Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Winn-Dixie will serve as the primary sponsor for Sam Hornish Jr. and the #9 Ford team at the Darlington Raceway The Tradition Returns weekend in September. The Southeastern-based grocery store has a long history in NASCAR, serving as a primary and associate sponsor within the top NASCAR series. At The Tradition Returns weekend, Hornish will sport a retro black, gold and red Winn-Dixie paint scheme, like the car previously driven by former NASCAR driver Mark Martin. Winn-Dixie’s NASCAR heritage began in 1980 with their debut in the Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway with Lake Speed behind the wheel. NASCAR fans mostly recognize Winn-Dixie as Martin’s primary sponsor for nine years in the XFINITY Series, in which Martin set the standard. Martin visited Victory Lane 39 times and accumulated 77 Top-Five and 94 Top-10 finishes in 128 races with Winn-Dixie as a sponsor. At Darlington alone, Martin won eight times and picked up 14 Top-Five and 18 Top-10 finishes during the sponsorship. This September, Winn-Dixie takes their involvement one step further by partnering with RPM, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer and seven-time Champion, Richard Petty.(Richard Petty Motorsports), see an image of the car on the #9 team paint schemes page.(8-26-2015)
