Gillett Evernham Motorsports will now be known as Richard Petty Motorsports, following its recent merger with Petty Enterprises.
As part of the deal with PE, GEM agreed to keep the Petty name in the name of the new organization. Richard Petty also requested that the team use the No. 44.
The No. 44 will replace the No. 10, and will be driven by AJ Allmendinger for at least seven races.
The No. 44 will not feature sponsorship from Budweiser, which currently sponsors Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 car. It has long been a Petty tradition to not feature alcohol-related sponsors on their cars.
At the unveiling of the team’s new logo, Petty said:
We come out to let the world know we’re still in the racing business and we’re going to be bigger and better than we’ve ever been.
[...] joins FRR after stints at Petty Enterprises — now Richard Petty Motorsports — and Chip Ganassi Racing, which merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc to become Earnhardt Ganassi [...]