Petty Enterprises' options include partial run for Kyle Petty
Robbie Loomis, Petty Enterprises executive vice president of race operations, says that the organization is considering running Kyle Petty in a third car for a limited NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule next season as one of several options.
During a national teleconference Tuesday, Loomis was asked specifically if such a move was among the things the two-car organization is considering for the 2009 season.
Petty currently drives the team's No. 45 full time, though he has missed several races this season for television commitments and then as the team tried different scenarios in an effort to break back into the top 35 in owners points.
"It definitely is," Loomis said of the possibility of a part-time third car. "We've had a lot of discussion on that. We have our staff meetings each week, and David Zucker, our CEO, he's trying to put a lot of things together on the sponsorship front. That's obviously one of the avenues that we've talked about, is if we could run a third car on a limited schedule. Even if it was a minimum of five or seven races, it does help us get a little more information into our circle and also prepare a little bit easier transition to go to three cars in 2010 when everybody gets this economy rolling again."
Loomis added that such a move would be "100 percent" sponsor-dependent.
Petty, who has competed in 12 of the 27 Cup races this season, said earlier this season said that he would be open to such a move.
