All News Aric Almirola Danica Patrick David Ragan Jeff Gordon Kasey Kahne Kevin Harvick Tony Stewart

Almirola to Richard Petty Motorsport? UPDATES – Whitt to the #88:

December 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
  • Almirola to Richard Petty Motorsport? UPDATES – Whitt to the #88: Aric Almirola, who finished fourth in points in the Nationwide Series this season, has emerged as the leading candidate to take over the #43 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series in 2012. The deal, which has come together very quickly, will be officially announced after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and will include a sponsor announcement. Almirola, was set to begin his second full season with JR Motorsports’ #88 team in 2012, but his move to the Cup series now leaves his future with that organization unclear. A spokesperson for RPM said Friday night the organization did plan to make a driver announcement for the #43 after the holidays but would have no other comment at this time.(Charlotte Observer)(12-24-2011)
    UPDATE: David Ragan and Cole Whitt are the leading candidates to replace Aric Almirola in JR Motorsports’ #88 Nationwide team in 2012, sources said. A decision is expected early next week, around the time Almirola’s move to the Sprint Cup Series and Richard Petty Motorsports’ #43 car should be officially announced.(Charlotte Observer)(12-28-2011)
    UPDATE 2: supposedly Cole Whitt will drive the #88 JR Motorsports Chevy in the Nationwide Series in 2012.(Florida Times-Union)(1-3-2011)
    UPDATE 3: Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Aric Almirola will drive the legendary #43 Ford Fusion in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition beginning in 2012. Almirola drove a JR Motorsports entry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2011 and capped off a successful season with a fourth-place finish in the championship point standings.(Richard Petty Motorsports)(1-4-2012)
    UPDATE 4: JR Motorsports’ flagship team will compete for a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship with one of the sport’s up-and-coming stars, as Cole Whitt has been tabbed to drive the company’s flagship #88 Chevy in 2012. Whitt, a 20-year-old native of Alpine, Calif., will also compete for Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year honors. He comes to JR Motorsports from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he finished ninth in last year’s championship standings with one pole, two top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. To date he is the youngest driver ever to win the USAC (United States Auto Club) National Midget championship, as his title-winning effort in 2008 put him alongside esteemed former USAC national champions such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne. The signing of Whitt completes the 2012 driver line-up for JR Motorsports, which will compete in Nationwide Series competition with Whitt in the#88 Chevy, Danica Patrick in the #7 Chevy, and Earnhardt Jr. in select races in the #5 Chevy.(JR Motorsports)(1-4-2012)
    UPDATE: JR Motorsports has hired Bruce Cook as crew chief for the #5 team, which will run primarily with Earnhardt Jr. in select races. Cook comes to JR Motorsports from Kevin Harvick, Inc., where he served as crew chief in 2011 in the Camping World Truck Series, predominately for the #2 KHI Chevrolet, which won the owner’s championship. With Cook atop the pit box, his team scored six wins, 19 top-fives and 22 top-10s. Cook was also the winning crew chief of the Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona in 2011 with driver Tony Stewart.(JR Motorsports PR)(12-5-2012)