| | Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. -- The Petty family took the first step toward
returning to racing Wednesday when Richard Petty showed up for work
at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
It was the first time a member of NASCAR's most famous family
has been to a track since 19-year-old Adam Petty was killed May 12
in a practice accident at New Hampshire International Speedway.
"Everybody seems to be doing real good," Petty said. "It's
like everything else. I know everybody's been through it from time
to time. As long as everybody stays busy, everything's going
good."
Wearing his trademark cowboy hat and wraparound sunglasses,
Petty's voice cracked a few times when he paused to remember his
oldest grandson, who had been tabbed as the heir to the family's
racing throne.
"You see very few 19-year-old kids that's affected as many
people, that's touched as many people, as what Adam has," he said.
"I think the majority of the people who have ever met him remember
his smile, patting them on the back, joking with them or whatever.
"I guess that's probably the best memory that anybody could
ever have of anybody, is that he was a pretty good kid."
Kyle Petty, Richard's son and Adam's father, will not drive in
Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, marking the first time since 1970 a Petty
has missed a race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It's the second event
since Adam's death that Kyle Petty will miss, although he is
expected to return for the NASCAR Winston Cup race next week in
Dover, Del.
"I think this was just a little bit too quick for him,"
Richard Petty said of his son. "I think that he needs to sort of
settle down. I think he just sort of said he needed to take a week
off here and try to sort of get all that stuff so that he could go
forward with it."
There's been no decision on who will drive the car Adam drove on
the Busch Grand National circuit and Petty acknowledged that the
family's legacy will likely end with Kyle. He said Kyle's other
son, 17-year-old Austin, has never expressed any interest in
driving, and the future of the Petty name had been riding on Adam.
"We're going to go forward, though," he said. "This is not
going to stop Petty Enterprises."
The Petty family has no desire to find out what caused Adam's
fatal crash, although Petty said they believe the accelerator got
stuck on his car as he entered turn three.
"We don't want to know and we don't care," he said. "No
matter what you find out, it doesn't change the outcome."
Petty said that point was reinforced when John Andretti, Petty
Enterprises' other Winston Cup driver, escaped injury in a crash
last week during The Winston.
"John went into the wall and tore a brand new car up," Petty
said. "That car was tore up worse than Adam's car. So it wasn't
John's time. Know what I mean? So we just look at it that part of
living is dying."
Gordon's new deal, new look
Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports on Wednesday announced a five-year contract extension that will keep
DuPont as the primary sponsor of Gordon's Chevrolet through the
year 2005.
DuPont has been with Gordon since he signed with Hendrick
Motorsports in 1993.
Gordon said he values DuPont's commitment the same way today as
he did when the company first signed on.
"It was all sort of overwhelming when it came together,"
Gordon said. "Here I was, 21 years old, going Winston Cup racing
with Hendrick Motorsports and DuPont as my sponsor. No pressure
there. Then what was really amazing is that they stuck with me
beyond '93 because I messed up a lot of paint jobs that year."
To celebrate the new sponsorship agreement, DuPont unveiled the
No. 24 "Signature Car," for the Coca-Cola 600.
The new design replaces Gordon's familiar rainbow paint scheme
with the signatures of Gordon, car owner Rick Hendrick and DuPont
President Louis Savelli, along with "May 24, 2000" all added to
the hood.
Gordon will race the signature car in the Coca-Cola 600.
Nemechek fined for Winston antics
NASCAR officials on Wednesday fined driver Joe
Nemechek $15,000 for rough driving during The Winston last Saturday
night.
Nemechek was involved in several on-track incidents with fellow
driver Steve Park and the battle erupted with nine laps to go in
the all-star event when the two cars collided, knocking both out of
the race.
Afterwards, an angry Park went to Nemecheck's trailer where the
two had a heated discussion.
Nemecheck admitted Wednesday he was trying to "get Park loose"
when he tapped him during the race, but said he was only
retaliating for Park bumping him earlier in the race.
"I don't totally agree with NASCAR's decision because if they
are going to penalize me they should be handing out penalties to a
lot of other guys in that race," he said. "I didn't mean to wreck
him. I was just trying to do the same thing he did to me."
NASCAR said Nemecheck was penalized for "actions deemed by
NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock car racing."
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Watch excerpts from Richard Petty regarding the tragic loss of Adam Petty.
RealVideo: | 28.8
 NASCAR VP Mike Helton says the drivers' safety is his first concern.
wav: 194 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Joe Nemechek doesn't agree with NASCAR's fine against him in The Winston for rough driving.
wav: 73 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jeff Gordon wants to keep a successful partnership with DuPont.
wav: 145 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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