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160-535: Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series . The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises , with former Montreal Canadiens and Liverpool F.C. owner George Gillett having a controlling interest in the organization. In late 2009, the team merged with Yates Racing and consequently switched to Ford for

320-609: A $ 90 million loan he had used to purchase the team. With lackluster performance and rumors from week-to-week that the team would shut down, the chaos peaked in October when RPM's cars for the second Talladega race were briefly confiscated, and again in November when RPM's four team haulers remained parked at Texas Motor Speedway instead of heading to the next race at Phoenix , in both cases due to payment issues with engine and equipment supplier Roush Fenway Racing . The situation

480-519: A Cup Series ride due to lack of sponsorship, shared the No. 29 with Holiday Inn sponsoring. Burton won five times including the finale at Homestead and Wimmer put together several strong finishes in his time in the car, and Childress had his second Busch Series owners' championship in which no full-time driver raced for the team. Holiday Inn signed a multi-year extension near the end of 2007, with Scott Wimmer signing on for 23 races, and Burton filling out

640-493: A Daytona 500 race, it was still a significant improvement over its predecessor the Dodge Charger 500. NASCAR feared that these increasing speeds significantly surpassed the abilities of the tire technology of the day, and it would undoubtedly increase the number of gruesome wrecks that were occurring. As a result, the 1970 Homologation rules were changed so that one car for every two U.S. dealers had to be built for sale to

800-846: A Midwest regional series. In addition to the ARCA Menards Series , it also sanctions the ARCA Midwest Tour since 2007, and previously the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series from 1999 to 2016. NASCAR purchased ARCA in early 2018. For the 2020 season, the NASCAR K&;N Series East and West were rebranded under the ARCA banner as the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West . Outside of NASCAR, there are

960-550: A best finish of 4th at Nashville In 2003, the team set out to win the Busch Series Owner's Championship with a sponsorship from The Hershey Company 's PayDay brand. Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick was tabbed to drive 15 of the 34 races, with development driver Johnny Sauter filling out the rest of the schedule. Harvick ended up competing 19 races, with three wins and Top 10s in all but one race, and RCR became

1120-528: A best finish of eighth at Talladega in May to finish 26th in points. At the second to last race of the season at Phoenix, Richard Petty announced Hornish would not return to the team following season's end. Hornish was replaced by longtime Xfinity Series driver Brian Scott for 2016, with Albertsons and Shore Lodge joining Twisted Tea as primary sponsors. The car was renumbered from 9 to 44, which had been used by Petty Enterprises , and by RPM in 2009. Scott had

1280-512: A career-best 2nd at Talladega in the fall, and a few weeks later, announced he would retire for family reasons. Petty would later sell the No. 44 equipment to Go FAS Racing . The merger between GEM and Petty Enterprises in January 2009 suddenly expanded the team to four rides; the team was renamed to Richard Petty Motorsports and Sadler remained in the 19, while Sorenson moved over to the newly absorbed No. 43 car. Later that month, Allmendinger

1440-641: A cost of A$ 54 million, was modeled on a scaled down version of the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway . Other tracks used included the 1 ⁄ 2 mile (805 metre) Speedway Super Bowl at the Adelaide International Raceway (also owned by Jane, this was the only paved oval track in Australia other than the Thunderdome, though with only 7° banking in the turns it was more of a traditional flat track), as well as road courses such as

1600-400: A custom built machine, or a heavily modified streetcar. Individual sanctioning bodies (like NASCAR, ACT , PASS , UARA, ASA , CARS Tour , etc.) maintain their own late model rule books, and even individual racetracks can maintain their own rule books, meaning a late model that is legal in one series or at one track may not be legal at another without modifications. The national touring series,

1760-502: A great deal of available data, and NASCAR was formed just as some of the improved technology was about to become available in production cars. Until the advent of the Trans-Am Series in 1967, NASCAR homologation cars were the closest thing that the public could buy that was actually very similar to the cars that were winning national races. The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket V-8 with a displacement of 303 cu in (5.0 L)

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1920-411: A highly sophisticated purpose built race car with race-tuned V-8 engines developing 480 kW (650 bhp), quick change axles and gearboxes and biased and staggered chassis and braking set up for constant left turning. However large bumpers were mandatory with contact very much encouraged to remove opponents. The sport can be seen at venues throughout Britain and Mainland Europe. A downsized version of

2080-575: A lack of results, Kahne departed the team before Martinsville and drove Red Bull Racing's No. 83 Toyota. Kahne was replaced by Aric Almirola for the remaining races, who had a best finish of fourth at Homestead . Marcos Ambrose took over driving duties at the beginning of the 2011 season with Stanley Black & Decker moving over from the 19 team. Ambrose had a break out year in the No. 9 Ford and drove to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Watkins Glen International in August. He finished

2240-500: A majority stake of the team, including both charters. The next day, Medallion confirmed it had sold all shares to Gallagher. On December 7, it was confirmed that the combined organization would operate under the banner of Petty GMS Motorsports , which was later renamed Legacy Motor Club. In the midst of a struggling economy, in January 2009 Gillett Evernham Motorsports merged with fellow Dodge team Petty Enterprises , which could no longer find sponsors for any of its cars, thus expanding

2400-478: A meeting at the Streamline Hotel in order to form an organization that would unify the rules. When NASCAR was first formed by France in 1948 to regulate stock car racing in the U.S., there was a requirement that any car entered be made entirely of parts available to the general public through automobile dealers. Furthermore, the car models were required to have sold over 500 units to the public. This

