Richard Petty – quite possibly the best NASCAR racer of all time and the man in charge of Richard Petty Motorsports – says that Chrysler stopped paying his team after filing for bankruptcy last month. No surprise there. The lack of funds prompted RPM to lay off nine workers, although Petty is now saying there is hope that the automaker will soon work out some sort of deal to begin making payments once again now that it's clear of court proceedings.

It isn't clear at this moment if Petty's team, which is in the final year of its current contract with Chrysler, will soldier on using Dodge Chargers Challengers next year. Earlier this month, The King said his team would be willing to talk to any and all manufacturers regarding the 2010 NASCAR season, including Dodge. We'll surely know soon enough, but internet message boards are awash with rumors the team has been in talks with *gasp* Toyota.

[Source: ESPN via MLive.com | Image: Jason Smith/Getty]