Richard Petty Motorsports' Robbie Loomis to work the pits for ill crew chief Kevin Buskirk
BRISTOL, Tenn. – An ill Kevin Buskirk left Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night and Richard Petty Motorsports Executive Vice President of Race Operations Robbie Loomis will serve as crew chief for Elliott Sadler in the Food City 500 today.
It will be the first time Loomis will be calling the shots for a driver since he worked with Jeff Gordon in 2005.
“The big thing is figuring out what’s wrong with [Buskirk] – his wife is getting him checked out [by doctors] today,” Loomis said Sunday morning. “We’ve got a great team over there. Everybody knows their role. Kevin Kidd is their engineer, and I’ll be there for any assistance and leaning on.”
Buskirk had been feeling ill all weekend, and Loomis had been paying more attention to the team in case Buskirk had to leave. As part of his new role resulting from the Petty Motorsports-Gillett Evernham Motorsports merger, Loomis oversees all the crew chiefs in the RPM organization.
Loomis said the decisions on whether to take tires and fuel on pit stops as well as changes that will be made to the car likely will be done by committee.
“We’ll be talking about it as a team, but I’ll be the voice on the radio,” Loomis said. “It will be fun. I’ve always liked Elliott. I’ve never worked with him. I’ll have to get that Virginia slang down pat.”