2560-442: A multi-year contract to drive the 43 car. During the 2021 season , Jones scored six top-10s and finished 24th in the points standings. Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola (2009–2010) Kasey Kahne had been driving for Evernham Motorsports since his rookie season in 2004. Kahne continued to drive the No. 9 car after the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises. In 2009, Kahne scored his first road course victory at

2720-691: A number of other national or regional stock-car sanctioning bodies in the United States. There are a few organizations that cater to these local short tracks . The American Speed Association (ASA), Champion Racing Association (CRA), International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), United Auto Racing Association (UARA), Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS), and they all sanction their own forms of stock-car racing, on varying types of track, and with various levels of media coverage. The International Race of Champions (IROC) and Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) are usually perceived as being outside of

2880-551: A paint scheme resembling the one used by his late father when he first drove for RCR. Earnhardt would go on to win the race, his first victory in 87 Nationwide Series starts, and the first victory in a Nationwide Car of Tomorrow . Prior to the start, Earnhardt Jr. claimed that it would most likely be the last time he would drive the No. 3 car. In 2012, the team moved to full-time status with Childress's grandson Austin Dillon driving, led by crew chief Danny Stockman. The team had

3040-559: A race, he stayed consistent enough to make the playoffs. On September 12, crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz was suspended for the Bristol playoff race and fined US$ 10,000 after the car was found to have two loose lug nuts following the Kansas race . On October 11, Creed announced he will not return to RCR in 2024. On October 25, 2023, it was revealed that Jesse Love would drive the No. 2 car full-time in 2024 , replacing Creed. Love started

3200-589: A row) in the boxier Plymouth Belvedere. The 1969 season featured the Torino Cobra or Torino "Talladega" which had enough aerodynamic body improvements that it gave it a higher speed than the 1968 Torino, with no other changes. The Cobra, featuring extended nose and reshaped rockers, was renamed Talladega part way through the 1969 season when the Boss 429 replaced the 427. Starting in 1963 up till this point, Ford had won six straight Manufacturer Championships, and by

3360-474: A seventh-place points finish. Scott's best run by far was at Richmond in September, where he led won the pole and led 229 laps. before being passed on the restart by Brad Keselowski with 11 laps to go, finishing second. Scott's team protested the restart-in-question, and after the race stated "We deserved to win that race." In the spring Richmond race, Scott and Nelson Piquet Jr. got into altercations on

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3520-533: A shattered T5 vertebrae, for which he would miss eight to twelve races. Regan Smith was named as the replacement for the NASCAR All-Star Race , racing until the AAA Drive for Autism at Dover. Roush Fenway Racing 's Xfinity Series driver Bubba Wallace made his Cup Series debut in the No. 43, driving the car until Almirola was fit to return to racing. Ford sports car racer Billy Johnson drove

3680-495: A single cam-in-block . But even without the cammer, the Ford FE 427 won in 1965. In 1966 Chrysler sold enough of the 426 Hemis to make it available again, and they put it in their new Dodge Charger which had a low-drag rear window that was radically sloped. It was called a "fast-back", and because of this David Pearson was the series champion that year with Richard Petty dominating 1967, winning 27 of 48 races (including 10 in

3840-459: A speed record for stock cars in a 2007-season Dodge Charger built to NASCAR specifications by achieving a maximum speed of 244.9 mph (394.1 km/h) at Bonneville Speedway . For the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series , power output of the competing cars ranged from 750 to 800 hp (560 to 600 kW). In the 1920s, moonshine runners during the Prohibition era would often have to outrun

4000-439: A sponsor or with limited sponsorship from Zaxby's and other companies for the other seven races. Following the season, Shepherd returned full-time to his Faith Motorsports operation with RCR transferring the No. 21 owners points to Shepherd, while RCR shut the 21 team down. In 2011, RCR briefly restarted its Nationwide program, running a few races with development driver Tim George Jr. and sponsorship from Applebee's . In 2012,

4160-460: A sponsorship from AdvoCare for 20 races, and Bass Pro Shops and American Ethanol for the others. Dillon stayed in the championship hunt throughout the season, sweeping both Kentucky races and easily claiming Rookie of the Year. Dillon would finish third in points behind teammate Elliott Sadler and champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Dillon returned in 2013, with a sponsorship from AdvoCare covering

4320-455: A sports investment since 2008 when he formed a special purpose acquisition company together with Hank Aaron , a Medallion board member, and others worth $ 215 million. The team contracted from four teams to two following 2010. Bergeron's share was bought out by Murstein at the end of 2014. In 2015 the team began fabricating its own bodies, and in 2016 began building its own chassis, reducing its technical reliance on Roush Fenway Racing. For

4480-411: A subsidiary of team owner Andrew Murstein 's Medallion Financial Corporation, would appear as a primary sponsor for select races. Medallion partnered with NASCAR Truck Series sponsor Camping World for the third and fourth races of the season (Las Vegas and Phoenix), and other companies including Mercury Marine and Lyon Financial. Hornish struggled during the year, with only three top tens including

4640-488: A teammate to his sons Jay and Johnny and against his other son Tim . The car appeared again in 2003 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Johnny Sauter driving and the PayDay sponsorship, as a thank you from Richard Childress for Sauter's help in winning the 2003 owners' championship for the 21 team. In 2004 several drivers including Bobby Labonte , Tony Stewart , Ricky Craven , Brandon Miller and Kevin Harvick ran in

