Media Tour Stop No. 12: A Smiling King And His Court

Richard Petty is one happy dude. So is AJ Allmendinger. And Marcos Ambrose. And, frankly, everyone who survived at Richard Petty Motorsports.

Against tall odds, the organization somehow made it through a tremendous financial crisis when the previous owners ran into problems and planned to shutter the race team last fall.

Petty, NASCAR’s greatest living legend, rallied and recruited investor Andrew Murstein to right the sinking ship. Just several months later, the team appears healthy and with a bright future.

Because the drama mostly played out in boardrooms, it’s probably hard to grasp just how iffy the situation really was. But from the sounds of it, RPM was basically down to its last hope – and Murstein’s Medallion Financial Co. was it.

So it’s understandable that smiles and laughs were in abundance at the RPM stop. Allmendinger and Ambrose – both full of personality – were two of the most excited, optimistic drivers of the entire media tour so far.

Check back next week for more on RPM. Sorry for the brief entry, but the next stop is already starting.