Now, let me say before you begin to e-bomb me cursing about why are you slamming "The King" let me let you all know, I'm not. As usual, I am trying to make a point. Richard Petty is the biggest icon in NASCAR, and arguably the best driver ever. He retired not too long ago, and owns his legendary #43 STP Pontiac which Bobby Hamilton drove for the past few years. Bobby Hamilton is a good driver and I wish him the best of luck with Morgan-McClure in 1998. I hope he can find his own identity driving for someone else now also. Hamilton's first win came last year in Pheonix. The media acted as if Richard Petty won that race! It took way too much spotlight away from Bobby, who drove the car and won the race. Bobby's second win was the same story, it came at Rockingham. I witnessed this first hand, and MRN radio interviewed Petty first! When Rusty Wallace wins a race, do they talk to Roger Penske? Nope, they give credit to the driver, and he thanks everybody. But with Hamilton, Petty did the first interview. Once again denying a talented driver the limelight that he deserves. In my never to be bashful opinion, this isn't right. I'm not going to lay into Richard Petty for anything like I have in the past with other drivers in other articles, this one is for the media. Let Richard Petty go, he is retired, he is an owner now. He is supposed to be treated like the other owners, standing back in the background and letting the driver take his own glory. I believe in my mind that this is one reason that Bobby is leaving the Petty camp. The shadow of "The King" is a big one and his shoes are just as big to be filled. I don't think any driver can fill them, much less want to. Just let drivers be drivers and owners be owners and be done with it. The way things are now, any driver in the #43 will never get out of Richard Petty's shadow and find his own identity as a credible driver. The media is always gonna compare his driving to what "The King" did in that #43 Pontiac. I always have a reason for getting on The Soapbox and talking so here is my main reason. I am a die-cast collector. I bought a 1997 Bobby Hamilton 1:43 scale car. It had a gold name plate at the bottom. On that name plate it reads "Richard Petty's #43 Pontiac." No where on the car does it say Bobby Hamilton's name. Every blister pack car of the #43 has a picture of Richard Petty on it, Hamilton is never alone in the #43. Is Childress, Roush, and Hendrick on every car with their drivers? Nope. So in closing I can sum all this up in two sentences. The media needs to leave the #43 driver alone to find his own identity and let Richard Petty just be the owner. "the King" does not drive the #43 car anymore, he just pays the bills. Thank you for listening.
