Carpentier to join Cup from Phoenix

Earlier this month Carpentier was announced as Riggs' replacement for the 2008 season, after shining on his Busch Series debut at Montreal, where he finished second, and then leading some laps in his Nextel Cup debut at Watkins Glen a week later, which was his first outing for his current team.

Carpentier will now have the chance to get some valuable running before next year's Daytona 500, although he will probably have to go through the challenge of qualifying his car on time at both Phoenix and Homestead, as the No. 10 is currently outside the top 35 in the owner standings.

"We're looking forward to the 2008 season and in preparation for that we want to give the No. 10 team the opportunity to work with Patrick as much as possible," said Ray Evernham, CEO of Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

"Putting Patrick in the car before the end of this season will offer him valuable seat time as well as the added opportunity to work with Kasey [Kahne] and Elliott [Sadler]."

The former Champ Car and IRL IndyCar Series driver will also compete in the Busch Series race at the season finale at Homestead for Gillett Evernham.