Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing on Thursday announced they have signed a letter of intent to merge operations in time for the 2010 season. The four-car team will race Fords under the Richard Petty Motorsports banner.
Paul Menard will transfer to the Petty team, joining Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and A.J. Allmendinger. Sources have confirmed that Reed Sorenson, currently the driver of Petty’s famed No. 43, will not be back with the team next year.
“This is a pretty big deal for us. We’re thrilled to …Â Details
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It’s been quite a week for TRG Motorsports owner Kevin Buckler, literally a wheeler and a dealer. On the same day he drove his Porsche around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Buckler signed up a series champion for his Sprint Cup team.
The former Rolex 24 at Daytona winner drove his Porsche 911 GT3 at the Indy in a test held by the Grand-Am Series on the road courses used for Formula 1 and the MotoGP on Thursday.
That same day, the rookie Sprint Cup team owner reached agreement with the 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte to drive in seven of the remaining 12 races.
On Saturday, … Details
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 Danica Patrick will “all but certainly” be in NASCAR in 2010, but won’t give up Indy car racing and will limit next year’s activity to the Nationwide Series and Trucks, according to a source very close to the situation.
Tony Stewart is the “star candidate” to be her partner and mentor in NASCAR, the source said, adding that Patrick’s recent visits to Stewart-Haas Racing were much more than social — that she and Stewart were discussing a deal, and are close to one…Â Details
Bobby Labonte has signed a seven-race deal to drive the TRG Motorsports No. 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet Impala SS, starting with this weekend’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 2000 Sprint Cup champion aims to keep his streak of 568 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts, dating back to the 1993 Daytona 500, intact following his departure earlier this week from Yates Racing, where he gave way to Erik Darnell.
“This whole thing came together over the last 24 hours,” Labonte said. “Slugger (Richard “Slugger” Labbe, TRG Motorsports crew chief) called me yesterday morning and …Â Details
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