“It was just an automatic — when he did what he did, he done his own thing (to himself),” Petty said Tuesday following an appearance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “All we’ve done is said, ‘This is the way it’s got to be.’ … It’s definitely zero tolerance.


“These guys are putting their life on the line. The guys on pit road are putting their life on the line — 100 percent isn’t good enough. Anybody that sort of breaks the rule, there’s no room in our organization for that.” 

The 49-year-old Parrott, who has 31 career wins and who guided Dale Jarrett to the 1999 Cup title, had guided Aric Almirola to 18th in the Cup standings this year.

 Petty said he was shocked that Parrott violated the policy, which comes with an automatic indefinite suspension from NASCAR.


“I’ve never been around him enough to see any changes or any of that kind of stuff,” Petty said. “The parts and stuff that I’ve seen him around the shop and around the racetrack, I didn’t see anything going on.


“I’m not an expert on that kind of stuff.” 



Almirola and Parrott seemed to mesh well, as Almirola had a career-best average finish of 18.4 this season with Parrott atop the pit box. But now Almirola will have to move on knowing that Parrott most likely won’t be back with him next year. 

The team announced Tuesday that Greg Ebert, the team’s car chief, would serve as crew chief the rest of the year.

“It’s going to be pretty seamless,” Almirola said of the transition between crew chiefs. “Greg’s been around the car a lot. He’s up to speed with a lot of our setup stuff that has evolved throughout the year.


“Besides the engineers, he’s the one guy that’s the most hands-on with the cars. … All the guys on the team obviously respect him a lot. He’s already in a leadership role.”

 For Parrott to return, he would need to be evaluated by a substance-abuse professional, who then will determine the steps he must take to be reinstated under NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program. 

Petty said he had not talked with Parrott, but Almirola said he had.

“I just reached out to him and told him that I supported him and I just want him to get better and get back on track,” Almirola said. “I don’t know what else to say to the guy.


“I’ve said it over and over. This isn’t a character flaw or anything. He’s still a good person, and he’s still a good crew chief. But he made a mistake, and he’s got to bounce back from it.” 

Almirola said the team is up to the challenge.

“Our race team is not defined by one person,” Almirola said. “There is a lot of great people at our race team. It’s going to force everybody to step up for the time being.”

ALMIROLA TO RUN NO. 41 

Don’t bother trying to find the No. 43 car in the Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

It won’t be there.

What in the name of Richard Petty is going on?

It’s all about the Petty name — Maurice Petty.

Maurice drove 26 races in his career in the No. 41 and to honor his 2014 induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame next January, Richard Petty Motorsports will change the number of its No. 43 car to No. 41 for Aric Almirola this weekend.

The last time the No. 43 didn’t race was at Atlanta in October 2003 when Jeff Green failed to make the race.

The last time the No. 43 wasn’t entered for the race was in 1993, the year after Petty retired and the team did not run the number.

“It is kind of weird, but to me it goes back to the same thing to what we did when we first started,” Richard Petty said. “My dad’s number was 42. We just took the 2 off and put a 3 on (for me). We just took the 3 off my car and put a 1 on (for Maurice).”

When Maurice, who built the engines for his brother, gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, he will be the fourth member of Petty’s family to be inducted into the shrine — along with seven-time Cup champion Richard, their father three-time Cup champion Lee and cousin, crew chief Dale Inman.

Petty said he never thought about taking the other RPM car, the No. 9 for Marcos Ambrose, and make that the No. 43 for the weekend.

“We talked to NASCAR and they were real receptive to what we were going to do,” Petty said. “They said they will give us the (owner) points for the 43 car and can put the 41 (on it) just for the circumstances for the hall of fame.”

TALLADEGA RATINGS DOWN

The Sprint Cup Series race Sunday from Talladega Superpseedway earned a 3.1 rating with an average of 4.9 million viewers.

Although it was the second-best rated race of the Chase, it was a tick off from last year's 3.2 rating with 5.1 million viewers.

TWEET OF THE DAY

"My man sure pulled through today, Babes chicken for lunch!!!! We ain't gonna be worth a damn the rest of the day. #happyhappyhappy"

–Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer), who apparently is happy he had Babes fried chicken for lunch during a break in testing at Texas Motor Speedway

Contributor: Bob Pockrass