Elliott Sadler will pilot a Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in Sunday's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway prepping for the team's transition from Dodge in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Sadler's No. 19 Stanley car will race as a Ford for the first time in Sprint Cup competition this weekend at the 2.66-mile track.
"Richard Petty Motorsports is working with Ford Racing as we get ready to make the full-time switch at Daytona in 2010," said Sadler. "Since this is the final restrictor plate race of the season, we made the decision to run a Ford to get some work done in advance. This will be our first time to practice and work on a Fusion under real race conditions. It should help us get ready to make a strong showing at Daytona and put us in the best position to start next season."
While this will be the first time RPM will field a Ford in NASCAR's top division, Richard Petty himself has a history with the brand.
In 1969, Petty made 48 out of 50 starts in a Ford. He recorded nine wins, 29 top-fives, 36 top-10s and led 2,291 laps. Petty raced a Plymouth the first two races of the season recording a win at Macon and a second-place finish at Montgomery.
Petty's last race driving a Ford entry was Dec. 2, 1969 at Texas World Speedway. Petty drove the entry to a 21st-place finish.
The last time a Petty-owned team (Petty Enterprises) fielded a Ford Sprint Cup Series entry was April 14, 1985 in the TransSouth 500 at Darlington Raceway. Morgan Shepherd drove the No. 1 entry to an 18th-place finish.
Sadler also has a connection with Ford in his NASCAR career.
He has 269 career Sprint Cup Series starts in a Ford with the Wood Brothers and Robert Yates Racing from 1999 to Watkins 2006.
Sadler has three career Sprint Cup Series wins – all in a Ford. Two of Sadler's three wins came in a Yates prepared entry.
Sadler will finish out the year in a Dodge after his Ford foray this weekend in Talladega.
"I'll be back in a Dodge at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead, but since it's important to start a season off on the right foot we thought we’d try to get a head start," he said.