4800-760: A technical alliance with the team in the Xfinity Series. Beyond this, RCR also has collaborative agreements with Beard Motorsports , although these are not technical alliances. RCR has won the NASCAR Cup Series championship six times, all with driver Dale Earnhardt , as well as the Daytona 500 three times; Earnhardt in 1998 , Kevin Harvick in 2007 , and Austin Dillon in 2018 . The team has also fielded cars for notables such as Jeff Burton , Mike Skinner , Ricky Rudd , Neil Bonnett , Ryan Newman , and Clint Bowyer . RCR has fielded this entry in

4960-420: A top ten finish in the 2017 Daytona 500 . However, in the season's eleventh race, the 2017 Go Bowling 400 , Almirola was caught in a wreck caused by Joey Logano . After Logano lost control of his car and collided with Danica Patrick 's car, Almirola's car plowed into Logano's and the back end of the car left the ground. Almirola was then immediately airlifted to a hospital, where he would later be diagnosed with

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5120-570: A way that they hoped would make the cars safer and more equal, so the race series would be more a test of the drivers, rather than a test of car technology. In addition, R.J. Reynolds (the tobacco conglomerate) took over as the major sponsor of NASCAR racing (changing the name to the "Winston Cup") and they made a significantly larger financial contribution than previous sponsors. Richard Petty's personal sponsorship with STP also set new, higher standards for financial rewards to driving teams. The sudden infusion of noticeably larger amounts of money changed

5280-484: Is referred to as " homologation ", which other racing series has since adapted for their own rulesets. In NASCAR's early years, the cars were so "stock" that it was commonplace for the drivers to drive themselves to the competitions in the car that they were going to run in the race. While automobile engine technology had remained fairly stagnant in World War II, advanced aircraft piston engine development had provided

5440-607: Is the second tier series in the United States. It serves as the primary feeder series to the Cup Series, similar to Formula Two for Formula One , and Indy Lights for Indy Car . Races are commonly held as a support race to Cup Series events. Many current Cup Series drivers formerly competed in the Series before moving on to competing full-time in the Cup Series. The Xfinity series typically features multiple Cup Series competitors competing alongside full time Xfinity drivers. There

5600-504: Is the team racing format. Typically teams racing consists of two teams of four cars each that work together to win the race. Teams normally protect their "runners" while attempting to eliminate the opposing team, the races can be decided by a points format or first across the finish line. The class most resembling the North American form of stock car racing are known as Saloon cars. Super Saloons are similar to dirt late models with

5760-495: Is widely recognized as the first postwar modern overhead valve (OHV) engine to become available to the public. The Oldsmobile was an immediate success in 1949 and 1950, and all the automobile manufacturers could not help noticing the higher sales of the Oldsmobile 88 to the buying public. The motto of the day became "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." However, in spite of the fact that several competing engines were more advanced,

5920-410: The 2014 Auto Club 400 , Almirola got involved in an accident with part-time Cup driver Brian Scott . Almirola made a pass on Scott for 4th place. Scott controversially moved into the back of Almirola to wreck himself and Almirola. In a post-race interview, an angry Almirola retorted "The 33 was obviously a dart without feathers and coming across the race track. He ran right into me. Man, he came from all

6080-462: The 2016 Daytona 500 , the team went into a slump, highlighted by last-place finishes at Martinsville, Kansas and in the season's final race at Homestead-Miami. Almirola finished the 2016 season with an average finish of just over 23rd and a 26th-place points finish. After the 2016 season, RPM announced that they would lease the charter of the 44 team and focus solely on Almirola's effort. The one-car approach paid immediate dividends as Almirola recorded

6240-513: The 2019 season with a 38th-place finish at the 2019 Daytona 500 when Kurt Busch spun in front of him and Tyler Reddick hit him from behind, causing Wallace to collide with Busch. Wallace continued to finish consistently below the top-15, but he managed to make the starting grid of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race by winning stage 2 of the Monster Energy Open. At the 2019 Brickyard 400 Wallace managed to run top 10

6400-510: The BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars , the smaller BriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars , previously known as "The Juniors" or "Junior Stock Cars", are also very popular. these cars are powered by the 2 litre Ford 'Pinto' engine. There are also many other formulas running on the oval tracks throughout a season that starts around March/Easter and continues to October/November. In the 2008 World Final, held at Ipswich, Andy Smith raced to victory becoming

6560-619: The Daytona 500 , and opened the year with a third-place finish in the "Great American Race". Later in the season, Allmendinger finished ninth at Martinsville. They secured sponsorship through the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond in the fall. RPM announced in April that Allmendinger was being signed to a two-year deal, which would keep him in the No. 44 through the end of the 2010 season and sponsorships from Hunt Brothers Pizza , Super 8, Harrah's Entertainment , and Ford allowed him to complete

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6720-559: The NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series . The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina , and is owned and operated by Richard Childress . In the Cup Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 teams: the No. 3 full-time for Austin Dillon , the No. 8 full-time for Kyle Busch . In the Xfinity Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro teams: the No. 2 full-time for Jesse Love ,

6880-571: The NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series , originated from local late model races in the east coast of the U.S. This division was later called the "Busch Series", the "Nationwide Series", and currently the "Xfinity Series" as its title sponsor changed. Late model racing has a very big following throughout the country. Many of the biggest late model races have very large purses, some equivalent to some NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series races, that attract drivers from all over

7040-663: The Nabisco brands Oreo and Nilla . Earnhardt won the Daytona race but finished 36th at the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Charlotte after being involved in a crash. The No. 3 car returned for one race in 2010 at the Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona with a sponsorship from Wrangler , in a joint venture between RCR, JR Motorsports , and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. The car was once again driven by Earnhardt Jr. with

