Frankie Kerr Named Crew Chief for No. 43 Xfinity Ford

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (January 6, 2014) - Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) announced today that Dakoda Armstrong and sponsor WinField™ have renewed their partnership for the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Armstrong returns for his second season with the team after accumulating three top-10 finishes and the pole at Daytona in July. Armstrong finished 13th in the championship point standings. He'll look to improve that position during his second season with the team. Helping him do that will be Frankie Kerr who will take over the crew chief responsibilities.

Kerr most recently worked for Front Row Motorsports as a crew chief in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In his nine years calling the shots for teams in NASCAR's top series, he's earned eight top-fives, 17 top-10 finishes and one pole in 217 starts. This will be Kerr's first full season working in the Xfinity Series.

Former Xfinity series Crew Chief Philippe Lopez has been promoted to Operations Manager for the organization.

"I'm excited to continue racing for The King," said Armstrong. "Philippe (Lopez) and I had a good relationship and I feel like I learned a lot in my rookie season with the No. 43 team. I'm looking forward to continuing that growth into my second season. Now with Frankie (Kerr) coming on board I think we'll be able to get our communication more in sync. We both come from an open-wheel background and he can relate the open-wheel style of driving to the stock cars."

WinField will return to the No. 43 Xfinity Ford for the second consecutive year. The agricultural company will be on the No. 43 car for 23 races this season.

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. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force, STP, Strike Ten Entertainment and Fresh From Florida, and Sam Hornish, Jr. drives the No. 9 machine with primary partner Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.