Almirola, Hornish to race in XFINITY Series

Hornish, who rejoined the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full-time with RPM this season, will wheel the Biagi-DenBeste No. 98 Ford in XFINITY competition this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway and at Auto Club Speedway on March 21. Almirola, who drove the No. 98 to a seventh-place finish in the XFINITY season opener at Daytona International Speedway, will return to the Biagi-DenBeste seat March 7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“The Biagi-DenBeste Racing team have been great to work with,” said Sammy Johns, RPM’s director of competition. “They prepare good cars with good people. I really believe having Aric and Sam on the track throughout the weekend gives us an advantage on Sunday. Also, I believe they can win races for this team. It’s a beneficial partnership for everyone involved.”

The three-race announcement is the latest endeavor to provide Richard Petty Motorsports drivers with more track time. Biagi-DenBeste fielded the No. 98 for RPM development driver Corey LaJoie in five races last season. Almirola also drove for the Mooresville, North Carolina, team in XFINITY races last year at Chicagoland Speedway and Dover International Speedway in an effort to increase his on-track time on race weekends during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

“We have seen that Aric can race at the front of the field and compete for wins with us,” said Fred Biagi, the No. 98 team’s co-owner. “Adding Sam to our race schedule only allows us more opportunities to be successful. We’re proud to have experienced drivers who can bring immediate success to our team. It provides great value to our sponsors who partner with us each weekend.”

Almirola opened his fourth full season at Richard Petty Motorsports with a 15th-place finish in last weekend’s Daytona 500. Hornish, a three-time XFINITY Series winner, wound up 12th in Daytona as he begins his first season with RPM and his first full-time Sprint Cup campaign since 2010.
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