CUP: Code Blue For RPM

Sprint Cup

CUP: Code Blue For RPM

RPM Competition Director Robbie Loomis says team taking it one day at a time ...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 23, 2010 Martinsville, VA

Interviewed Saturday morning at Martinsville, Robbie Loomis would not address rumors that Richard Petty might try to put together a group of investors to buy out Gillett. (Photo: Tom Jensen, SPEED.com)

Embattled Richard Petty Motorsports trotted out Competition Director Robbie Loomis in the Martinsville Speedway garage Saturday morning, where he essentially confirmed what has been speculated all week: There are no guarantees RPM will survive the season.

In a 5 minute, 15 second interview while the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars were warming up just feet away, Loomis said, “You can’t look too far into the future because today is all that we really have.”

RPM has been in the eye of the storm all week. First, star driver Kasey Kahne was released Wednesday, the same day that Roush Fenway Racing repossessed three of the teams four cars for nonpayment of bills. Roush and its affiliates build the cars and engines that RPM races.

And RPM owner George Gillett is reportedly deeply in debt after the sale of his prize asset, the Liverpool soccer team in the English Premier League sold for a fraction of what he thought it would bring.

That’s led to speculation that RPM could shut down before the year ends, speculation that Loomis’s brief appearance did little to quiet.

“We’ve been working really hard and everyone’s been working really hard,” Loomis said. “Uh, couldn’t be prouder of the job the guys have done. ... We’re just looking forward to continuing into 2011 and finishing this year up strong.”

But pressed for details, Loomis had few.

“Like I said before, there’s been a lot of speculation about a lot of things, there always has been in this sport, but what gives me confidence is that we’ve always had the ability to move forward,” said Loomis.

Richard Petty Motorsports Competition Director Robbie Loomis confirmed what has been speculated all week: There are no guarantees RPM will survive the season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“We do our best today,” Loomis continued. “I was thinking riding up the road this morning with Dale (Inman) and I said, ‘You can’t look too far out in the future because today is all that we really have,’ and many of you know that from being around this sport.”

Asked if the team will be at Talladega next week, Loomis said, “Yeah, we’ll be at Talladega. I hope we’re all in Talladega. It’s our full intention to keep rolling right along.”

Loomis would not address rumors that Richard Petty, who holds a minority stake in the team, might try to put together a group of investors to buy out Gillett.

“I don’t want to speculate on anything like that,” said Loomis. “Like I said, there are a lot of people working collectively together to make this thing more successful as we go forward in the future. Like Richard said when he came down on Thursday, he said, ‘Look guys, we’re in the same business. We’re trying to provide winning race cars and give them to AJ Allmendinger and Elliott Sadler and our drivers that are driving the cars today, so the game hasn’t changed. It’s the same thing we’re doing.’”

Nor would Loomis say who is replacing Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 for the final four races of the season. This weekend, Aric Almirola is filling in for Kahne.

Asked if Almirola would be in the No. 9 next week at Talladega, Loomis said, “Most of the things we’ve been working on has been our models for 2011 and what our race teams look like moving forward. Aric is somebody we were looking at to drive for us next year and the timing of it didn’t work out and come together, so he got the deal with Dale (Earnhardt) Jr.‘s Nationwide deal, which is a great opportunity for him and a strong organization.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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