The family of North Carolina man Richard Petty, who the Charlotte News and Observer dubs a “NASCAR legend” in the headline of their story – which we guess means he was a legend at getting national automotive and snack food brands to pay to place their logos on his race car – told the paper’s wire service owner McClatchy on Monday that NC-06 GOP primary candidate Christian Castelli is full of shit when he claimed that Petty endorsed 2024 campaign, pointing out correctly that Castelli simply reused a 2022 endorsement video from Petty and passed it off as current.

Petty is now the seventh public figure to publicly disavow an endorsement for Castelli – who lost that 2022 race to Dem Kathy Manning – and another win for one of his primary opponents, pitiful former Congressman Mark Walker, who himself was humiliated similarly by disgraced former President Trump over his Senate bid during the Tar Heel State GOP’s convention in June 2021.

“Trump repeatedly pushed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to run for the open Senate seat [then being vacated by Richard Burr], but she declined. He then decided—on the flight last month to Greenville, NC, where he spoke at a state party event – to back [now-Senator then-Congressman] Ted Budd in a competitive Republican primary race. The president’s announcement stunned aides and candidates, including Mark Walker, who became emotional when he learned about the endorsement while seated with his family in the audience,” the Wall Street Journal later reported.

Well actually Walker’s been humiliated this year too, as the News and Observer reports that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Markwayne Mullin and Congressmen Gus Bilirakis and Matt Gaetz have either undorsed Walker or never endorsed him in the first place. “I love Richard Petty and NASCAR. Yesterday’s race in Atlanta was an incredible photo finish. We don’t anticipate the same for the 6th District,” Walker wrote in a text to the paper.

Castelli still knows in his heart that Petty truly loves him and that it’s his family that are Rasputin-ing the situation. “Richard Petty has a lot of handlers. They’re probably feeling pressure from the Mark Walker camp. They probably supported him in the past. This was not an issue when I was the Republican nominee. He was the first person that I asked to renew his endorsement and the answer I got was yes, but it was many months ago, and I don’t think quite honestly that they realized we were in primary season. As soon as the last general was over we were in primary season again, and I asked them very early on at that event,” Castelli said, pointing the finger at Rebecca Petty Moffitt, director of the Petty Family Foundation, a conservative power brokerage something something.

Now claiming that he had given her the heads up, Castelli showed the News and Observer an email exchange in which he gave her the heads up that the “legend” had agreed to renew his support for 2024 and that Castelli’s campaign had planned to post the video again. “Good News. Good Luck and Merry Christmas,” was Rebecca’s response. Earlier this month she (allegedly) changed her tune when Castelli asked for the “legend” to voice a 30-second robocall (Jesus Christ, lol).

“The response I got was, ‘This close to the primary, Richard would prefer not to do it. And I thought, ‘OK, what’s going on here?'” Castelli said, plainly heartbroken over the mess.

Make America GREAT Again! pic.twitter.com/Wwd1oaJUli

— Bo Hines (@BoHines) December 12, 2023

All this stupid bullshit about Richard Petty isn’t even the funniest endorsement drama in North Carolina’s 6th. At a December 12th, 2023 event, Trump called out other primary candidate Bo Hines, a Madison Cawthorn acolyte who lost the 2022 general to Dem Congressman Willey Nickel, saying Hines is going to “be a congressman very shortly.” Literally the next day the fat demented fuck completely totally endorsed lobbyist Addison McDowell, an acolyte of NRCC Chair Richard Hudson.

Which means she’s probably going to win, and all this petty circlejerk means nothing. Pun intended.