No joke: Could former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty run for Congress?

   According to an article on RollCall.com, former NASCAR driver and now Fox Sports TV analyst Kyle Petty could be a candidate for U.S. Congress in 2014 in North Carolina.

    The district would be the one currently represented in North Carolina by Republican Howard Coble, who announced Thursday this would be his last term.

    In the article, Petty is listed among several possible Republican candidates for the seat. Petty's father, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty, lost a race for N.C. secretary of state in X1996.

   UPDATE: A representative for Petty called Roll Call on Friday morning and said the former NASCAR driver was not planning to run for the U.S. House District 6.

   You can read the entire article here.
 

How Brad Keselowski helped jump start Carl Edwards' 2013 season

   NASCAR drivers Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards have never been the best of friends. In fact, they have a very public feud in 2010 that resulted in several nasty wrecks as part of on-track incidents.

    The dynamic between the drivers was bound to be tested this season when Penske Racing moved to the Ford camp, where Edwards makes his home at Roush Fenway Racing. At the least, the two drivers would be involved in some information sharing.

    As the Sprint Cup Series sets to return to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend, Edwards was asked about his victory in the spring race at the track. And some of the credit for the win went to an unexpected source.

    "The biggest thing that helped us at Phoenix was our pit crew. We had awesome pit stops and kept coming out three or four spots ahead of where we were running and that ultimately is what won us the race," Edwards said. "The other thing that helped was Brad Keselowski on that last restart really pushed me out there. That was the second race in a Ford for Brad and for him to do that and give us that little bump it really meant a lot.”

   Asked how his relationship with Keselowski has evolved this season, Edwards said: "I think, not just between me and Brad, but between me, Brad, Joey - all the Penske guys and Roush - it has been a good relationship. At the end of the day, we have seen that we can all benefit by helping one another and that is huge. The more we can work together, the better off we will be.”

Jamie McMurray to get a new crew chief in 2014

  

   Keith Rodden, currently race engineer for Kasey Kahne's No. 5 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports, will become Jamie McMurray's new crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series beginning with the 2014 season, The Observer and ThatsRacin.com have learned.

   Rodden will leave the No. 5 at season's end, several sources confirmed on Tuesday. Rodden would replace Kevin "Bono" Manion, who also is expected to remain with McMurray's No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team the season's final two races.

   This is Rodden's second season as the No. 5 team's race engineer. The N.C. State University graduate has spent a decade working in racing.

   When asked for comment on Rodden's move to the No. 1 team, EGR spokesman John Olguin said, "We are currently still working on our 2014 plans."

   Manion has worked with McMurray since the start of the 2010 season. The duo have four wins together, including a victory this season at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Richard Petty Museum is returning home to Level Cross, N.C.

   After 10 years of being located in downtown Randleman, N.C., the museum that holds memorabilia and personal collections of the most decorated American stock car driver in history is going back home to Level Cross. The Richard Petty Museum will be located on the site of the original Petty Engineering and later Petty Enterprises race shop. The site currently is the home of Petty's Garage and the Petty Family Foundation.
 
   The Museum was founded at the race shop in Level Cross in 1988 by Lynda Petty but moved to Randleman in 2003 after space demands of the expanding race operation. Randleman, the neighboring city where Richard Petty went to high school, then became the home of museum. With the race operation, Richard Petty Motorsports, now operating in Concord, N.C., it was decided to move the museum back to its original location.

   "We are really grateful for everyone in Randleman for allowing us to move the museum there when our race shop had to grow. We now have the opportunity to move it back to where it all started, and I think everyone agrees that's where it belongs," said Richard Petty.

   "We want people to come and see the history on the same ground where it all happened. We're going to take the time to make it even better too. It's exciting for our family, and we hope everyone will enjoy it with us."

   After it's relocation and renovation, the museum will not only recover its spot in the building first built to house Kyle Petty's race program but will eventually expand to include the "Reaper Shed," first home of Petty Engineering where Lee Petty found the family dynasty. The museum will also include the Dodge Barn, built in the days of the team's close connection to Dodge and Plymouth.

   Finally, fans will be able to also visit the Lee Petty House, birthplace of both The King and his brother Maurice. The new-look museum will also feature exhibits of the Petty family's four members in the Hall of Fame (Lee, Richard, Dale Inman and Maurice), of "Mr. and Mrs. The King" from the Pixar film "Cars" and of the family's many contributions to the sport of stock car racing.

What makes a championship special? Beating Jimmie Johnson

   Carl Edwards, who starts from the pole in Sunday’s AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, says one of the things that makes this year’s championship battle special is the fact the winner will have to beat Jimmie Johnson to claim the sport’s top prize.

   “If it’s Matt Kenseth or Jeff Gordon or Kevin Harvick or even somebody further back. I know we’re still mathematically able, and that’s what you want – that’s what I would want,” said Edwards, who is 10^th in the series standings.

