He later took several races off to work as a color commentator for TNT's Nextel Cup coverage, replacing Benny Parsons after Parsons's death. He returned to the 45 after a five race break but surrendered the car for two additional races later in the season. Early in the 2008 season, Petty Enterprises was purchased by Boston Ventures, causing Petty to step aside as the team's CEO. When the #45 car fell out of the top-35 in owner's points, he took a large portion of the season off, including races that did not conflict with his broadcasting duties. After fourteen races, his best finish was a 24th at Richmond. He finished 39th in his final 2008 start in the fall race at Phoenix International Raceway after getting swept up into a multi-car crash. According to the Yahoo! sports blog "From The Marbles", he was being slowly pushed out the door at Petty Enterprises. In December, Petty told NASCAR.com, "I don't work for Petty Enterprises. When they did their deal and sold to Boston Ventures...they pretty much let me know there wasn't a place for me there going into 2009."