7200-683: The Surfers Paradise Street Circuit (where the cars ran as a support category to the Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix ), Oran Park in Sydney , and the famous Mount Panorama Circuit . The term 'stock cars' in the UK refers to a specialized form of racing that bears little resemblance to any road car. Stock car racing was brought to Britain in 1954. Taking place on existing greyhound or speedway tracks,

7360-555: The Toyota/Save Mart 350 and won again at Atlanta on Labor Day, earning him a berth in the Chase. However, early misfortune at Loudon put the No. 9 team out of contention for the championship, finishing 10th in points. 2010 would start the No. 9 team off on a high note by winning the second Gatorade Duel in a photo finish. However, the team was plagued by inconsistency and was knocked out of Chase contention before Richmond. With

7520-501: The United States Air Force , Super 8 , Reynolds Wrap , Paralyzed Veterans of America , Charter Communications , Auto Value Bumper to Bumper, Liberty Medical , and Siemens , but only had one top-ten finish; a ninth at the rained-shortened Daytona 500 . Sorenson was released the end of the season. The team announced they had moved A. J. Allmendinger over to the No. 43 car for the 2010 season; he finished 19th in

7680-475: The V8 Supercar Series for DJR Team Penske . Later that month, it was announced that primary sponsor Stanley Black & Decker would depart the team for Joe Gibbs Racing . On October 8, 2014, it was announced that Sam Hornish Jr. would drive the No. 9 car starting in 2015. Twisted Tea returned for four races including the Daytona 500 . In late-February, it was announced that Medallion Bank,

7840-537: The "top 3" series. In addition to the top three series, NASCAR also sanctions many regional and local series. NASCAR also sanctions three international series that race in Canada , Mexico , and Europe . The most prominent championship in stock car racing is the NASCAR Cup Series . It is the most popular racing series in the United States, drawing over 6 million spectators in 1997, an average live audience of over 190,000 people for each race. The most famous event in

8000-470: The 19 in the now- Xfinity Series as TriStar Motorsports ), and has since moved again to Joe Gibbs Racing . On August 26, 2008, Gillett Evernham Motorsports announced the signing of Reed Sorenson to a multi-year contract to drive the No. 10 car. On Thursday January 9, it was announced that Richard Petty would sell his team to GEM, moving Sorenson to the No. 43 for the 2009 season in the process. The 43 ran multiple sponsorships from McDonald's , Valvoline ,

8160-409: The 2008 BriSCA F1 Stock Car World Champion for the second time in his career, taking the crown from brother Stuart Smith Jnr. 2009 also saw Andy Smith win again this time at Kings Lynns Norfolk Arena. 2010 saw Andy Smith win for a 3rd consecutive time at Coventry, the same venue as his 1st win in 2006. The 2011 World Championship took place at Northampton on September 10 with 2 Paul Harrison the winner of

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8320-402: The 2008 season. The 2009 season saw a change in the driver lineup for the No. 29 team. Longtime driver Jeff Burton was joined by Cup teammate and 2008 Nationwide Series Champion Clint Bowyer , as well as up and comer Stephen Leicht . Bowyer's championship crew chief Dan Deeringhoff also moved from the No. 2 team over to the 29 for all three drivers. After seeing Burton's name on the window of

8480-525: The 2010 season. Evernham had no involvement in the team by this time. After funding issues due to the Gillett family's financial woes, in November 2010, an investment group including Andrew M. Murstein and his Medallion Financial Corporation, Douglas G. Bergeron , and Richard Petty himself, signed and closed sale on racing assets of Richard Petty Motorsports. On December 1, 2021, it was announced that GMS Racing owner Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. had purchased

8640-414: The 2018 season, RPM switched their alliance from RFR to Richard Childress Racing which also came with a manufacturer switch to Chevrolet . On December 1, 2021, RPM sold a majority interest in the team to GMS Racing for US$ 19 million. The deal included both of RPM's charters; the No. 43 continues to operate with its charter while the second charter – which was leased to Rick Ware Racing for

8800-581: The 29. The 29 car returned in 2005 at Bristol Motor Speedway as part of a promotion for Reese's Chocolate and Peanut Butter Lovers Cups. The promotion involved the 29 painted as the Chocolate Lovers car and the 21 painted as the Peanut Butter Lovers car. The plan was for Jeff Burton to drive the 29 while Kevin Harvick would drive the 21. Qualifying was rained out, so the entries were switched to assure that both cars would make

8960-485: The 30th anniversary of this team's last win at Daytona, it is my hometown and I remember growing up watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s here. To win is real special." Almirola's win guaranteed him a spot in the newly reformatted Chase for the sprint cup . He was eliminated after the Round of 16 due to a crash at Dover. Longtime teammate Marcos Ambrose left the team in 2015, and he was replaced by Sam Hornish Jr. as

9120-540: The 43 in 2009) and drove the No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion. Menard posted similar stats to Allmendinger the prior year (1 top 5, 6 top 10s, 23rd in points), but left the team along with crew chief Slugger Labbe for 2011, taking the Menards sponsorship with him to Richard Childress Racing , forcing the No. 98 to shut down. In 2009, the No. 9 team partnered with Braun Racing and their No. 10 Toyota Camry for several races with Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler . Fritos with

