AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Team co-owner Richard Petty says his Richard Petty Motorsports organization is "still working on what we're going to do with the 9 car," and that he doesn't believe current driver Sam Hornish Jr. will return to the two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team for 2016.
"Things are looking up (on the sponsorship front)," Petty said Saturday morning in the garage at Phoenix International Raceway "We've got some stuff coming down the pike, but we don't have it corralled yet."
RPM currently fields two Sprint Cup Series entries, the No. 43 Ford driven by Aric Almirola as well as the No. 9 Ford of Hornish.
A Chase for the Sprint Cup participant last season, Almirola failed to make this year's 16-team field. He is 17th in points heading into Sunday's Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).
Hornish, a three-time IndyCar champion and winner of the 2006 Indianapolis 500, has been unable to find success in NASCAR's premier series, managing only three top-five finishes in 165 career starts. He is currently 25th in points. He does have three career victories in NASCAR's XFINITY Series.
Asked if Hornish would be back, Petty said, "No, I don't think so."
Petty, a seven-time series champion as a driver and winner of a series record 200 races, said funding would be a determining factor in driver selection for the No. 9 entry for '16, but that cutting back to only one team was not a consideration for the organization.
"No. We're a two-car team," he said. "We have to look at sponsorship as much as anything. It's a combination deal. We can't just go with a driver and not have the money and we can't go with just the money and not have a driver. It’s going to be interesting."
Almirola's team carries primary sponsorship from Smithfield Foods with additional funding for select events from Fresh from Florida, the U.S. Air Force and STP.
Medallion Bank and Twisted Tea are the primary partners of the No. 9 of Hornish, while several other groups have sponsorship roles for a smaller number of races.