Richard Petty Motorsports Forced to Adjust XFINITY Team Plans

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 1, 2016) – Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that the team suspended operations of the No. 43 XFINITY team due to financial issues with the team’s primary sponsor, J. Streicher. Due to missed payments, Richard Petty Motorsports is forced to cut back the originally-planned full-time schedule for the NASCAR XFINITY Series No. 43 Ford Mustang driven by Jeb Burton.

J. Streicher joined Richard Petty Motorsports late in the off-season for their first sponsorship in NASCAR supporting Burton’s first full-time season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Burton and the team got to work, and just days after signing the agreement with J. Streicher, the team competed in the season opener at Daytona. The team tallied one Top-10 and four Top-15 finishes in the first 10 races of the season and currently is in position to compete for the Chase in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

“This is an unfortunate situation,” said Richard Petty Motorsports CEO Brian Moffitt. “We make commitments to both our employees and vendors that are based on sponsor commitments, and we take those commitments seriously. We will pursue every avenue to ensure the contractual obligations between RPM and our sponsor are met. We’ll take each week as it comes and do our best to get the No. 43 Ford Mustang on track as much as possible this season.”

Richard Petty Motorsports and Burton will continue their relationship and work to get Burton on track as much as possible this year. This weekend at Pocono Raceway, Burton will compete in the No. 32 Ford for GO FAS Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

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 entrepreneur Andrew Murstein, 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 with drivers Aric Almirola and Brian Scott. Almirola will return to the iconic No. 43 Ford with partners Smithfield Foods, STP, United States Air Force and the “Fresh From Florida” campaign. Scott will make his debut with the team and drive the Petty Family No. 44 Ford. Albertsons Companies, Shore Lodge, Twisted Tea and GoBowling.com will join Scott as he competes for Rookie of the Year in his first full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series. Richard Petty Motorsports will also field the No. 43 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.