Josh Wise won’t have to sit idle long in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as he has landed a ride for next Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, CATCHFENCE.com has confirmed.
Wise who left his full-time ride with Premium Motorsports earlier this week will drive the No. 32 Ford Fusion in a one-off race for Go Green Racing (GGR).
Archie St. Hilaire, owner of GGR says he didn’t waste any time connecting with Wise once learning of his departure from Premium.
“I’m looking forward to having him back,” said St. Hilaire, who once fielded an XFINITY Series car for Wise. “He drove for me in XFINITY and did a tremendous job. I believe Josh is a very talented and capable race car driver and we’re looking forward to him representing our team at the Brickyard.”
In 2011, Wise competed in eight XFINITY races for St. Hilaire’s No. 39 team with a best finish of 13th at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Wise announced through his Twitter account (@Josh_Wise) Monday that he left as the driver of the No. 98 Ford Fusion after acknowledging, “The team and I did not share the same goals moving forward.”
Showing no animosity towards his former employer, Wise followed up in a subsequent tweet, “I wish them the best and look forward to what the future holds.”
The Riverside, California native started the season with Phil Parsons Racing, but when the former racer now television broadcaster sold his operation to Jay Robinson in May, Wise circled through the transition to remain in the driver’s seat. Wise finished 43rd in his final race for the team after being collected in an early-race accident.
Through the first 18 races, Wise collected a top-10 in May at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, finishing 10th after starting 34th. He enters Sunday’s 5-hour ENERGY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway 36th in points.
St. Hilaire says that while Indianapolis is currently a one-race deal, he expects Wise to be back and often.
“He’s very knowledgeable,” added St. Hilaire. “Josh knows a lot about the chassis of a race car and his feedback is great. He’s worked with Clinton (Cram, crew chief) before, so I’m hoping they can work together well from the start.
“Without a doubt Josh can help evaluate our program and guide us in the right direction. With him being in the seat more often, he would become a tremendous asset.”
St. Hilaire said Brandeis Machinery will sponsor the car in the 20th race of the season.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
