Richard Petty Motorsports announced Monday that it will be partnering with Braun Racing for five Nationwide Series events this year with Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler sharing the driver’s seat.

"We have a commitment to run five races this season," said Mark McArdle, the Petty team’s vice president of competition. "Braun Racing is one of the most successful stand alone teams in the series that contends for race wins, week in and week out. Partnering with them gives us an opportunity to be extremely competitive and to win races. It also brings the most value to our partners without disrupting anything we are doing with our Sprint Cup programs."

Todd Braun, owner of Braun Racing, is equally pleased with the partnership.

"We believe that we have first-rate equipment and an extremely talented group here at Braun Racing," said Braun. ?"Adding the talents of Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne to our driver line-up is a win-win situation for us.? We’re very pleased that Richard Petty Motorsports approached us with this opportunity. It’s a good indicator that we have grown into a top-performing team and that it is not going unnoticed."

Kahne will race four of the five races including appearances at Daytona, Bristol, Atlanta and Charlotte later this season. The car for the first three races will be the No. 9 and then Kahne will race the No. 43 at Charlotte in October.

"Our plan is to win these races," said Kahne. "We’ve had a pretty good track record in the series and Braun Racing has run well this season. I think our sponsors will be pleased with how competitive this combination will be in these races."

Sadler will get behind the wheel for the Nationwide race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway later this month.

"This should be a lot of fun," said Sadler, a five-time winner in the series. "I’m looking forward to getting back in the Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Nationwide car. We have a chance to get a trophy."

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