Crew chief Stewart Cooper not bitter over fate of Petty Enterprises
Petty Enterprises cars were in the wind tunnel just a week before the organization’s officials told employees they would be laid off and that the team shop was shutting down, according to crew chief Stewart Cooper.
Cooper, who was crew chief for the organization’s No. 45 NASCAR Sprint Cup car for much of last season, said he wasn’t bitter with the way things ended at Petty. He said virtually all of the remaining 38 employees were laid off, with only Petty Enterprises Executive Vice President Robbie Loomis and a couple of others remaining. The organization is expected to merge with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, with an announcement expected as early as this week.
“As of [early] last week we were working as if we were going to Daytona. … I really feel like it’s nobody’s fault,” Cooper said Tuesday night. “It’s just the way the dice fell this time. [Those of us laid off] will have to work through it and move on.”
Cooper said he didn’t expect himself nor many of the former Petty employees to get hired by the new team, which is expected to work out of the Gillett Evernham shop in Statesville, N.C.
“I left [my status] up to Robbie Loomis,” Cooper said. “I didn’t have any major conversations with Robbie about it. I really don’t think they’re going to take too many people up there. They had a full staff anyway [at GEM].
“There are no hard feelings for none of it. It was a great opportunity for me. … They tried like hell to keep it like they were going, and it just didn’t work out.”
Even though Petty Enterprises had layoffs right after the season finale at Homestead, Cooper said his and other crew members’ focus was on getting cars ready for 2009 and not necessarily about the future of the team.
“I’ve always been one that once you’re told something, try not to ask too many questions about it – go with what you’re told,” Cooper said. “It’s just a bad deal. You lose sleep at night and wonder what’s going to happen next. It’s probably the same feeling that 90 percent of the world is feeling right now.”
While there was limited sponsorship and no full-time driver named for the No. 45 car for the 2009 season, Cooper had remained comfortable with his position with the team. The crew chief for the organization’s No. 43 team, Jeff Meendering, had left Petty for Stewart-Haas Racing to be a car chief for Tony Stewart.
“We were just going forward,” Cooper said. “We built two speedway cars – I had them in the wind tunnel two weeks ago. We were in the wind tunnel and working late nights getting ready for Daytona.
“We didn’t know what direction we were going. It didn’t happen until last week. There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but obviously the building is empty.”
Petty Enterprises is NASCAR’s oldest and winningest organization, with 10 driver championships, including seven by Richard Petty and three by his father, Lee. Richard Petty had sold a majority interest of the family-owned team in June to Boston Ventures and worked aggressively to try to keep the team from having to merge, Cooper said.
The 30-year-old Cooper had joined the team in April.
“I felt if I could work hard and get this thing built up, I could have a job for life,” Cooper said. “It’s crazy how it all worked out. … Richard worked up until the last minute on trying to make stuff work out where they didn’t have to entertain other options.
“He really worked hard and flew all over the country the week of the awards banquet talking to people. That man is a class act on how hard he works and how strong his dedication is to his racing.”
Cooper is optimistic he will find work but worried about some of the people who are not as young.
“Some of these guys who have worked at these race shops for 25 or 30 years – at Petty for example – they let people go who have worked there forever,” Cooper said. “It breaks my heart that somebody has committed so much time and effort for a career, and it’s gone.”
Cooper said the advantage will be for those who are versatile. He said a few members of the 45 team have found work, and he is trying to make phone calls to help others while also looking for a job himself.
“I’m not married, I don’t have kids – I race, that’s what I do,” Cooper said.
