NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Dale Inman ruled the racetrack together. Inman joined Petty Enterprises as Richard’s crew chief in 1963 and success soon followed the pair as they won an incredible seven championships and 188 races including seven Daytona 500s! While at the peak of their powers, the duo was quickly rising to fame in not just the racing world but all around the United States.

Fans saw a testament to this when Petty and Inman went to watch an NFL game between Washington and Detroit. The Hall of Famers were on the sidelines where they watched another NASCAR legend who at the time was cementing his name in the football world as head coach of the Washington Redskins, Joe Gibbs.

As ‘the King’ entered the field fans were in a frenzy and asked for autographs all around, it was hard to believe that it was a football field and not race day! “It’s just grown so much bigger than what had we even thought about, and we always watch professional football, and baseball and say why can’t racing be that big because we know it’s as good or better than, I think right now we’re starting to prove that.” he elaborated on how racing is equal to the other sports, if not better and is slowly gaining traction.

Following this, Richard Petty and Inman headed to their seats to witness Joe Gibbs’ Redskins dominate their opponents 24-3, something they are quite familiar with themselves. Additionally, it was a quite different experience for the pair who found out what it’s to like witnessing something from a fan’s perspective and Richard and Dale seem to like it. Let’s how the NFL coach turned NASCAR team owner recently made a huge decision on dirt racing let’s see what’s that about.

“I think they just wore him out a little bit,” says JGR’s president as they decide to lift the dirt racing ban

A couple of years ago Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) made a decision to restrict their drivers from competing in other races. But, the addition of Chase Briscoe to its 2025 lineup made it three JGR drivers including Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty Gibbs and their star driver Christopher Bell, who wanted to compete in dirt-racing. So, eventually, JGR decided to lift the ban that restricted its drivers from dirt-racing.

With their drivers now all set! To participate in events such as World of Outlaws and the Chili Bowl to hone their skills, the team president Dave Alpern shed light on this topic by speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “I think they (the drivers) just wore (Coach) out a little bit. Christopher was great about it. And I know many of his fans, his dirt fans were disappointed about that.” However, Alpern also talked about the rationale behind the decision as to how dirt racing can lead to their drivers getting injured and this could affect the team’s season.

He further added, “People forget we have almost 500 employees and it’s not just the employees, it’s the sponsors. And the people that are counting on their drivers that we felt like we have a responsibility that we gotta protect these guys, for this is their primary job. There were some folks here who kind of pushed the coach a little bit,” he elaborated how not only the employees but also the sponsors expect a certain level of accountability from the team. Nonetheless, now the JGR drivers can compete in dirt racing which has its own benefits.