After much anticipation, the NASCAR world officially met the new Richard Petty Motorsports. Richard Petty and Foster Gillett unveiled the new team name and logo Monday during the 27th annual NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Many in the media and the grandstands believed the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Holdings marked the end of Petty Enterprises and the Petty name all together. While it is true Petty Enterprises no longer exists, the Petty legacy and the Petty name have survived the merger to carry on for the next generation of Hardcore Race Fans.

"That's sort of like Rockingham went away and Wilkesboro went away," Richard Petty explained on Monday. "They were the staple of NASCAR 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, so time moves on. Basically time has moved on from Petty, Earnhardt, the Wood Brothers, Junior Johnson, Bud Moore, you name it. They came in, they did their thing and they went on their way."

While losing the legendary names that helped build the sport is border-line blasphemy to many, Petty doesn't necessarily see that as a bad thing.

The "King" went on to point out, "That's good for NASCAR because you don't have the same situations year in and year out. You've got new blood. So you've got new ideas and new ways of doing things and I think you get new fans that way."

One person hoping that a new situation will bring about better things is driver Reed Sorenson. The Peachtree City, Georgia-native is taking over the reigns of the famed No. 43 Dodge for the first time in 2009. After a disappointing tenure with Ganassi Racing, Sorenson is looking forward to starting new and carrying on the tradition associated with the Petty name and the famous car number he has been assigned to.

"In NASCAR, I think it means a lot to Richard [Petty] and everybody that has been involved in the Petty organization from the beginning. If that name disappeared from NASCAR it would be a pretty bad deal," Sorenson added. "I know it means a lot to Richard and now it means a lot to us. We're part of the Petty name now. We can share that feeling with him now and everybody is glad to have him on board."

Sorenson will be joining Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and AJ Allmendinger in the four-car Richard Petty Motorsports team. For Kahne, having Richard Petty join the organization is an amazing opportunity.

"I think it's just neat to have him part of it," Kahne explained. "To have somebody like Richard who has won so many race and has done so much for the sport, to be with us. He came to a test a couple of weeks ago. He was there and interested in what was going on and a part of it. That's pretty neat, to have an owner right there.

"The name Richard Petty Motorsports is a great name to be behind and to be part of. I'm happy it's Richard Petty Motorsports and I'm excited to be part of that," Kahne added. "I can't wait to win some races and get Richard back in the winner's circle as an owner."

Along with debuting the new team name and logo, team officials also announced the team's fourth car - to be piloted by AJ Allmendinger - will switch from the No. 10 to the No. 44 Dodge. Allmendinger will run a limited schedule until further funding from additional sponsors are found.