Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Kyle Petty, whose father won more Nascar races than anyone, said the slowdown of corporate investment is a bigger risk for the motor sport than the recession’s effect on attendance.

The 48-year-old from Randleman, North Carolina, who won’t be in the driver’s seat as Nascar kicks off the 2009 season with the Daytona 500 race on Feb. 15, said the racing league has done a good job of keeping venues filled.

“As long as we can keep entertaining, I don’t think it’s going to be a major impact,” Petty said in a telephone interview from Nashville, Tennessee. “The major impact will come from sponsorship dollars that are out there and how people choose to advertise in the future.”

Sponsorship is the lifeblood of Nascar as companies such as Home Depot Inc., Procter & Gamble Co.’s Old Spice brand and Lowe’s Cos. spend millions of dollars for the right to put logos on race cars and increase brand exposure. Instead of sponsoring cars for the entire 36-race schedule, companies will keep moving toward part-time sponsorships with a regional emphasis as they have the last few years, Petty said.

“When you see the car manufacturers that were such a part of our sport, when you see what’s going on in Detroit and what’s going on with your next-door neighbor, obviously it’s got to affect our sport,” he said.

Petty raced a limited schedule in 2008 before the company merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports last month. The result of the merger is a four-car team that will race this season under the name Richard Petty Motorsports, and without Petty behind the wheel.

Wells Fargo Sponsorship

Petty also said that Wells Fargo & Co. effectively ended its sponsorship of the driver after its deal in October to acquire Wachovia Corp.

“With all the things that have gone on in the banking industry and with their merger with Wachovia, they’ve taken a step back,” Petty said. “At worst it went away. At best, it’s on hold.”

The son of Richard Petty, winner of a record 200 Nascar races, said he’s itching to drive again and has been in contact with an undisclosed number of teams about returning to the racing league’s top circuit. He ruled out racing in the second-tier Nationwide Series or truck circuit.

“I might not be driving a race car, but I’m not retired,” said Petty, spending this week at Daytona, Florida, as a radio analyst and Speed network host. “If something comes up in the first half of the year, I’d jump on it with both feet. I still look at myself as a driver.”

Game-Changer

Last year proved to be a game-changer for Petty after private equity firm Boston Ventures bought a controlling stake in Petty Enterprises. The purchase ended 60 years of family control of stock-car racing’s winningest team.

Petty, who started in nine Sprint Cup Series events before the June acquisition, raced just six more times the rest of the season for the newly named Petty Holdings. His career includes eight victories and 173 top-ten finishes, according to Nascar.com.

“It was a difficult year on a personal level,” Petty said. “Petty Enterprises had always been a family company. It put me in a strange position having always worked for a family business. The business was going in a totally different direction. There was really no place for me after ‘08.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Vince Golle in Washington at vgolle@bloomberg.net; Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 11, 2009 17:28 EST