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Petty Enterprises has made several changes recently, all of which seek to enhance their competitiveness. For the 2008 Sprint Cup season, they have added Jeff Mendeering as Crew Chief for the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. Jeff comes to the Petty's after 13 years with Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), most recently as the car chief for Jeff Gordon and the #24 Dupont car. The car chief is considered the 'right hand man' to the crew chief and when Steve Letarte, crew chief for the #24 car, was suspended by NASCAR last season, Mendeering stepped up to be Jeff Gordon's crew chief. He was able to lead the team to 6 top-10 finishes in 6 races during that time!

In addition to Mendeering, the Petty's have added veteran engineer Derrick Finley to their team as Technical Director for both the #43 and #45 cars. This strategic addition will make improvements to deliver cars to the track in excellent setup trim. Finley brings a broad range of experience to Petty Enterprises, specifically Dodge experience, so we're happy to see him on the team! Even though Jeff and Derrick don't work directly on the #45 Marathon American Spirit Dodge, the knowledge they bring will certainly benefit both teams' performance.

The most exciting commitment to improve came with the Petty's relocation from Level Cross, NC, to the heart of NASCAR. After 60 years of being located next to the house that Richard "The King" Petty grew up in, the shop has moved to Mooresville, North Carolina. The historical Petty race shop in Level Cross was a 60,000 square foot facility. Petty Enterprises will now occupy the 115,000 square foot former home of Robert Yates Racing. After visiting the new shop last week, you should know that the Petty's are more equipped and better prepared than ever to compete in stock car racing's highest series. This facility is top-of- the-line and exactly what the team needed to attract top talent at all positions. Believe it when we say that this is a "Best in Class" facility.

The teams have finished weeks of moving and testing at Daytona, Las Vegas and California, learning as much as they can about this year's "Car of Today", which will run at all races in 2008. The 50th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday, February 17. Richard Petty, whose father won the first Daytona race, will be the official starter. Richard was the winner of the race 7 times. It is an honor for Marathon to be affiliated with a true American icon.

Let's all tighten our belts, start our engines and cheer on Kyle and the #45 team!