Prior to his full-time return to the Sprint Cup Series this season with Richard Petty Motorsports, #9-Sam Hornish had competed in just 23 series events over the course of the past four years. Twenty of those came from a partial schedule with his former employer Team Penske, and the other two were a fill-in stint for the injured Denny Hamlin and a one-off deal with Front Row Motorsports. RPM came into 2015 with a renewed feeling of promise and an extra skip in their step. The famed #43 team had made some great strides in 2014 with Aric Almirola, including a slot in the Chase and the return of Smithfield Foods. Prior to the Chase last season, Marcos Ambrose announced that he would not be returning to the team, leaving RPM with the task of finding a successor. David Ragan and Hornish were at the top of the list, and it had seemed as though Ragan was leading in the polls. Ultimately, Hornish got the nod and it was well received by his long-standing fan base, originating from his open-wheel days. This season, Hornish has scored just three top-10s; one in the Daytona 500 and the others in both road courses. He’s currently 25th in the standings and has finished on the lead lap just seven times. Nine years in the series with a total of 153 starts, he’s led less than 75 laps and finished in the top-10 only 12 times. After ten races this season, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer was out and Kevin “Bono” Manion was in, but that hasn’t seemed to moved the needle in a positive direction. 2016 will probably have a different look and feel for RPM. The King [Richard Petty] has already moved into his new castle and they’re rumored to be changing manufacturers. It’s likely that Sam Hornish will be done at RPM. And with the impending demise of Michael Waltrip Racing, It is expected that David Ragan to be on a very short list of candidates – including Regan Smith.(Popular Speed)(8-15-2015)
UPDATE: Brian Moffitt, CEO of Richard Petty Motorsports, says that the team is not set on who will drive the #9 car next year. Sam Hornish Jr., in his first year with RPM, is 27th in the points heading into Charlotte. “Sam has been disappointed, we’ve been disappointed,” said Moffitt, about the #9 car’s performance this season. Hornish has three top-10 finishes and eight finishes of 30th or worse this year. He’s scored five top-20 results in the last eight races. After struggles early in the season, Kevin Manion replaced Drew Blickensderfer as Hornish’s crew chief in May. “We’ve seen good improvement,” Moffitt said of Hornish. “He had a great race going at New Hampshire. He was in that range that we needed him to be, that 11th to 16th. We just need to finish. That’s been our issue.” Performance, though, isn’t the only factor that will determine who will drive the #9 car next year. “Really, what it’s going to boil down to is funding, where that funding comes from,” Moffitt said. “We like Sam. We hope that that can continue there, but we’re also looking at all options.” Moffitt said the team does not have sponsorship set for the #9 car next year. Aric Almirola will return to the #43 next year – he and sponsor Smithfield signed a three-year extension in Jan. 2014. Smithfield is set to sponsor the car for 29 races annually. Moffitt says he’s confident the other races will be set in the near future.(NBC Sports)(10-6-2015)