9280-431: The 9 car at the end of the 2010 season. Almirola earned a Pole start at Charlotte in May, and collected one top 5 and four top 10s en route to a 20th-place finish in points. Aric's best run of the year may have been at Kansas in October, where he qualified fifth and lead 69 laps after taking the top spot on lap 6. But on lap 121, Almirola blew a tire, sending his Farmland Ford into the wall. He spun on lap 172 racing for

9440-572: The Busch Series in 2001 while running full-time in Winston Cup as well. In 2002, rookie driver Johnny Sauter won at Chicagoland and finished 14th in points. The next year, Ron Hornaday Jr. drove the car full-time, winning one race and posting a third-place finish in points. He followed up that performance with another win and a drop to fourth in points the following year. Hornaday was not re-signed for 2005. In 2005, Clint Bowyer took

9600-712: The Cup Series for Tommy Baldwin Racing , RPM hired former Turn One Racing Truck driver Dakoda Armstrong to take over the No. 43, bringing sponsorship from WinField . Armstrong drove for two seasons, then left after 2015 for JGL Racing . In 2016, former BK Racing driver Jeb Burton joined the team, driving the No. 43. Despite being 11th in points after Charlotte in June, the team was suspended after sponsor J. Streicher & Co. defaulted on their agreement with RPM. In 2016, Richard Petty Motorsports formed an alliance with Empire Racing, owned by John Corr. Empire Racing would field

9760-474: The Ford Talladega, Mercury Spoiler II, Charger 500, Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird to a maximum engine displacement of 305 cu in (5.0 L) for 1971. Almost all teams switched to non-aero bodystyles. NASCAR eventually adopted a restrictor plate to limit top speeds for the 7.0L engine as teams switched to small-block 358 cu in (5.9 L) engines. NASCAR edited the rules in

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9920-462: The Gold Roof. The 2012 World Championship held at Skegness was won by 217 Lee Fairhurst. The 2013 World Championship will be held at King's Lynn on Saturday 21 September. Richard Childress Racing Xfinity Series : 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race ( Phoenix ) Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in

10080-542: The Nationwide Series since the fall North Carolina Speedway race in 1999, moving the entire team from the Craftsman Truck Series. Kevin Harvick was the first driver of the No. 2 AC Delco -sponsored Chevy, winning three races and winning Rookie of the Year along with a third-place points finish, despite missing the spring race at North Carolina Speedway . He went on to win the championship in

10240-424: The No. 19 for the 2009 season. At the same time the team also announced several of its sponsors were considering leaving the team and that Ray Evernham had cleared his personal belongings out of the team's race shop, but it was not clear whether it was related to the hire. On January 3, 2009, Sadler's attorney announced that he would be seeking a breach of contract lawsuit against GEM for the dismissal. Looking to avoid

10400-412: The No. 2 Camaro, with Mike Hillman Jr. replacing Phil Gould as crew chief. Scott left the team for Richard Petty Motorsports in Cup Series at the end of the season. In 2016, the No. 2 began fielding variety of drivers driving including Austin Dillon and Paul Menard , with sponsorship from Rheem and Menards . Dillon and Menard would run 27 races combined, with the former winning at Auto Club and

10560-576: The No. 2 car having a best finish of 2nd in the Lilly Diabetes 250 with Menard behind the wheel. On October 5, 2017, it was announced that Matt Tifft will be the driver of the No. 2 car in 2018 and compete for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship. Defending Xfinity Series champion, Tyler Reddick was signed to the team for 2019. He ended up winning his second championship and was the first championship that

10720-418: The No. 21 car after a practice crash at Phoenix, which had proceeded an arrest for possession of alcohol as a minor. RCR said the move was for precautionary reasons, but Townley never returned to the team and would return to his former team RAB Racing . Clint Bowyer took over driving duties at Phoenix, and Scott Riggs drove at Nashville and Kentucky in June. Zaxby's, meanwhile, scaled back to sponsoring 21 of

10880-518: The No. 21 full-time for Austin Hill . RCR has had at least one car successfully qualify for every Cup race since 1972 , the longest such active streak, and is known for the longstanding use of the number 3 on its primary race car. In addition to its in-house Cup Series teams, RCR has several technical alliances and partnerships with other teams. In the Cup Series, it is allied with Kaulig Racing , while Big Machine Racing and Jordan Anderson Racing have

11040-505: The No. 21 ran at Charlotte and Homestead with Joey Coulter . The car returned in 2013 with Dakoda Armstrong , Brendan Gaughan , and Kevin Harvick driving, taking a best finish of fifth at Indianapolis. The No. 21 was revived for Daniel Hemric who drove full-time in 2017 and 2018. Despite being a consistent front runner, Hemric never won a race before moving up to the Cup series for the 2019 season. RCR cut back to one full-time team with

11200-490: The No. 21 running a limited schedule with Kaz Grala and Joe Graf Jr. In 2020, the No. 21 was returned to full-time competition after inheriting the No. 2 owner points. This car was shared by Myatt Snider , Anthony Alfredo , Kaz Grala , and Earl Bamber . On October 29, 2021, it was announced that RCR would field two full-time cars again in 2022, with their second car driven by Austin Hill . On January 21, 2022, RCR revealed on their website that Hill's car number would be

11360-421: The No. 21. Hill began the season with a win at Daytona . He also won at Atlanta on his way to the playoffs. Hill was eliminated following the Round of 8 after finishing ninth at Martinsville as a result of a collision with Snider. Following the race, Hill punched Snider in the face on pit road. At the end of the season, he finished sixth in the points standings and won the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of

