Richard Petty Motorsports, Yates and Ford officials are expected to formally announce the completion of the merger Jan. 19. With the addition of Front Row Motorsports and with Wood Brothers Racing returning for another part-time schedule, there will be 10 or 11 manufacturer-backed Fords at each event. Last year, RPM was part of a seven-car Dodge stable along with Penske Racing. The 2010 season will be critical for RPM. It’s the third consecutive season with some form of new ownership for the organization and all of its drivers ‘Â #9-Kasey Kahne, #19-Elliott Sadler, #43-AJ Allmendinger and #98-Paul Menard ‘Â have contracts that are up at the end of the year. “One of the things that led us to Ford was the open communication that they have between all their teams,” Sadler said. “Greg Biffle and myself have already talked about it. [Roush Fenway driver] Carl Edwards and myself have already talked about helping each other as much as we can because Roush didn’t have the best season they ever had last year by no stretch and, of course, we didn’t either.” RPM employees are still working out of their shop in Statesville, N.C., and likely will move to the Yates shop in Concord, N.C. (next to Roush Fenway) during the next few months. “We have the same core group of guys that were on the 9 car,” said Kahne, who finished 10th in the standings last year. “We have a little bit different body with the Ford body. We have a different group of people we’re working with, a touch more power. While there was speculation that Sadler would have a different crew chief this year, Wally Rogers will remain. Rogers took over the job last August.(SceneDaily)(1-11-2010)
