Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Sam Hornish Jr. to replace Marcos Ambrose at Richard Petty Motorsports in 2015

   NASCAR driver and former IndyCar Series star Sam Hornish Jr. will move fulltime to the Sprint Cup Series with Richard Petty Motorsports, the team confirmed in a news release on Wednesday afternoon. The move was first reported by the Observer and ThatsRacin.com on Tuesday.

   Ambrose is returning to his native Australia.

    “Owners Richard Petty, Andrew Murstein and Doug Bergeron have built this organization into a championship-contending team with world-class sponsors and partners," Hornish said. "Many people have noticed to the progress being made here and I’m ready to build off this momentum. My goal is to put the No. 9 team in victory lane in 2015 and be a competitor in ‘The Chase’.”

   This will be Hornish's second fulltime stint in the Cup series. He struggled in his first go-around which was with Team Penske. In three-plus seasons, Hornish had eight top-10 finishes in 108 starts. In recent seasons he has found success running in the Nationwide Series, where he finished second in points last season and fourth in 2012.

   Hornish, 35, has been running a partial schedule in the Nationwide Series this season with Joe Gibbs Racing. In eight starts, he has one win, four top-five and four top-10 finishes. He's also won two poles.

   The No. 9 team will continue to be led by crew chief Drew Blickensderfer who has three Cup ceries wins to his credit.