   “I would want to beat a guy like Jimmie and I’d want to beat him and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and those guys when they’re on their game. So it is amazing what they’re able to do.

   “Someone put it really well the other day. They said, ‘The best rivalry that’s gone on the last decade has been the field vs. Jimmie Johnson,’ and that’s where we’re at right now.  Those guys are really good.”

 

Martin Truex Jr. has a new NASCAR home at Furniture Row Racing

   Team release:

   Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone announced today that the Denver, Colo.-based organization has entered into a multiyear agreement with Martin Truex Jr. to drive the team’s No. 78 Chevrolet, beginning with the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season.

 

   Garone, sitting alongside Truex, made the announcement during a news conference at Texas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's AAA Texas 500. 

 

   “We couldn’t be happier to have landed one of the top drivers in NASCAR,” said Garone. “Martin’s talents – both on and off the track -- have been well documented and everyone at Furniture Row Racing feels that he is an excellent fit to continue the success that we have enjoyed this season." 

 

   Truex, a 33-year-old native of Mayetta, N.J., is currently in his eighth season as a full time Sprint Cup competitor. He joined NASCAR’s premier series in 2006 after claiming back-to-back Nationwide Series season championships in 2004 and 2005.

 

   His Sprint Cup history includes four full seasons with Dale Earnhardt Inc and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (2006-2009) and four with his current team Michael Waltrip Racing (2010-2013).

 

“Furniture Row Racing has been high on my radar,” said Truex. “The team has done a great job this year. It’s a talented organization and it has been impressive to see what they’ve accomplished over the past few seasons. What influenced my decision is team owner Barney Visser and that the team really wants me as its driver. Everything else is important, but I really felt like Furniture Row Racing genuinely wanted me to drive for them."

Austin Dillon on last weekend's Martinsville incident: 'I forgive Kevin'

 

   During his weekly SiriusXM Radio call in on "Tradin' Paint" on Wednesday afternoon, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Austin Dillon was asked by Jim Noble and Chocolate Myers his opinion of the Ty Dillon/Kevin Harvick Martinsville Speedway incident from last weekend. 

 

   Here is a complete transcript of his response:

   “For me, I come from a fortunate situation growing up in a family that is in racing. My grandfather has given my brother and I both a great opportunity to go out and take advantage of those opportunities. If anybody out there doesn’t think that I should go after something that is in front of me, I don’t know what to say. I feel like this opportunity has been put in front of me and I am very blessed. I want to go out there and prove myself. I’ve given it everything I’ve had from the very beginning- from dirt racing, bandoleros to legend cars, knowing the whole time that if you don’t have a sponsor you can’t get to the race track the next week and that’s something my grandfather has taught me each and every week. Kevin Harvick is somebody in my family that is a hero. He was a hero and probably still will be. During a tough time when RCR needed someone to step up, Kevin Harvick did. He kept RCR up front in NASCAR for a long time. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years, both good and bad. He’s a great race car driver. No one can not say that he’s a great race car driver. He’s done a lot to teach me about different tracks that we’ve gone to. It definitely hurts to hear those things from him. I watched the race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and I thought it was hard racing. I thought Ty had a good truck and I thought Harvick had a good truck. They got after it at a place like Martinsville and Ty was racing for points and thought like he needed to get to the next spot. Things are said in the heat of battle. I’ve learned that it’s better to forgive someone for what they’ve said. I’ve forgiven him already. It’s just tough. Going into this year I was thinking that Kevin Harvick was going to be a teammate of mine going into next year and that I was going to be able to learn from him. I wanted us to be able to work together so that we could win championships together at RCR. When we found out he was going to Stewart-Hass Racing, it hurt my feelings. I still knew, though, that we could do it at RCR. We’ve always been able to overcome things. I was going to go into this year, and still am, trying to learn as much as I could from him. I did and still thank him for everything he’s taught me and where I’m at today. My grandfather is the same way. He’s taught me a lot about the way to act and respect people. I forgive Kevin. It definitely hurts to hear some of those things that were said, but at the same time I wouldn’t have ever thought that those things would come out of his mouth because I’ve known him for a long time, played basketball with him, been over to his shop. I played basketball with him for 11 or 12 weeks and really got to know him. It sucks. It’s part of it. I feel like RCR has given Kevin Harvick everything they could to win a championship as far a team, as far as guys, the best pit crew we can put together. When he leaves he will know that we have given him every opportunity that we could as a company and as a family here at RCR to win. That’s all you can ask for as a driver. If he goes to Stewart-Hass Racing and finds what he needs I’ll be happy for him and we’ll move on. I think the biggest thing is to forgive him, move on and learn from it. I’m going on to the next week and trying to win this week at Texas and trying to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship. I’m looking forward to the great things we have going on at RCR. We have a lot of positive things going on here. Right now I’m just happy as a person for everything that RCR has been able to give me and looking forward to trying to kick butt for years to come over here.”

 

   For a refresher on what happened at Martinsville, go here.