Inside the Halls of Petty: Good old family reunion

Coming back to Petty Enterprises for four races this year was just like coming back to family. They welcomed me back with open arms. I'm very thankful for Kyle and Pattie for letting me fill-in and race the No. 45 Dodge. Everyone was great on the team. The people from Wells Fargo, Tire Kingdom and Marathon, everyone was great to work with. For everything that has changed at Petty Enterprises, the values that make it a great place, that hasn't changed one bit.

Inside Petty

Each week on NASCAR.COM, Robbie Loomis will take fans "Inside the Halls of Petty Enterprises." A championship-winning crew chief, Loomis has 26 victories atop the pit box and as Vice President of Operations oversees both Petty cars.

Sometimes you think the grass is always greener wherever you go. I've been to other places and have been to the other side. It's not always the case. I first came to Petty Enterprises for the second half of the 1994 season. I then had an opportunity and left for another team. I can back in 1998 and that was an easy, first choice. I couldn't find a better place to come back too.

Until you leave and see what else is out there do you realize what a great organization Petty Enterprises is. The people like The King, Kyle, Robbie Loomis, Dale Inman, Greg Steadman, Billy Wilburn and everyone that works in the shop and on the car are all great guys. You want to work hard for them.

That's why I wanted to come back and help. You want to come back, but more importantly, I wanted to give back to the team. It's a shame that we had trouble at New Hampshire and Daytona, but it felt really good to have a good run at Chicagoland. I think we had a chance to have a good finish at New Hampshire and the car was really good at Daytona. The No. 45 Dodge team is a strong group led by a great guy in Billy Wilburn. He's a competitor and that's what I like about him. He wants nothing more than to win and that has spread down throughout the team. He's a great leader.

Robbie Loomis is a great leader, too. I admire Robbie a ton and that's why I was so mad when he left for Hendrick Motorsports in 2000. I wanted to kill him! We had such a good chemistry and that's hard to find. It's kind of like marriage. When you think something and they are thinking the same thing. Although Robbie and I would have our disagreements, when it came down to the racecar, we always agreed on what to do. That's what real chemistry meant. He understood exactly the message that I spoke, interpreted it, and then put it into the racecar. That's a big part of what makes it all work.

Robbie left, and I hated giving that away. It's not a difference in work ethic. It's not a difference in anything. I guess Robbie is just messed up in the head as I am. We just really think a lot alike when it comes to the racecar. I guess I speak 'Loomis' as it pertains to what the car is doing.

The great part about coming back to Petty Enterprises this time was that I had Robbie Loomis and Greg Steadman as crew chiefs in the past. Working this time with Billy Wilburn, who obviously has a strong record, gave me a chance to work with all three of them at the same time. Robbie and Greg had a lot of experience with me and that helped accelerate things while talking with Billy. I thought that was great. It was an ideal situation. I had a tremendous amount of faith and confidence in the group that we were always moving forward.

After the race in Chicago, I saw Kyle in the airport. His comments and reactions to the Chicagoland race and weekend, that was huge for me. That was the biggest thing I got out of the experience. That meant a lot to me. I'm very grateful for the experience and hopefully we can work together again in the future. They will always be a part of my family.

Thanks for welcoming me back home, again.
John Andretti