11520-403: The No. 3 car part time in 2023 with sponsorship coming from Ferris. The No. 21 debuted in 2000, with Rockwell Automation as the sponsor and Childress' son-in-law Mike Dillon as the driver. Dillon posted two Top 10 finishes and finished 23rd in points that year. Six races into 2001, Dillon was injured at Bristol Motor Speedway and it was announced at the time he would be out for the rest of

11680-428: The No. 3 for 2014 with sponsorships from Yuengling , Bass Pro Shops , and WESCO . Dillon earned a pole in the third race of the season at Las Vegas , and scored his first career victory at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway after leading 24 laps, one of only three rookies to win a race in 2014. Dillon earned three poles, seven Top 5 finishes, and 24 Top 10 en route to a fifth-place points finish, losing Rookie of

11840-476: The No. 3 in 2018. The No. 3 car returned for one race in 2022. The car was driven by Jeffrey Earnhardt . It was the first time that Earnhardt drove the No. 3, the number made famous by his grandfather Dale when he drove for RCR in the Cup Series, in NASCAR and the first time he drove for RCR in NASCAR. He finished the race in a career-best second place. On January 25, 2023, RCR announced Ty Dillon will drive

12000-541: The No. 43 Petty's Garage entry in the Camping World Truck Series part-time in the series, with a number of young drivers sharing the truck. Austin Hill drove at Daytona. Korbin Forrister drove at Eldora, but failed to qualify. The alliance with Empire Racing has moved to ARCA from the 2017 season having been centered around Richard Petty's grandson, Thad Moffitt . Moffitt has run part-time in

12160-511: The No. 43 at Sonoma . Almirola returned to the car at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. In September 2017, it was announced that Almirola and Smithfield Foods were leaving Richard Petty Motorsports for Stewart-Haas Racing after negotiations to extend the sponsorship deal fell through, although after Petty threatened legal action, Smithfield reached a settlement in which their subsidiary brands such as Food Lion Feeds and Farmer John would sponsor

12320-474: The No. 43 for a portion of the 2018 season. For the 2018 season, Wallace replaced Almirola in the No. 43 car who ran for Rookie of the Year honors. He got an impressive second-place finish at the 2018 Daytona 500 . On May 1, 2018, World Wide Technology signed on to sponsor the No. 43 car for six races. Wallace finished the season 28th in points and finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year honors. Wallace started

12480-466: The No. 46, and Sean Corr drove the No. 43 in a few races. Stock car racing Top-level stock cars exceed 200 mph (322 km/h) at speedway tracks and on superspeedway tracks such as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway . Contemporary NASCAR-spec top-level cars produce maximum power outputs of 860–900 hp from their naturally aspirated V8 engines. In October 2007 American race car driver Russ Wicks set

12640-410: The No. 51 from 2019 to 2021 would be transferred to GMS' No. 42. Prior to the formation of RPM, Elliott Sadler had been driving the No. 19 for Gillett Evernham Motorsports since 2006. In May 2008, Sadler reached a two-year contract extension with GEM. However, on December 27, 2008, GEM announced that A. J. Allmendinger , who drove GEM's No. 10 car at the end of the season, would be replacing Sadler in

12800-530: The Spring race), poles at both Chicagoland races, and was in contention to win several races. Scott ended the year with career bests in Top 5 finishes (six), Top 10s (23), and average start and finish (6.5 and 9.5 respectively). He would come away with a career-best fourth place in the championship standings, losing a numerical tiebreaker for third with former RCR driver Elliott Sadler . For 2015, Scott returned to

12960-525: The UK and New Zealand there is a racing formula called stock cars, but the cars are markedly different from any road car. In Australia there was a formula that was quite similar to NASCAR called AUSCAR . The Racecar-Euro Series began in 2009 and was sanctioned by NASCAR as a touring series in 2012, currently operating as the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series . "True" stock car racing, which consists of only street vehicles that can be bought by

13120-549: The United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name. In many regions, particularly on the east coast, modified racing is considered the highest class of stock cars in local racing. NASCAR officially sanctions the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour which is the oldest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. The SMART Modified Tour , at one point

13280-428: The Year honors. Hill began the 2023 season by winning his second straight season opener at Daytona . He also scored wins at Las Vegas , Atlanta , and Pocono . In 2024 , Hill made history by winning his third straight season opener at Daytona . In the next round at Atlanta , his team used fuel strategy to help him take his second win in a row. At Charlotte , Hill and Cole Custer were trading paint on

13440-470: The Year honors to champion Chase Elliott . He followed it up with a career-best 3rd place in points for 2015 and 5th place in 2016 despite not winning a race either year. In 2017, Ty Dillon would run 27 of the 33 races alongside his rookie Cup Series campaign. Scott Lagasse Jr. and Brian Scott would round out the No. 3's schedule. In 2018, Ty would share the No. 3 with his brother Austin along with Jeb Burton and Shane Lee . Brendan Gaughan also drove

13600-418: The aerodynamic and low-slung Hudson Hornet managed to win in 1951, 1952, and 1953 with a 308 cu in (5.0 L) inline six-cylinder that used an old-style flathead engine , proving there was more to winning than just a more powerful engine. At the time, it typically took three years for a new design of car body or engine to end up in production and be available for NASCAR racing. Most cars sold to

13760-469: The authorities. To do so, they had to upgrade their vehicles—while leaving them looking ordinary, so as not to attract attention. Eventually, runners started getting together with fellow runners and making runs together. They would challenge one another and eventually progressed to organized events in the early 1930s. The main problem racing faced was the lack of a unified set of rules among the different tracks. When Bill France Sr. saw this problem, he set up

