Loomis working on putting Petty back on lead lap

Mike Harris / ThatsRacin.com
Changing a team from an also-ran to a serious contender can be an agonizingly slow and difficult process.

Nobody knows that better than Robbie Loomis, executive vice president of operations for Petty Enterprises.

The Petty team, one of NASCAR's pioneer organizations and long one of its most successful, is in the midst of an extensive overhaul intended to get back to the top nearly 30 years after Richard Petty won the last of his seven championships.

The team, which has 268 victories in its storied history, has won only three times since 1984, the last by John Andretti in 1999.

But Richard Petty and son Kyle are determined to turn things around. Hiring Loomis, who began his career with the Pettys and later became a championship crew chief with Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports in 2001, was the first big step in that direction.

The face of the team has changed considerably since Loomis came on board in late 2005.

Bobby Labonte, a former Cup champion, is now the lead driver and recently signed a contract extension. Loomis also hired Jeff Meendering, a former car chief for Gordon at Hendrick, to be Labonte's crew chief.

Earlier this year, the team moved 70 miles from its longtime home in Level Cross, N.C., to Mooresville, a suburb of Charlotte, the hub of stock car racing. And, in June, the Pettys sold majority interest in the family team, started in 1949 by Richard's father, Lee, to Boston Ventures, a private equity firm.

Outwardly, little has changed.

Labonte, now 44, is 20th in the season points, while 48-year-old Kyle Petty, drives only part time, sharing his team's second Dodge with 22-year-old Chad McCumbee, road racing ace Boris Said and two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte, Bobby's older and semiretired older brother.

But Loomis said the changes are working.


much more of article @ www.racegear.com

Mark my words, Robbie will get it done. He just needs Hendrick Chevys, LOL

Lee

Re: Loomis working on putting Petty back on lead lap

Only those I have to Kick now and again.