Robbie Loomis calls it a “new spark.”

Crew chief Billy Wilburn senses a lot of excitement.

Bobby Labonte has seen the results firsthand.

It seems in the last several weeks the transformation of Petty Enterprises from “also-rans” to weekly contenders on the track is well under way in the Nextel Cup Series.

Kyle Petty has finished in the top 10 in two of his past three races – the first time that’s happened since the 1999 season.

Labonte has put a string of performances together so strong he has scored more points (1007) in the past eight races than five of the drivers competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup – Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne.

“We’ve got some momentum at the end of the season and hopefully we can carry it over to the start of 2007. We’ve moved back to where we feel like we can race in the top 15 or top 20, and that’s big,” Petty said.

“Bobby broke into it a few weeks ago, and we’ve learned some stuff from what they’ve done. Billy Wilburn (crew chief) has been huge for us. I can’t say enough about what Billy has meant for us.

“These guys are really pumped up, and so am I. It makes me feel like I’m 22 again.”

This is how it was supposed to be after Petty was able to lure Loomis away from Hendrick Motorsports and return to Petty Enterprises and oversee its Cup programs. Veteran crew chief Todd Parrott also was brought on board to pair with Labonte, who arrived from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Bobby Labonte, driver of the Petty Enterprises No. 43 car, has scored more points (1,007) in the past eight races than five of the drivers in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Robby Loomis, below, was hired away from Hendrick Motorsports to help jump-start Petty Enterprises.

There was some success out of the box to start the season, but the improvement appeared to hit a snag at the same time Parrott left to return to Robert Yates Racing.

Since then, Loomis brought in Wilburn to Petty’s No. 45 team and paired veteran crew chief Paul Andrews with Labonte’s No. 44. The moves appear to have ignited a fire in both teams.

“I think the winning attitude (Labonte) brings has meant the most. He’s instilled in these guys that they’re winners,” explained Loomis. “A lot of them haven’t won yet, but he makes them feel like they’re winners and treats them great.

“Bobby Labonte is in championship form, and that’s why I know every Sunday when we go out there that we’ve got to keep making the program better, the pit crews better and the cars better.

“Bobby is a guy capable of winning the championship and running up front every week like (Matt) Kenseth and (Jimmie) Johnson and Gordon are right now.”

The recent successes at Petty have been well received at shop and by race fans, who anxiously await the return of the famed No. 43 to Victory Lane. John Andretti earned Petty’s last win, in 1999 at Martinsville, Va., in the No. 43.

“We can’t do anything with hitting one home run. We’ve got to have a lot of singles first, make a few errors and just take small steps,” Loomis said. “We’ve come a long way this year, and we hope to continue the growth. I hope we can make big strides next year like we’ve made this season.”

Now that Petty’s cars are competitive, Loomis’ next step over the off-season is to build some strong teams around his drivers and cars.

“We’re still looking to add some personnel, especially in our pit crew area and engineering. We want to step it up,” Loomis said.

“The cars are so equal now we really want to work hard on our pit crews performing on the top level. We’ve got some good guys in there with great hearts, and we just want to keep complementing it.”