McCumbee's '09 schedule depends on sponsorship

Chad McCumbee is under contract to drive for Petty Enterprises in 2009, though the number of Sprint Cup races he and the second Petty team will run as a teammate to Bobby Labonte will depend on sponsorship, the team has confirmed.

Petty Enterprises CEO David Zucker was asked about his plans for McCumbee at the Street & Smith's Motorsports Marketing Forum.

"It's tough to break into the sport, and I think expectations sometimes get ahead of the game," Zucker said. "We've seen it with some of the younger drivers. It takes a while. We don't want to bring them [up] too fast. ... You've got to invest in younger drivers. The sport needs it. Our plan is to bring him in and get him some exposure but not bring him in too fast."