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Richard Childress Racing has leased one of its charters to new outfit StarCom Racing, which plans to enter the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series beginning with the Daytona 500 next month.
StarCom has spent the 2017 off-season building its team with experienced Cup personnel and it will be led by Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope as team manager.
It has taken one step closer to competing by loaning one of the charters granted to RCR as one of the full-time teams competing since at least 2013, which guarantees race participation.
StarCom is now working on securing sponsorship but is yet to finalise a deal for a driver, with it understood to be looking for someone with financial backing.
“Acquiring a charter for the season has allowed us to escalate our program to the next level, which is a major step for our young team,” said team president Matthew Kohler.
“We are looking forward to bringing top-notch equipment and excitement to the garage.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made this off-season to prepare ourselves for the Daytona 500 and 2018 season.”
Cope had driven the team’s initial entry last year after leaving Premium Motorsports and entered the #00 Chevrolet Camaro at Dover.
“We have a strong and enthusiastic team that are now working with renewed vigour and we can’t wait to start the season,” he said.
Paul Menard’s departure is the only change to the Childress line-up for this season – his switch to Wood Brothers freed up the charter StarCom has loaned.