Petty Hires Drew Blickensderfer as Crew Chief for Ambrose, No. 9 Team

Richard Petty Motorsports announced today Drew Blickensderfer has been assigned as the crew chief of the No. 9 team and driver Marcos Ambrose.

The Mount Zion, Ill., native comes to Richard Petty Motorsports most recently from Richard Childress Racing where he was the crew chief for Jeff Burton. Prior to his time there, Blickensderfer spent the majority of his career with teams associated with Ford Racing and Roush-Fenway Racing. He is a former Daytona 500 champion and has multiple Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series wins with drivers Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.

"Drew has a lot of experience with Ford Racing and also how our current operation works," said team owner Richard Petty. "His knowledge can immediately improve the performance of the No. 9 race team. Marcos has proved to win races and compete in the top-five. The addition of Drew will hopefully provide those results on a more consistent basis."

Ambrose has one win, eight top-10 and three top-five finishes this season. In addition, Ambrose has won two poles this year.

"We have had success this season and now we're just looking for more consistency as we prepare for next season," said Ambrose. "Drew brings a strong resume to our team and can help us find the results that we want each week. I'm looking forward to working with him."

Blickensderfer replaces Mike Ford who is no longer with the organization.