Andretti moves on without Loomis
ESPN.com news services
MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- For John Andretti, the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup season is almost like starting over.
The driver of the STP Pontiac at Petty Enterprises had built a fantastic relationship with his crew chief, Robbie Loomis. The two worked together so well, Andretti was able to drive his way to victory at Martinsville, Virginia last April and was a competitive factor throughout the Winston Cup circuit.
John Andretti has to get used to another new face under his No. 43's hood.
But when Loomis was offered the job as crew chief for Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports, it was simply too good to refuse. Loomis even mulled over the decision for 3½ weeks before deciding it was time to leave Andretti and Petty.
The hardest part was telling the two he was leaving.
Andretti took it as hard as if one of his best friends was
moving away.
"It was like getting hit by a baseball bat on December 2,"
Andretti recalled. "I didn't have a clue. When he called and
the way he was talking to me, I knew something really bad was
happening, because he just couldn't get the words out. I was
the last guy he told.
"He told the King (team owner and racing legend Richard Petty) and Kyle (Petty, Richard's son and driver of the team's other car) and then he got to me because I think he really wanted to have it set in his mind what he wanted to do
it before he talked to me so that there was no chance for me to
talk him out of it."
Andretti found Loomis' departure difficult, but he also realized the fantastic opportunity Loomis was presented with.
"I understand why he looked at the things the way he did," Andretti said. "When you're inside the castle you don't know if there's a better castle out there, and for Robbie, he has been in one place his whole Winston Cup career. You've got to get out there and see what else is out there. It was, obviously, a
great opportunity for him.
"Robbie was more than just my crew chief. He did a lot of things at Petty Enterprises. He was an integral part of Petty Enterprises because he had been there so long. I know that it wasn't the first time it had been talked about, but Robbie has been under hot pursuit for many years, so you knew it was
inevitable that it was going to happen."
Andretti is preparing for the 2000 season with Greg Steadman as
his crew chief. Steadman was promoted from within the ranks at
Petty Enterprises.
"I haven't actually run the car with him, the guy who walked up
to the window and said, 'OK, what's it doing?'" Andretti said.
"The relationship has been good the last couple of years. He's
tempered like the King: good, bad, and indifferent. You've got
what you've got and you have to work with it. He takes the good
with the bad real well. I don't take that quite the same as he
does, although he's very competitive.
"He's worked five years with Robbie and two years with me and I
don't see the transition as being anything but seamless. I
think that it should be real good."
Loomis had the responsibility of overseeing all aspects of
Andretti's team. He was very well organized and that paid off
with an efficient approach to the race car.
"I'm getting a complex here because first I come into Petty
Enterprises and then Dale Inman retires and Robbie takes his
spot," Andretti said. "Robbie basically took the place of two
people, and then Robbie goes. Well, he leaves the job of
basically two or three people behind. So, we've got Greg doing
the crew chief stuff on the 43 and Kyle is doing day-to-day from
that side until we get somebody in that position that's going to
work well with the team.
"There's no headache on my part, but obviously another thing for
Kyle to have to worry about and think about. I hope they get
somebody else because I have to tackle Kyle to ask him a
question."
One thing Andretti knows for sure is he will be running a
Pontiac in 2000. But, in a strange twist, he will have two
different primary sponsors. STP will end it's long-time
relationship with Petty through the first half of the season.
After the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July, STP will bow out of
NASCAR Winston Cup as a team sponsor and Betty Crocker will take
over as the primary sponsor for the No. 43.
Petty Enterprises has also been linked to Dodge, which will
return to the series in 2001 after a long absence. Richard
became a racing legend in Chrysler products.
"I think that if Petty Enterprises does go to Dodge, then there
is really no advantage for Pontiac not to try and not support us
in a way that's advantageous to them still," Andretti said in a
rare triple-negative. "They still want to see us win races.
Obviously, their flagship team is Joe Gibbs Racing, so there's
always going to be a step down from there no matter whether we
switch or not. That answer is for Pontiac not for me, but I
can't imagine that if we did, how that would be in their best
interest, because we're still out there trying to win races for
Pontiac, which I think we're capable of doing."
Both Andretti and Petty will get down to serious business
beginning Friday at Daytona International Speedway when
practice begins to kick off the NASCAR portion of SpeedWeeks.
The run for the 42nd Daytona 500 pole is Saturday.
