Loomis: Petty in talks with DEI, others about future (cont'd)

"The bottom line for us is that we're committed to Dodge," Loomis said. "We like Dodge as our manufacturer; Richard Petty especially. We have three more years with them as far as solid commitments. We feel good about where we're at with them.

"More importantly, Gillett Evernham is our engine supplier. So we're keeping our ears close to the ground on that, just to make sure we're covered from the engine standpoint."

Loomis said he has heard the same rumors that everyone else has: that Ray Evernham may be selling his stake in Gillett Evernham Motorsports and that the new organization may move forward -- with or without Evernham -- by switching manufacturers from Dodge to Toyota.

"For us, we've got to keep our finger on the pulse of that because it does affect our engine situation," Loomis said.

Loomis and others who spoke off the record admitted that NASCAR's rule to limit organizations to running four teams has become somewhat a joke within the garage.

Roush Fenway Racing, for instance, currently fields five teams and has been instructed to cut to four by the end of next season. Yet Roush Fenway has now forged an alliance with Yates Racing that can be construed as, at the very least, a partnership that ultimately could consist of eight teams sharing resources and information.

Hendrick Motorsports appears to be moving in the same direction, aligning its four-team operation more closely with what will be a two-team deal with the newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing next season.

"We now have not only super teams, but super super teams," one source said. "And NASCAR can't do anything about it now because the cat is out of the bag and they need the cars entered in the races. They can't be turning away cars that want to race in this economy, no matter where they might be coming from."

Loomis said it has been frustrating, as a two-team operation, to try to compete with bigger teams that seem to be only getting bigger and stronger all the time.

"That's one thing I really praise [Petty Enterprises CEO] David Zucker and our Boston Ventures guys for," Loomis said of the investment group that bought a majority stake in Petty Enterprises last May. "When they came in, they had a vision of growing Petty Enterprises from two teams to four teams. And very quickly when they looked around at the landscape of the sport, the more they got into it, the more they saw that there were situations where there were six or seven (team organizations) already -- or the potential for other organizations to grow to that.

"They didn't mind us being a two-team deal going up against four teams. They thought we could be strong in the marketplace. But when they came around to thinking we were two teams racing against six or seven, they became very concerned about the efficiencies, the business that you lose, the strength of the teams, the strengths of the drivers. So Boston Ventures is very aggressive in being actively involved in figuring out a way to get stronger, quicker."

And that could include a merger with another organization facing similar challenges.

"It could include any one of a number of scenarios, but I would say that the No. 1 thing is that we will wind up [being with] Dodge for a long time to come," Loomis said.