ToyotaCare 250 will be her first 2015 XFINITY start
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Mike Affarano Motorsports announced Tuesday that Johanna Long will return to the NASCAR XFINITY Series in this weekend’s race at Richmond International Raceway.
Long, 22, is scheduled to drive the team’s No. 03 Chevrolet in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). The event will mark her first start in the XFINITY Series since the 2013 season finale.
“I can’t wait to get back to the track,” Long said in a news release provided by the team. “Mike and everyone at Affarano Motorsports has worked so hard to get the cars ready. Everything’s in place except the sponsorship. Hopefully we’ll have a strong run and people will see how much potential this team has and will come on board to sponsor us.”
Long made 41 starts in what was then called the NASCAR Nationwide (now XFINITY) Series during the 2012 and 2013 seasons for team owner Mary Louise Miller, recording a career-best finish of 12th place three times.
Affarano’s team will be making its XFINITY Series debut. The operation made its first venture into NASCAR national series competition last season with three Camping World Truck Series events.
Affarano indicated that the team had hoped to start a full 2015 campaign at the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, but that a lack of sponsorship had derailed that goal. After delaying their start to the season, Affarano targeted Richmond as a potentially favorable track for Long to return to competition. Her career-best starting position of eighth came at the .75-mile track in September 2012.
“I am confident Johanna will be competitive,” Affarano continued. “She has a very loyal and supportive fan base that is anxious to see her back in the series. Everything is coming together, we’ve just got to find marketing partners that realize what a great platform we can offer and how beneficial working with Johanna can be for them.”
While the team searches for sponsorship to adorn the No. 03 car’s sheet metal, Long will make do with a colorful ride in the meantime.
“One thing is for sure, folks will have a hard time missing Johanna out on the track,” Affarano said. “As far as I know, she’ll be the only one driving in a hot pink Chevy Camaro.”
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