Level Cross, N.C. Seven-time Nextel Cup champion Richard Petty spent part of Wednesday evening and Thursday morning meeting with members of International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the Washington state House of Representatives and the Washington state Senate. The visit was in an effort to gain interest of the legislature to help build a track in the state of Washington. The northwest region of the country is one of the few areas left that does not host a Nextel Cup event. The closest track is the Infineon Speedway located in Sonoma (Calif.) nearly 800 miles away.
“We have to keep our sport growing,” said Petty. Washington is a great state for us to do that. There a lot of people working hard to make that happen right now. We wanted to go up there and lend our support. Hopefully we were able to get everyone excited about our sport, but more importantly see that NASCAR is a great way to boost tourism, bring new jobs into the area and help the economy. There are a lot of fans in that area. I’m sure they would love to see a track built.”
Petty was joined by former champion Darrell Waltrip and Washington state native Greg Biffle. The trio visited the state capitol Thursday morning. They met and spoke with key members of the state Senate, state House of Representatives and also the Lieutenant Governor. Petty then departed Olympia to head to the California Speedway, located in Fontana (Calif.) for Sunday’s Auto Club 500.
About Petty Enterprises
Petty Enterprises resides in Level Cross, N.C., a sprawling 60,000-square foot high-tech racing facility. Founded in 1949 by Lee Petty, Petty Enterprises today is an engineering-based and technology driven company. It is here where the organization houses the #45 Tire Kingdom/Wells Fargo/Marathon Dodge team driven by Kyle Petty and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team of Bobby Labonte. Heading into the 2007 racing season, the organization will have started over 2,600 races with nearly a half resulting in top-ten finishes, securing the fact that the name Petty Enterprises is committed to winning.
