Officials with Richard Petty Motorsports and transportation services company J.B. Hunt have announced a five-race associate sponsorship agreement that will consist of one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this season and four for 2016.
The company will serve as an associate on the No. 9 RPM Ford, currently driven by Sam Hornish Jr., at this year’s AAA Texas 500 race weekend (Nov. 6-8) as well as events next season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, one of two stops at Pocono Raceway and at Chicagoland Speedway.
“Nobody does it better than J.B. Hunt and their thousands of employees,” team owner Richard Petty said in a statement announcing the agreement. “We’re proud to partner with them and I’m excited to be a part of their driver recruitment program. Our country’s truck drivers are the backbone of our commerce system and I can’t wait to interact with them.”
J.B. Hunt is based in Lowell, Ark.
“There is no bigger brand in NASCAR than Petty,” Craig Harper, Executive Vice President of Operations for J.B. Hunt Transport said. “All of our drivers know that name and can relate to the race team, their goals and the work and dedication that is required to safely transport the team’s equipment from race to race each week.”
RPM fields two entries in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, featuring drivers Hornish and Aric Almirola. Petty is the sport’s all-time leader in wins with 200 career victories and is one of only two drivers to capture seven premier series titles. He was one of five inaugural members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame inducted in 2010.
Almirola is currently 17th in points, the highest ranked driver not among the 16 competing in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Hornish is 27th in the standings.
The Sprint Cup Series travels to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., this weekend for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).