Petty

The proud Petty Enterprises team, home to NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty, all-time stock car king Richard Petty and now directed by Kyle Petty, a third-generation driver, has fallen on very hard times.

After the death of Adam Petty, Kyle's son, in a crash at Loudon, N.H., in May, 2000, the team, already struggling, took a real nose dive.

Kyle, splitting time between the cockpit and the front office of the North Carolina team, somehow kept himself going and took Petty Enterprises in a whole new direction, switching from longtime partner Pontiac to the new Dodge chassis.

Although its drivers -- Petty, John Andretti and Buckshot Jones -- have not won a race this season and none are higher in the points than 30th, the team's CEO is optimistic heading into Sunday's Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"You look around the garage and a lot of people are having trouble making these multicar teams work," said Petty, who has had trouble even qualifying for races this year, missing 12 of the first 33 events.

"Some people say three-car teams won't work but maybe two-car teams will," he said. "Others say a two-car team doesn't give you enough information or tests, so you have to have three cars.

"Then you have Jack Roush, who has either four or five or six teams, depending on how you count them.

"We think we have hit on a way to make a three-car team work and work well, and it's starting to show on the racetrack," Petty added. "We're not where we want to be yet, but we sure seem to be headed in the right direction."

Petty said the key is for everyone on the team to be pulling in the same direction, something that takes time to develop.

"The guys who work on my car have to be just as happy -- and I mean sincerely happy -- when John's guys do well or Buckshot's, and vice versa," he explained. "Having everybody work together and having everybody pull from the same drawer, as far as cars and engines are concerned, helps with that."

The Talladega race weekend last month was an example of what Petty is talking about.

Andretti and Jones were both involved in a big crash during practice on Saturday. Jones' Dodge had to be repaired and Andretti went to a backup.

"We parked my car and part of my crew went to John's team and part went to Buckshot's team," Petty explained. "That was a big deal. It showed everything we've been preaching all year about teamwork. We parked one car, left a couple of guys working on it and everybody else went out and helped with our other cars."

Part of his optimism is based on some changes for next year, hiring key personnel including Petty's new crew chief Steve Lane and the team's new technical director Richard Buck, as well as closing down the in-house engine program and depending on veteran engine-builder Mike Ege.

"The engine deal for next year is a big change, a bigger change than we anticipated," Petty said. "It's a big change for us internally because we had always built engines at Petty Enterprises for 50 years.

"To shut down something you had for that long, it's kind of like shutting down your core business. Now we've got to make our cars better, and that's the whole point of bringing in these new guys -- for them to bring in fresh ideas."

While Petty's team continues its resurgence over the last three races of this season, most of the attention will remain on the teams already at the top.