Petty entry at Indy?

By DAVID GREEN

Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star reports today that seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty will enter a car in this year's Indianapolis 500, with John Andretti as the driver.

Andretti is a nephew of Mario Andretti, who won the Daytona 500 in 1967, the Indy 500 in 1969 and the Formula One driving championship in 1978. John has proven himself quite versatile as well, with victories in Indy cars, NASCAR Cup cars and sports cars. He also gave NHRA drag racing a whirl, and reached the final round of eliminations in Top Fuel once.

Andretti has also competed in the 500 nine times previously. He was the first of three a trio of drivers who have made same-day runs in both the 500 and Charlotte's Coca-Cola 600 stock car race. Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart are the others. And he has driven in NASCAR for Petty Enterprises.

Petty, meanwhile, always focused on one form of the sport, both as one of NASCAR's all-time great drivers and as a team owner. The only exception was a brief flirtation with drag racing in 1965, when a boycott of NASCAR by Chrysler Corp. pulled Petty's famous No. 43 Plymouth off the track for most of the season.

In Petty's driving heyday, a number of his contemporaries went to Indianapolis on Memorial Day weekend to try their hand in the open-wheel classic. Bobby Johns, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarbrough all had much more than mere token attempts, with Donnie Allison finishing fourth and sixth in his two Indy starts.

As much as I loved watching the Allisons compete at Indy, having seen them race late model modifieds at Palm Beach Speedway just a few years earlier, I was always OK with drivers such as Petty and his great rival, David Pearson, choosing not to try Indy.

But I sure am pleased to hear that King Richard will finally be a part of the Indianapolis classic.

His participation will be token, of course, with a regular Indy Racing League crew actually fielding the entry and provided their expertise. But that's fine with me.

A press conference is scheduled Monday in Indianapolis to announce the entry.