His father, Lee Petty, had raced in Michigan, and they detoured through Indianapolis in May to talk with Firestone officials about tires for their race cars. In a session with reporters last week, Petty said he first visited Indy in 1954. Petty, who turns 72 on July 2, said it's likely a one-shot deal, brought about by the chance to work with other racing royalty - the Andrettis - and to compete one time in an Indy 500. Petty is in partnership with Dreyer & Reinbold, a longtime Indy team, with Window World as the sponsor. Hunter-Reay then grabbed the final spot back, making Alex Tagliani the final bump. There, he found enough speed to not only bump Ryan Hunter-Reay but to move past four others to the inside of Row 10. That will take some doing, but just making the field took some doing, too.Īndretti qualified on Saturday, was bumped early Sunday, then had two slow runs before taking a final shot. 'Our goal,' Andretti said last weekend, 'is to make him late for Charlotte.' So Petty, who blamed big feet for taking away his lone chance to drive an Indy car back in the early 1970s, will have to split his time next Sunday between Indianapolis and Charlotte, N.C., where his NASCAR teams will compete in the Coca-Cola 600. 43 was in the starting grid with eight minutes to spare. When John Andretti turned a four-lap average of 221.316 mph on 'bump day' on Sunday, Richard Petty's famous blue-and-red No. Fifty-five years after his first visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most recognizable man in American auto racing will be part of the 33-car field for the 93rd Indianapolis 500.

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