Q&A: Inman talks Darlington, racing and Richard Petty

Dale Inman is a former crew chief and first cousin of Richard Petty. The duo won nearly 200 races together and six championships.
Inman, now a consultant with Petty Motorsports, sat down with Morning News writer Justin Driggers on Friday to talk about Darlington, racing and the evolution of the crew chief position.

Q: You’ve been officially retired for more than 10 years now. What have you been doing to keep busy?

Inman: What you see me doing today, going to the race track. We’ve got four race cars now, and you pull for all of them, but it’s hard to see where they are all at times. I just make my rounds and see what’s going on.

Q: You’ve been coming to Darlington for many years. What’s the biggest difference or change that you’ve seen since you first came here?

Inman: We’ve always had to run close to the wall here, and the guardrail was always so crooked that you’d hit it for three or four yards and come off. You couldn’t run the rail because it was so bent up and crooked. So the safety walls and all the safety stuff that’s gone on is the big difference with the racetrack. The shape is still the same.

Q: Richard Petty was involved in a pretty rough wreck here in 1970. What did you see from your viewpoint?

Inman: Richard wrecked one of our Superbirds after qualifying, and so we had to go home and get just a regular Plymouth Roadrunner. It wasn’t as fast as the Superbird, and he’d already been in the wall and knocked the toe-end all out. He just flat lost the car coming off of (Turn) 4. He did some flips and his hands and his head were all out the window. I guess that was one of the main things that brought out the window nets.

Q: What are some of biggest differences in being a crew chief in the 1960s and today?

Inman: I changed the right front tire, made the calls in the pits, drove the truck in and then drove it home. Now we have people to do all that. Before, we really did have any way to see what other people’s (speeds) were other than a stopwatch. Now, you get a report about how fast everyone is. ... It’s just unreal how much technology has gone into racing. Some of it might be unnecessary, but it’s there if you want it.

Q: If you were starting out as a crew chief today, do you think you’d be able to adapt?

Inman: I don’t know. If I was a younger man and had to, yeah, I think I could. I’d have to learn computers, which I’m too familiar with, but I think I could handle it. Thinking about it, I don’t know if some of the crew chiefs today could have done it the way we did back then, either.

Q: Your relationship with Petty is still as strong as ever?

Inman: Oh yes. We’ve been on trips together, been on cruised together, and traveled cross country from one race to the next. We’ve really just been enjoying life; some of the parts that we had to sacrifice doing what we did for so many years.

Q: Was the strong friendship part of what made you two so successful as a racing team?

Inman: I’m sure it was. We both got into racing by helping his dad and learning from him. We’ve always kind of been on the same page when it came to working on a race car.

Q: Valvoline is going to pay tribute to you with a paint scheme on the No. 43 car. Is it rewarding to have your years of work remembered?

Inman: It is. Richard hasn’t driven a race car in 25 years, and I haven’t been a crew chief in I can’t remember how long. So to be remembered with something like this is very special.

Q: With Mother’s Day on Sunday, are there any special memories you have of her that involve racing?

Inman: I don’t know if she was ever at a race, but I know she listened to them all. I have a lot of fond memories of her. She used to sew patches for our uniforms or make window nets or do anything else she could to help us out.