Trading places: Petty, Labonte could switch seats

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Even as he prepares to make his 810th career Nextel Cup start, moving him into fifth place all-time, Kyle Petty's eyes are on the future.

And if the future entails Petty falling out of the top 35 in owner points in his No. 45 Dodge, make no mistake. He will do whatever it takes to keep racing, and to get that car back within the top 35 as quickly as possible.

That includes possibly switching seats with fellow Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Labonte, whose No. 43 sits in 18th place in owner points heading into Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway. As a past Cup champion, Labonte is permitted under current NASCAR rules to use a championship provisional to make up to six races per season.

Petty said Saturday that he would not hesitate to switch cars if it was necessary to ensure that both Petty Enterprises cars kept lining up for the Cup races -- whether that would be at the beginning of next season or at the end of this one.

Teams within the top 35 in owner points are automatically guaranteed starting positions in races, and teams that finish one season within the top 35 are guaranteed starting spots regardless of qualifying speeds for the first five races of the following season, when the Top 35 field is re-set again.

"Yeah, we'd consider it. I'm not gonna lie," Petty said. "Look, as long as they don't change the rules and the rulebook is written that way, we're in the business to run racecars. We have two racecars -- the 43 and the 45. Those are our racecars. Right now Richard Petty owns both racecars, and we've got one driver with the championship provisional and another driver who is on the bubble. Whatever it takes to get those in, I don't see the issue with it.

"Michael [Waltrip] used Dale Jarrett. The Wood Brothers used Bill Elliott. Other guys have used Terry Labonte. So what's the issue? I mean, it's out there. I'm not going to fall on the sword and say, 'No, we're above that. We're not going to do it.' It's in the rulebook, man. It's not illegal."

Labonte seemed surprised when asked about it Saturday morning. But he said he would be a team player no matter what is decided -- should Petty fall out of the top 35.

"I'm not in that program. I don't know about that program," Labonte said at first.

But then he added: "I probably don't have a stance. I just do what I'm told, I guess. We'll have to wait and see how that turns out."

It isn't the first time this possibility has surfaced, Labonte said.

"We talked about it last year because he was in that same position at Homestead [going into the final race]. It didn't happen," he said.

Petty said he obviously intends to run as well as he can to try to maintain or improve his current position in the standings. But if not, he said he will not apologize for doing whatever he thinks needs to be done.

"It's not the best way to do things," Petty admitted. "It's not the best way to do things at all -- but whatever it would take for us to survive as a company and continue to race, that's what we will do." (Continued)