Kahne, Sweet take sponsor to JR Motorsports

Nationwide Series teams Turner Motorsports and JR Motorsports both made announcements on Tuesday in regards to long time series sponsor, Great Clips. The company will come off the hood of Turner's No. 38 Chevrolet to head to JR Motorsports for a 28-race, primary sponsorship deal.

While Great Clips will be with a new team in 2013, it'll stick with the same drivers, for the most part. Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet shared driving duties in the No. 38 Great Clips-backed TMS entry in 2012. Both drivers, though, will follow Great Clips to JRM.

"I'm looking forward to this new opportunity with JR Motorsports and to continue representing Great Clips, both on and off the track," Sweet said. "They've been extremely supportive of me over the last couple of years, so taking this step with them is very special to me. As a young driver in this sport, having the chance to drive under the JR Motorsports banner is an amazing opportunity that I plan to make the most of."

Kahne and Sweet will combine to drive a No. 5 JR Motorsports entry sponsored by Great Clips for at least 27 races in 2013. Great Clips will also sponsor team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. in one race in a No. 88 Chevrolet.

"To sign a 28-race sponsor, while adding Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet to our lineup is quite extraordinary," Motorsports General Manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller said. "Our goal is still to run two full-time teams, and this helps us greatly to achieve that."

JRM already has plans in place to field a No. 7 Chevrolet full-time for driver Regan Smith. The organization is yet ready to announce a full schedule for the No. 5 team but work is in progress on trying to secure sponsorship for the No. 5 for the remainder of the series' 33-race schedule. The organization has already decided that the No. 88 will be fielded only on a part-time basis.

Great Clips has a long relationship with Kahne in the Nationwide Series. The hair cutter sponsored a No. 38 Akins Motorsports entry driven by Kahne beginning in 2003, when Kahne first entered the series. That organization was renamed Braun Racing when it was purchased by Todd Braun a few years later. When Kahne made the move to the Sprint Cup Series, other drivers including Jason Leffler continued on in the No. 38 Great Clips car, but Kahne continued to race part-time in the series by occasionally climbing into the No. 38.

Steve Turner purchased the assets of Braun Racing during the 2010 season and renamed the team Turner Motorsports. Through another ownership change, Great Clips remained as primary sponsor of the No. 38 through the end of the 2012 season and will continue its relationship with its longtime driver, Kahne.

"Great Clips has been a long-time sponsor of mine for 10 years," Kahne said. "They support everything that I do, from the Kasey Kahne Foundation to my sprint car team, and they continue to grow their program in NASCAR. We all look forward to joining JR Motorsports and continuing to build on the success that they have had."

Earnhardt Jr. and Kahne are Sprint Cup Series teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.