Number of Cup starts in question for Petty's Chad McCumbee

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Chad McCumbee, driver of the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge, made six starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009.

Rusty Jarrett
Getty Images for NASCAR

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NEW YORK – Chad McCumbee is under contract to drive for Petty Enterprises in 2009, though the number of NASCAR Sprint Cup races he and the second Petty team will run as a teammate to Bobby Labonte will depend on sponsorship, the team has confirmed.

Petty Enterprises Chief Executive Officer David Zucker was asked about his plans for McCumbee at the Street & Smith’s Motorsports Marketing Forum.

“It’s tough to break into the sport, and I think expectations sometimes get ahead of the game,” Zucker said. “We’ve seen it with some of the younger drivers. It takes a while. We don’t want to bring them [up] too fast. … You’ve got to invest in younger drivers. The sport needs it. Our plan is to bring him in and get him some exposure but not bring him in too fast.”

While it has been expected that McCumbee would drive the team’s Cup car next year, the team has not officially announced that McCumbee would compete at the Cup level next year.

After the forum, Chief Marketing Officer Mike Bartelli said in an e-mail that McCumbee is under contract for 2009, while the number of races would be contingent on sponsorship.