Hearn/Grill2Go back for Texas.

As was widely predicted following their Indianapolis heroics, Richie Hearn and Sam Schmidt Motorsports will team up once again at the Texas Motor Speedway this weekend thanks to the continuation of what was an Indy-only sponsorship deal with Grill2Go.

Char-Broil's Thermos Grill2GO brand will continue as the primary sponsor for the #99 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet team for this weekend's Boomtown 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Richie Hearn, who replaced Anthony Lazzaro as the driver of the #99 mid-way through the month of May at Indianapolis, will be the driver for Saturday night's race. Hearn finished 6th in the Grill2GO sponsored entry for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in the 86th running of the Indianapolis 500 two weeks ago.

"This is a great boost to our team," said Sam Schmidt. "We had a number of challenges the month of May and still came away with a 6th place finish. I can't say enough about Richie and all the guys on the team. We may not have all the resources of some of the bigger teams, but we certainly have the talent, desire and team commitment. Richie did a great job and deserves this continued opportunity with us and Grill2GO."

Hearn has substituted for Schmidt on four different occasions over the past two seasons with three top-ten finishes. Hearn's Indianapolis 500 finish has also boosted the team to 6th in overall entrant points.

"I came into the month of May without a ride, but with the goal of being one of the ten guys getting a limo ride to the banquet," said Hearn. "We accomplished that and now I'm looking forward to more races. Sam has a great team and I just feel really comfortable here and especially with Tim Neff the engineer and entire crew. I have to thank Sam and everybody at Grill2GO for their support. I'm ready to go to Texas with some team chemistry and a little momentum."

It is unclear whether the sponsorship is set to last for just one race or if there is a longer deal but this could signal the end of what has been a tumultuous last couple of weeks for Schmidt's second year team. Schmidt entered the Indy 500 initially with regular driver Lazzaro and Mark Dismore with the Grill2Go decals but Dismore crashed during the first week of practice in what was then the #20 Grill2Go entry. Hearn was drafted in and successfully qualified the #20 car as Dismore recuperated.

Then Lazzaro was farmed out to the PDM squad after struggling to get the #99 up to speed and the fit-again Dismore qualified that car on Bubble Day. Both Hearn and Dismore raced with Grill2Go sponsorship on race day with the #20 machine now effectively the primary entry. Hearn finished 6th and Dismore retired early in the race with persistent handling problems.