RPM to Debut New Partner at Nationwide Season Finale
CONCORD, N.C. (November 12, 2013) – As the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season will come to an end this weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, Michael Annett and the No. 43 team will look to finish strong.
Annett has five starts at the mile-and-a-half track and earned his best finish of 12th in last year’s race. The finish helped the team secure a fifth-place finish in the 2012 NNS point standings. The team, lead by Annett and Crew Chief Philippe Lopez, played on the side of caution in 2012 due to the tight points battle going into the finale. This weekend look for the team to take a more aggressive approach on the track.
The No. 43 will also debut a new partner at Homestead. Richard Petty Motorsports will announce the new partnership at the track on Friday.
Comments from the No. 43 Ford Mustang driver Michael Annett:
“Last year at this time, we were in a very different scenario. We had to be cautious because we were in a points battle and needed to be calculated in our race approach. This year, we don’t have any of those risks. I feel more comfortable with our mile-and-a-half program and the cars than I did a few months ago. This is the perfect time to go out there and risk it all for the win.
“2013 has been a pretty up-and-down year for me. We started off with really high expectations. The accident at Daytona was really disappointing. We worked so hard to build something good last year, and it was all taken away after one race. Even though I was out for eight races, I was ready to come back and hit the ground running. The team continued to work hard and never gave up on me throughout my healing process.”
Comments from Crew Chief Philippe Lopez on Homestead:
“We’re going to Homestead with all guns firing and looking to finish the best we can. Last year’s priority was just to keep the No. 31 in sight, and we did that, but we didn’t get the finish that we thought we could’ve. The goals will be a lot higher this weekend.
“Obviously, the start of 2013 was a bit of a disappointment with Michael getting hurt. We thought we were going to be running in the top-five in points this season, but that got held up at the blocks. With Michael coming back late, it really changed our season. We feel like we’ve been behind for a couple of months. We’ve had some good runs but definitely not the season we had last year. You’ll have that with injuries, just like with stick-and-ball sports. We’ll give them everything we’ve got in Homestead.”
Chassis History:
Lopez and the No. 43 Pilot Travel Centers team have prepared chassis No. 754 for Homestead. The team previously ran this chassis at the fall race in Kansas, Atlanta, the summer race in Kentucky, Darlington and Las Vegas earlier this year.
About Richard Petty Motorsports
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
