Petty Enterprises loss could be the Wood Brothers gain

Kyle Petty is leaving Petty Enterprises and his next stop could be another legendary team the Wood Brothers.

The son of the legendary Richard Petty, Kyle confirmed Monday that he will be leaving starting next season.

Petty Enterprises recently entered into a partnership with Boston Ventures and according to Petty the decision was made that the team would field two cars next season, one with driver Chad McCumbee and the second with veteran Bobby Labonte, leaving him without a ride.

Petty began his career with his father’s team in 1979. He moved to the Wood Brothers in 1985 then the a team owned by Felix Sabates in 1989 and returned to Petty Enterprises in 1997. He has eight career wins in NASCAR’s top division, none of those wins however have come at Petty Enterprises.

As for his future Petty said he would be open to running a part time schedule and there is some speculation that he may be in line for one of the Wood Brothers part time teams in 2009. The Wood Brothers recently announced that they would only campaign in 12 races next season primarily at the larger tracks where they have had good performances in the past. Although veteran Bill Elliott was originally named as the driver for those 12 races, now that Petty has thrown his hat into the ring, there could be a possibility that Petty may share the seat with Elliott.

In 86 starts with the Wood Brothers, Petty scored 2 victories, 17 top 5 and 40 top-10 finishes.