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FastCar Newsdesk for New Hampshire Motor Speedway, week of 6/25/09

A partnership with Nationwide Series Toyota team Braun Racing begins this weekend (with Elliott Sadler in the No. 10) for Richard Petty Motorsports and rumors are rampant about the future manufacturer of that team. Reports surfaced this week that RPM is considering putting marquee driver Kasey Kahne in a No. 9 Sprint Cup Series Toyota in the next month and a half, but those sources say that change likely will not happen midseason.

2009 marks the twenty-seventh year for the series currently known as the NASCAR Nationwide series. The series officially kicks off next Saturday with the Camping World 300 at the Daytona International Speedway.

As teams prepare for the event they were greeted with NASCAR announcing new engine rules for the series. Similar to rules in the Camping World Truck series, teams are not permitted to compete in three consecutive events without using a previously used engine from the season. The measure is designed to cut costs for teams, many of which are struggling with the country’s current economic problems. The rule does not go into effect until March twenty-fifth and does not apply to races at restrictor plate tracks (Daytona & Talladega).