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Michael Annett to drive for JR Motorsports in Xfinity Series in 2017
Michael Annett is moving from the Sprint Cup Series to the Xfinity Series in 2017.
Annett, who drives the No. 46 for HScott Motorsports in the Cup Series, will drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports next season. He’ll pilot — no pun intended — the No. 5 car for JRM.
“I’m excited for this opportunity with JR Motorsports,” said Annett. “Dale Jr. and [sister Kelley Earnhardt] have done a great job building this organization. They have put the right people in place and have a championship to their name. I look forward to joining them and competing for wins and a championship next season in the Xfinity Series.”
We make the pun joke because Annett is sponsored by Pilot Flying J. He’s had the sponsorship since he started driving full-time in NASCAR in 2009.
After five full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series, Annett moved to the Cup Series in 2014 with Tommy Baldwin Racing and joined HScott in 2015. He’s been a backmarker in his three-year Cup career and hasn’t gotten a top-10 finish. His best finish came in the 2015 Daytona 500 when he finished 13th in his first race for HScott. Outside of Daytona and Talladega he’s finished in the top 20 just twice.
Annett is currently 36th in the points standings, the spot where he finished a year ago.
His move mimics the one former HScott teammate Justin Allgaier made before the 2016 season. Allgaier moved with his sponsor, Brandt, to JRM for 2016 and is currently a part of the Chase for the Xfinity title. Allgaier hasn’t won this season but has 24 top-10 finishes in 30 races.
Annett’s departure also means HScott has no drivers or sponsors lined up for 2017 because Clint Bowyer is leaving to replace Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing. The future of the team is unknown.
The announcement also means JR Motorsports will have four full-time teams in 2017. The team will continue to field cars for Allgaier and Elliott Sadler and announced earlier this fall that it had signed William Byron to a full-season deal in 2017. Byron has six wins in 20 Truck Series starts for Kyle Busch Motorsports this season.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
