Acorn falls far from tree

By Staff
Jason Cannon
Sometimes the acorn does fall pretty far away from the tree.
Kyle Petty, the son of racing legend Richard Petty, has been yanked out of his No. 45 ride for the Texas race today in favor of rookie Chad McCumbee.
Petty, widely renowned as one of the most respected drivers in the garage, hasn't found victory lane in 13 years. He's finished no better than 22nd in points since 1998.
And after failing to qualify for the Martinsville race last week, the powers that be decided to pull the trigger.
How bad must it feel to be pulled from your ride by your own father?
Sure, the ultimate decision lies with Robbie Loomis, Petty Enterprises' vice president of competition, but you know the King could have stopped this if he wanted to.
Kyle's benching is only for one race, but Petty Enterprises is desperate to get their cars close to victory lane.
It doesn't look like they're too sure Kyle Petty's going to get them there.
Petty's already paved the way for life after NASCAR. He's even pulling himself out of his own ride for six races later this year to hop in the broadcast booth.
A strong finish by McCumbee could be a catalyst to make that jump to the broadcast booth happen a little faster.
This rubber meets the track at Texas Motor Speedway this week since The Lone Star State hosts one of only two tracks where Jeff Gordon has never won.
He's 0-for-14 and in 1999, he walked away from a crash that left many wondering how he survived. A win last fall at Charlotte ended Gordon's 15-race winless streak there, and it took him 17 races at Phoenix before he won his first there last spring.
Matt Kenseth has finished second in three of the last four Cup races at Texas.
Jeff Burton, the Cup points leader going into today's race, is always strong in Texas. He's the only active driver with two wins there.
I think this week Jeff Gordon breaks his losing streak and gets Rick Hendrick in Victory Lane for the first time this year.
Jason Cannon is the publisher of The Franklin County Times. He can be reached at jason.cannon@fct.wpengine.com or (256) 332-1881, ext. 11.