Motorsports

At last, good times seem near for Petty Enterprises

By BRANT JAMES
Published January 11, 2006

DAYTONA BEACH - Robbie Loomis looked loose and at ease. His hair was a tad longer than Hendrick Motorsports issue, but his blue button-down shirt had management-appropriate long sleeves on a warm afternoon, and he laughed aloud with Jeff Gordon in the garage area on Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway.

Gordon gabbed with the crew chief with whom he won the 2001 title in NASCAR's top series, and the man who succeeded him, Steve Letarte. Loomis couldn't resist using the same joke he'd just laid on Letarte with a laugh and shove of Gordon's shoulder.

"People keeping asking me what's the biggest difference between Hendrick Motorsports and Petty Enterprises," smiled Loomis, who took a job as executive vice president of operations at Petty late last season. "I tell them at Petty Enterprises I have a lot more to work with."

Hilarity ensued. Petty has 150 employees and a long dry spell, compared to Hendrick's 550-strong workforce, and 47 Cup race wins since 2000. And Gordon's four championships.

But for the first time in years, there is hope and more than dark humor at one of NASCAR's most storied teams, with a NASCAR-record 268 wins and 10 championships. Petty has no titles since Richard Petty's last in 1979 and no wins since John Andretti's in 1999. Hope sprung with the addition of Loomis and 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte to drive the legendary No. 43 Dodge.

"It's a great feeling," Loomis said of the new energy. "I like seeing all the synergy with all the guys working together. Bobby and I talked about it, walking through the shop and seeing the hearts of the guys, just the anticipation of hope that we're going to perform and that we're going to win the races."

FULL-TIME: Tampa native Aric Almirola, a member of Joe Gibbs Racing's diversity program who made his NASCAR truck series debut last season with two top-10s in four races, will drive Spears Motorsports' No. 75 Chevrolet in the series, his grandfather, Sam Rodriguez, confirmed.

SPARK PLUGS: Gordon had the fastest lap in testing, 188.466 mph in the afternoon. Semiretired Bill Elliott, driving an MB2 Motorsports No. 36a Chevrolet, is the only other driver to surpass 188 mph (188.025). ... On Thursday, NASCAR will test its "Car of Tomorrow," a boxier, ostensibly safer model scheduled to debut in 2007. The car was tested last year at Talladega and Atlanta.

[Last modified January 11, 2006, 00:42:11]