13920-424: The car during a photoshoot (Burton being the longest-tenured in the 29), the three drivers entered into a competition between each other: whoever could score the most wins in the 17 races between February and July would have their name placed on the car for the remainder of the season, including the other drivers' appearances. Burton was set to drive 7 events in the first half of the season, Bowyer in 6 events including

14080-604: The car while Ambrose was in Michigan for the Sprint Cup race. The car qualified 9th. Even with the team starting in the back with the driver change, the team won the race that stopped a string of bad luck for Ambrose at the track. In 2013, the No. 9 Ford Mustang was driven by Marcos Ambrose in the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio to a seventh-place finish. The 9 was also run at Homestead for

14240-526: The cars conform to standard model specs has changed over the years and varies from country to country. Today most American stock cars may superficially resemble standard American family sedans but are in fact silhouette cars: purpose-built racing machines built to a strict set of regulations governing the car design ensuring that the chassis , suspension , engine, etc. are architecturally identical to those in stock production vehicles. For example, NASCAR Cup Series race vehicles now require fuel injection . In

14400-480: The cars were mostly 'stock' cars from the 1930s with locked rear axle differentials and added armour. After the first couple of years 'specials' began to appear eventually making the 'stock' car name something of a misnomer. Since the early days of stock car racing in Britain the sport has developed into many different classes, from the destructive 'Banger' categories to the very sophisticated National Hot Rods. However,

14560-546: The competitors, sponsorship dollars on offer as well as major television time, the Australian Superspeedway series shut down after 2001. The majority of the NASCAR and AUSCAR racing in Australia took place at the 1.801 km (1.119 mi), high-banked (24°) Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne . The Thunderdome, which was opened in 1987 and was built by multi-millionaire tyre retailer Bob Jane at

14720-464: The cool-down lap and on pit road following several on-track incidents that carried over from prior races. During the physical altercation, which got both teams' crew members involved, Piquet was shown kicking Scott in the groin, which Scott called "just a chicken move." Scott finished 20th in the race. Scott returned RCR in 2014, which included several starts in the No. 33 Cup car. Scott's performance continued to improve, winning another Richmond pole (in

14880-710: The country including Cup, Xfinity, and Truck drivers. Despite NASCAR officially sanctioning the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series as a national championship, series such as the CARS Tour , ASA , UARA, and the ACT draw the biggest attention and sanction most of the biggest races in the country. NASCAR is currently the largest stock car racing governing body in the world. While NASCAR sanctions multiple series, it has three national championship touring series that are commonly referred to as

15040-399: The driver of Petty's other entry. Almirola scored a top-five finish at Dover early in the season but then barely missed out on the Chase in points, finishing sixteen points and one position behind the last man in, Clint Bowyer . Almirola finished fourth in the cut race, doing everything he could to make it in. Despite missing the playoffs, Almirola scored another top-five at Dover, a track that

15200-481: The end of the 1969 season Ford would make it seven in a row. Richard Petty was tired of winning races but losing the championship, so after a private viewing of Ford's new Talladega and Boss 429 engine, he signed a lucrative deal with Ford. Prior to its first race at the Daytona 500, David Pearson's 427 powered Ford Torino Cobra set a new NASCAR record by being the first to exceed 190 mph (310 km/h) when he qualified at 190.029 mph (305.822 km/h). When

15360-516: The engine. Power output is usually in the range of 500–550 horsepower (373–410 kilowatts ). Tire width is usually limited to 8 in (200 mm). Some entry level classes are called "street stock", and are similar to what is often called " banger racing " in England. Modified stock cars resemble a hybrid of open wheel cars and stock cars. The rear wheels are covered by fenders but the front wheels and engine are left exposed. First popular in

15520-474: The entire Busch Series schedule in three different cars. Burton won at Atlanta, and Harvick won three more races, pulling out to an over 700-point lead in the points standings with five races to go in the 2006 season. AutoZone replaced the sponsorship with Coast Guard in 2007, and Harvick drove along with development driver Timothy Peters , until Peters was replaced by multiple dirt late model series champion Tim McCreadie . Beginning in 2008, Bobby Labonte

15680-471: The entire nature of the sport. The 1973 oil crisis meant that large displacement special edition homologation cars of all makes were suddenly sitting unsold. Through the balance of the 1970s until 1991, the factory stock sheetmetal over a racing frame meant the cars looked very much like their street version counterparts. Then in 1992, with a highly modified body, and more aerodynamics, stock cars were quickly allowed to differ greatly from anything available to

15840-407: The entire season. Despite not going to victory lane, the No. 3 team scored five consecutive poles midway through the season and seven total on the year. Dillon managed to stay consistent enough to beat Sam Hornish Jr. for the championship, becoming the first team to win a championship without a victory. Austin would move up to the Cup Series in 2014. For 2014, younger brother Ty Dillon took over

16000-405: The fall Bristol race. Sam Hornish Jr. , Ben Kennedy , Michael McDowell , and Regan Smith would also round out the No. 2 lineup. Hornish would win the spring Iowa race, while McDowell would take his first NASCAR victory at Road America. The 2 team would finish 6th in owners points. For 2017, Dillon and Menard continued to run the No. 2 Camaro. Neither Dillon nor Menard won a race that year, with

