Andy Petree is scheduled to return to the ABC broadcast booth in 2008

And there isn’t a nicer guy in the sport.

Born in Newton, N.C., he has been a longtime fixture in NASCAR racing. After spending many years racing on local tracks, including Hickory Motor Speedway, he became part owner of the No. 32 Busch car with Dale Jarrett.

In 1977, just as Jarrett was trying to start his racing career, Petree, a high school friend, helped him form DAJ Racing to run in the limited sportsman class at Hickory (N.C.) Speedway. The “D” in DAJ stood for Dale, the “A” for Andy and the “J” for another friend, Jimmy Newsome.

By the age of 28, Petree was crew chief for Harry Gant, the driver of Leo Jackson’s No. 33.

Petree went on to win two NASCAR Cup championships as a crew chief for the late Dale Earnhardt. He later won races with his own team, and drove in some Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series races.

He moved into team ownership after the 1996 season when he took control of the No. 33 Skoal Bandit car driven by Gant. But Gant retired at the end of the 1997 season, and Ken Schrader drove the car to a 10th-place in the final Winston Cup standings.

In 1998, Schrader had three top-fives and 11 top-10s, but finished 12th in points. Late in the season, Petree added a second car. Hut Stricklin drove it first, but Kenny Wallace finished the season in it.

The struggles of adding a second car and lack of sponsorship showed in 1999. Schrader struggled to a 15th-place finish. Wallace was more flashy but also inconsistent. He earned his career best finish of second at New Hampshire International Speedway, but finished 22nd in points.

The 2000 season was a lot better. Joe Nemechek, who had replaced Schrader, was solid as he won a pole, had three top-fives and nine top-10s. That enabled him to finish 15th in points.

Still searching for victory in 2001, Petree kept Nemechek in the No. 33 and hired  Bobby Hamilton to drive the No. 55. A third team with Geoffrey Bodine as the driver made one start in 2000, but the deal fell through.

2001 turned out to be Petree’s best season. Hamilton held off Tony Stewart in a thriller at Talladega to give Petree his first career win.

Mike Wallace drove the car for four races in 2002. However, with a best finish of 21st at Daytona, the No. 33 team’s glory days were over. Andy Petree was backed in a corner.

By February 2003, his Cup team was history.

“I guess you could say I had to wear two different kind of hats,” continued Petree. “The first was as a car owner, but the really hard one was dealing with sponsors. Each week more and more of my time was consumed with trying to improve our financial situation.

“We thought we had things on the right track but then we hit a bump in the road with the economy and weren’t able to keep our sponsorships.”

On Oct. 12, 2006, Petree signed on with ABC/ESPN as part of its broadcast team. Petree, Dr. Jerry Punch and Rusty Wallace anchored the network’s broadcast during the last half of the 2007 racing season.

Petree is scheduled to return to the ABC broadcast booth in 2008, along with Punch and Wallace.

Craftsman Out After 2008

Craftsman, the series sponsor of the NASCAR Truck Series since its inception in 1995, will be out as the title sponsor of the series at the end of the upcoming 2008 season.

NASCAR doesn’t know who will take Craftsman’s place as title sponsor of the series. It said last week that it expects to begin negotiations with several viable candidates soon.

Earlier this year, NASCAR’s other two national series — the Nextel Cup Series and the Busch Series — announced they would be going with new title sponsors and changing their names beginning next season. Sprint Cup will become the name of the top series, and the Busch Series will become the Nationwide Series.

Racing Trivia Question: Sam Hornish is an open-wheel driver who will be running a full Cup schedule next year. Which team will he drive for?

Last Week’s Question: Which Cup driver will be driving Car No. 88 in 2008?

Answer: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .