Petty open to selling part of team to interested investor

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Richard Petty usually isn't a hockey fan. But he was Monday night, when he attended a Montreal Canadiens game as a guest of team owner George Gillett.

"The only thing was, I could never understand what was going on. All those guys spoke French," Petty said. "We went up there, and in the first period they got behind 2-0. You could hear a pin drop. Those guys came alive and got five goals in the second period. The other team scored again, and that [calmed] them down. The Canadiens came back and scored again, and everybody up there was walking on ice or water when it was all over. It was a really neat deal."

But the trip wasn't just to watch hockey. Gillett has conducted informal talks with two Nextel Cup organizations, Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises, about becoming a potential investor. He's attended two NASCAR races as a guest of Ray Evernham, whose team supplies engines to the Petty organization.

"It's one of those deals where I think that's the trend," Petty said of Nextel Cup teams taking on investors. In February, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox bought a 50 percent share of Roush Racing. Saturday, the seven-time NASCAR champion seemed open to the idea of following suit.

"I don' think there's anyone [at Petty Enterprises], if the opportunity or situation was there, who wouldn't at least talk to somebody about what was going on," he said. "If you see anybody out there that wants to go in the racing business, let them know just to call Petty Enterprises, and we'll talk to them."

Of course, the Petty team has been here before. Petty said his organization has talked to "a zillion people" about potential partnership, only to have the deals fall apart over money. Petty said he's looking for a potential partner with stability, a source the race team could divert resources from when sponsorships or other factors were in a downturn.

Asked if he'd consider selling majority ownership, he didn't rule it out.

"I'm open to anything, because right now there's nothing on the table," he said. "I'll look at any situation. I'm not saying I'm going one way or the other, but I'll look at anything."