NASCAR Cup Series

Richard Petty Motorsports renaissance no accident

Published Jul. 10, 2014 9:25 a.m. ET

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Jeff Hammond

I was fortunate to be invited up into Richard Petty's motorcoach for a meeting in February at Daytona. I'll be the first to admit that I, along with others, had been critical of the organization's performance in 2013. The meeting was arranged for all of us to sit down and basically "clear the air," if you will.

The meeting was really interesting in a number of ways. They explained to us what they were doing with the funds they had. They talked to us about some changes they had made internally to address Richard's and, quite honestly, everyone's concerns about their cars becoming more competitive in 2014. The bottom line was they told us that they had made a commitment not only to their drivers, but to their sponsors that they were going to be a better race organization this year.

With all that said, I feel they have done so far exactly what they said they were going to do. As critical as I was in 2013 of their performance, I will also be the first to say how impressed I am of their improvement in 2014. They have done so much already in this first half of the season to turn things around, to me, 180 degrees.

With his win Sunday, Aric Almirola jumped two positions in the standings to 21st. It was his second top-five finish and fourth top-10 finish so far in 2014. He's now set up to make the Chase for the very first time, not only for Aric personally, but also the first time for Richard Petty Motorsports. We also know with the win that the No. 43 car will be in next year's Sprint All-Star Race.

Aric's teammate, Marcos Ambrose, sits 19th in points and he too has two top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes this season. Also don't forget we still have the road course at Watkins Glen coming up before the Chase, and there's nothing saying Marcos couldn't win that event and propel both Richard Petty Motorsport cars into the playoffs.

Most of you probably know they run Fords and there have been some cases where Aric and Marcos have been better than the Fords of the powerhouse Roush Fenway Racing organization. So that to me speaks volumes of how much they have improved since last year. So I am really impressed, because what they promised us we would see back in February up on The King's motorcoach, well, they have backed it up.

I am really excited for Aric to get his first win in, of all places, Daytona, where the No. 43 ruled for so many decades. I promise you that you will not meet a nicer young man than Aric in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage. You also won't find anyone who is more competitive or has a bigger passion for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing than he does. 

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