Andy Petree was a championship winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt in 1993 and 1994, he is also a long-time fan of the NASCAR Whelen Modifieds. After years of wondering what it would be like to be behind the wheel of the only open-wheel cars run under the NASCAR banner, he finally got his chance earlier this year.
Petree, who besides being a crew chief, and Sprint Cup team owner, also drove in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. However, he always wanted to try a Modified. He got his chance with two starts down at New Smyrna with a Troyer car he built himself, in February.
He has now decided to take the next step and compete in the F.W.Webb 100 for the NASCAR Whelen Modifieds at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16th. He had a test session scheduled for today, and if all goes well, he hopes to not only run with the Modifieds next weekend, but possibly at Bristol as well.
What I truly don't understand is why the Modified division continues to get no respect by the higher-ups in NASCAR. Seemingly, every Sprint Cup driver, and television personality that has ever seen the division run does nothing but rave about the racing. They have drivers like Ryan Newman, and now Petree, running the races, and yet no television deal. The division's greatest driver of all-time, Richie Evans, even just got elected to the Nascar Hall of Fame.
I can almost guarantee a tape-delayed version of the NASCAR Whelen Modified race, scheduled at the same time every week, on Speed Channel would generate higher ratings than many of their current programs.
Wake up NASCAR and Speed and get this done for 2012.
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