: WILL KYLE BE IN THE CAR NEXT YEAR?
RL: “Oh yeah. Kyle's going to be back in (the 45 car) this weekend in Dover and some other races lined up for him during the end of the year. We'll see Kyle and I'm sure you'll see Kyle out there next year. As everyone knows, with all the sponsorship dependent on how you put all these programs together, we're trying to work our way through it right now.”
: IS ONE OPTION NEXT YEAR FOR PETTY ENTERPRISES THREE CARS, ONE WITH A LIMITED SCHEDULE WITH KYLE DRIVING IT?
RL: “It definitely is. We've had a lot of discussion on that in staff meetings each week. Dave Zucker, our CEO, is trying to put a lot of things together on the sponsorship front and that's one of the avenues that we've talked about. If we could run a third car on a limited schedule - even if it is a minimum of five to seven races - it does help us prepare and get a little bit of information in our circle and also prepare an easier transition when we go to three cars in 2010 when everyone gets this economy rolling again.”
: SO A THIRD CAR IS CONTINGENT ON SPONSORSHIP?
RL: “Yes sir. 100%.”
: ALL THE CHASE DRIVERS COME FROM THREE OR FOUR CAR OPEARTIONS. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO MOVE UP TO THE CHASE-LEVEL TEAM?
RL: “I think when NASCAR said a few years ago that four teams was the limit, that pretty much drew a line in the sand that said, "You better get there (to a four-car team) quick." I know David Zucker - our CEO - is definitely looking at a lot of different avenues on the quickest way for growth. Right now, I'm not going to go out here and promise that we're going to be any more than two teams because that's what we are focused on right now. But I do think that we have to look at every avenue out there with these race teams and figure out how do we get stronger? Especially with our own manufacturers - with Dodge. That might make sense - for someone to work a lot closer and have that alliance. We've been fortunate because we lean on our support from our engine supplier - Gillett Evernham - so that's helped us a lot. But at the same time, it's not the full benefit of having four cars in the shop and four crew-chiefs sitting in a meeting and four drivers to draw from every week.”
: HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THE COT?
RL: “I can only look at what our organization has done with it. I can see benefits coming down the road if we don't keep jumping around with the rules. This winter is going to be a lot different if we're not all cutting our bodies off and having our fabricators turned upside down. Usually the tradition is we go to Daytona and test and come back and cut all our bodies off and return to Daytona two weeks later. There's going to be some real benefits in that area. I think we still have some challenges in front of us as far as working with NASCAR and the teams. There are certain racetracks that I think provide great racing. There are other racetracks that we really have to take a look at and see if there is a little something that we can do to work with the car to make it better. I think that it's got to be the crew chiefs - the Chad Knaus', Steve Latarte's, Tony Eury Jr's and Bob Osborne's of the world, the Kenny Francis', those are the guys that we have to listen to because they could really give us the feedback to help make it (COT) better for everyone in the sport.”
: WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS NOT PART OF THE CHASE AND NOT RUNNING FOR A CHAMPIONSHP WHEN ALL THE ATTENTION IS ON THE TEAMS WHO ARE?
RL: “That's one thing that I think we could work on to help our sport and sponsors for all the teams. Besides the 12 guys who are running for the Chase each week, let's pick three guys each week randomly and cover those guys throughout the field and target them as much as the guys in the Chase. For me personally, the job is the same. We're trying to improve the product for the 43 and 45 cars and get the Petty Enterprise cars to Victory Lane. I measure our success each week. It doesn't matter if it's a Chase race or an All-Star race on Saturday night. I look at what lap time is #1 and how far we are off to that lap time. It doesn't matter who's up there or what organization they're from - we've got to get to that lap time and that's what should be #1 (priority).”