Brian Scott Joins Richard Petty Motorsports in 2016

On Friday, Dec. 11, Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Brian Scott will take over the No. 9 car beginning at the Daytona 500 in February.

For the majority of the 2015 season, it was unclear on whether or not Sam Hornish, Jr. would return to the company. After several months of negotiating with different drivers, the team decided to call-up Scott and give him a new opportunity.

 “We’re happy to welcome Brian to the team,” said co-owner of RPM, Richard Petty. “Our team worked very hard to continue our winning tradition and building consistency. We feel Brian is a great addition to that. He’s made a steady progression though the ranks, and now, we feel he’s ready to compete in the Sprint Cup Series.”

The Idaho native is a two-time winner in the Camping World Truck Series. He has enjoyed much of his success in the past three years with Richard Childress Racing, including four runner-up finishes.

In 208 career Xfinity starts, Scott has 20 top-five finishes, 77 top 10’s and has sat on the pole five times. He has led 659 laps in his career in the Xfinity Series, where more than one-third of them came at Richmond in 2013 where he led the first 239 laps, but finished second to Brad Keselowski.

More recently, the 27-year-old has started in 17 career Cup races with a pole at Talladega in the spring of 2014. He recorded his best-career finish at Kansas in October where he finished 12th and ran in the top 10 for the majority of the 400-mile event. This past season he ran 10 races in the No. 33 for RCR which geared him up for this move to Richard Petty Motorsports.

 “I am thrilled to go Sprint Cup Series racing full time next year and to do it with such an iconic team,” Scott said on Friday. “When you think NASCAR racing, you think Petty. I’m glad to now be a part of that legacy. I had a lot of fun competing in the XFINITY Series for the last seven years, and I’m excited to take the next step. I ran some races in the Sprint Cup Series the last few years and learned a lot.”

One of the goals for RPM was to find a driver with experience and sponsorship. In 2015, the No. 9 car saw 15 different primary sponsors. Scott brings in money from his family-owned company, Shore Lodge. Shore Lodge has been the primary sponsor on Scott’s car for the better part of the last three seasons.

He will be joining Aric Almirola on the stable of drivers for Petty. Almirola is the most recent winner behind the wheel of an RPM machine in July 2014 race at Daytona. The two teammates will look to forget about past clashes on the race track and elevate RPM to an elite organization.

 “It’s no secret that Aric and I have had run-ins in the past in the XFINITY Series, but it really is ancient history,” Scott said. “I feel like we put a lot of that behind us a while back. I can actually remember a defining conversation that we had. I think a lot of Aric Almirola and his ability in a race car and what he’s done for the 43 and what he’s done for Richard Petty Motorsports in building this team and improving performance year in and year out, and I look forward to working with him.”

Dustin Albino