Kahne, Sweet take on Nationwide roles

JR Motorsports will field cars for Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet for the 2013 Nationwide Series season.

Great Clips, which signed on to sponsor three Sprint Cup races for Kahne’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2013, will move its sponsorship from Turner Motorsports to JRM to support the Nationwide Series effort.

Kahne ran 15 races for Turner Motorsports in the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet in 2012. His best finish was second at Bristol in March. In 191 NNS starts, the 32-year-old racer has posted seven victories. In 2012, Kahne finished fourth in the Sprint Cup standings in his first season with the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team.

After a decade-long association with Kahne, Great Clips made its Sprint Cup debut as his co-primary sponsor at Texas Motor Speedway in November.

Sweet, who turned 27 on Monday, split this season’s driving duties with Kahne at Turner. Sweet posted two top 10s in 18 races, including a career-high sixth-place finish at California Speedway in March. Sweet also raced a limited Truck schedule for Turner. In eight races, his best finish was ninth at Kansas Speedway in June.