It was a good rule basically when it first set up because that would give a chance for a new owner to come in and still be involved if the old owner stayed with it. They got completely away from that concept."
NASCAR chairman Brian France said the governing body might look at the point-swapping rules, but said it won't happen before the Daytona 500.
"It would be nice if it was a more simple-to-understand policy," France said.
In the meantime, Allmendinger will have to try to make The Great American Race in pole qualifying Sunday or by finishing high enough in the twin 150 races next Thursday.
"The only place I worry about is Daytona because there so many freaky different things that can go bad here, bad qualifying deal or just miss it by one position in the race," Petty said. "There's so many different elements here. Everywhere else you go, you just go qualify. I always looked at it as if you don't qualify in the top 35, you don't need to be out there anyway."
------
SHOOTOUT CHANGES: The Budweiser Shootout will have the largest field in its 31-year history Saturday night.
NASCAR changed the format last summer and then tweaked the rules last month, increasing the field to 28. That's seven more entries than last season and six more than the previous record set in 2002.
The field now consists of the top six cars in owners points from each of the sport's four manufacturers and another wild-card entry for Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge and Toyota. The four wild cards this year are AJ Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Jr., Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.
"It's really big for us," said Stewart, debuting with his own team. "It's not two days of testing. I would much rather trade and get these two days of Shootout practice and the Shootout versus three days of testing down here. That's going to be a lot more valuable to us."
Not everyone was as excited about the changes.
"If they had about 10 or 12 cars, it'd be a better race because they could race with each other," seven-time NASCAR champion and team owner Richard Petty said. "Now, you've got people in the front racing with each other, people in the back racing with each other and trying to get to the front. It's a big, long parade when you've got that many cars."
------
FOYT'S 14: Two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart will have legendary driver A.J. Foyt's number and his support in the season-opening Daytona 500.
Stewart will drive the No. 14 car made famous by Foyt, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and the 1972 Daytona 500 champion.
Foyt also will attend the Daytona 500 and watch the race from Stewart's pit.
"He's a great friend of ours and that's why we wanted him here," Stewart said. "But him being here shows you how much he cares about what we're doing, too. It's an honor to have him here."
------
LUG NUTS: Kyle Busch posted the fastest lap during the first Cup Series practice Friday. ... A Ford will pace the field at Daytona International Speedway for the first time in almost 40 years. Daytona announced Friday that a 2010 Shelby GT500 will pace three events on NASCAR's most storied track. ... Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon and his mother, Carol Bickford, will appear on the "Rachael Ray" show Tuesday. Gordon and his mom, who co-authored a cookbook with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s grandmother, will demonstrate how to prepare chicken casserole.
Teen Logano replaces two-time Sprint Cup champion
New Petty team signs A.J. Allmendinger
OFFICIAL: Real Betis Sign Ricardo Oliveira