16160-491: The field (Harvick was a past champion and the No. 29 was not locked in). Burton drove the 21 while Harvick drove the 29. Harvick won the race in this car with Burton finishing second in the 21. Later in the season, Mayflower Transit came on to sponsor Burton after a seven-year relationship with him. On March 17, 2006, Holiday Inn announced its sponsorship of the 29 for ten races with Burton returning as its driver. The new car made its 2006 debut at Richmond. Burton finished in

16320-477: The final year for longtime sponsor AC Delco (sister company GM Goodwrench also withdrew from the Cup Series after 2006); for 2007, BB&T signed on as the sponsor, with Bowyer running 21 races in the No. 2. Kenny Wallace drove for the team in a one-race deal at Gateway International Raceway , with a sponsorship from sandwich chain Jimmy John's . In 2008, Bowyer returned full-time, scoring 18 Top 10s in

16480-623: The first 21 races including a win at Bristol . Bowyer would go on to win the 2008 Nationwide Series title. In 2009, the No. 2 team ran a partial schedule with Sean Caisse and Austin Dillon sharing the ride. The team shut down after 2009. In late 2011, Kevin Harvick sold off his KHI organization , with the Nationwide Series team and equipment going to Childress' stable. KHI's 2 car, driver Elliott Sadler , and sponsor OneMain Financial moved over to RCR. Sadler continued on

16640-470: The first team to win an owner's points title with two different drivers. Harvick would serve as the team's anchor driver there afterwards, with Clint Bowyer doing the co-driving honors in 2004 and Brandon Miller in 2005 and sponsorships from Reese's Peanut Butter Cups . Jeff Burton drove the car at Bristol in 2005. In 2006, Harvick and Burton split the driving duties in the car with sponsorship from United States Coast Guard , as Harvick attempted to run

16800-490: The first victory by the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43, the first victory for the No. 43 overall in Cup since Petty Enterprises ' win at Martinsville in 1999, and 30 years to the day Richard Petty won his 200th race in a Curb Racing No. 43. On his big victory Almirola said "The good Lord was watching out for us today and we were meant to win. It's real special for me to win here. This is not only

16960-416: The frontstretch for fifth place when contact blew a right front tire on Hill's car. He crashed in turn 1 and collected Custer. Hill, showing his displeasure for how he was raced, locked bumpers with Custer's car and left-reared Custer’s damaged car on the backstretch, which sent him into the inside wall. As a result, Hill was fined US$ 25,000 and docked 25 points. Later in the year, Hill won his third race of

17120-411: The general public, is sometimes now called "street stock", "pure stock", "hobby stock", "showroom stock", or "U-car" racing. In 1972, SCCA started its first showroom stock racing series, with a price ceiling on the cars of $ 3,000. Some modern showroom stock racing allows safety modifications done on showroom stock cars. Super stock classes are similar to street stock, but allow for more modifications to

17280-431: The lawsuit GEM and Sadler's attorneys reached a settlement six days later that would return Sadler to the No. 19 for 2009 while keeping Allmendinger with the team. Sadler had five top-ten finishes in 2009, and finished twenty-sixth in points. Stanley was the team's sponsor for all 36 races in 2010 . Due to a lack of results, Sadler announced his departure from the team in mid-season allowing this team to shut down. The team

17440-498: The lead and lost a lap on pit road. After getting his lap back and working his way up to 13th, Almirola hit the wall once again, setting the front of the car ablaze and ending the promising run. In 2013 Almirola returned to the No. 43; at Martinsville Speedway in October, the team ran the No. 41 to honor Maurice Petty 's induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame . During the 2013 season from Martinsville to Darlington, Almirola had

17600-475: The main differences being the bodies closer resemble production cars, use iron engines up to 7.1 litres (434 cu in) with no rear offset and run much larger sprint car tyres on the rear. Stock car racing in the NASCAR mould (AUSCAR) had a following in Australia during the mid-late 1980s and through the 1990s, but with the advent of the Supercars Championship , which took up the bulk of

17760-446: The majority of the day and compete for the win with around 10 to go and would go on to finish third. On November 9, Wallace was fined $ 50,000 and docked 50 points for intentionally manipulating competition at Texas when he spun his car on the track after experiencing a tire failure. On September 10, 2020, Wallace announced that he would not return to RPM in 2021. On October 21, 2020, it was announced that RPM had signed Erik Jones to

17920-541: The majority of the races, Dodge was forced to develop a better car of their own. Using the Charger 500 as a basis, they added a pointed nose. This nose was almost a carbon copy of the nose on the 1962 Ford Mustang I prototype. This radical body shape required a wing to remain stable at speeds over 180 mph (290 km/h). They named it the Dodge Daytona after the race they hoped to win. Even though it never won

18080-503: The most consecutive Top 10s in the 43 car since Bobby Hamilton in 1996. After being fastest in practice in Talladega, his crew chief Todd Parrott was suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy. Almirola finished a career high 18th in points. For 2014, the team hired Trent Owens, Richard Petty's nephew as crew chief. In January 2014, RPM announced a three-year contract extension with Almirola after working on one-year deals

18240-428: The name 'stock car' is usually reserved for that racing class which traces its roots back to these early days in the 1950s, BriSCA F1 Stock Cars , which were previously known as "The Seniors" or "Senior Stock Cars". Despite the physical demands of this full-contact sport, many competitors have been racing for 20 and even 30 years. For the first 10 years of the sport, stock cars were either adapted from road cars, or bore

18400-538: The only driver to win in the No. 33, winning at Richmond and Texas. The No. 33 car returned in 2013 mainly driven by Harvick and Ty Dillon . Tony Stewart would take the No. 33 team to victory lane at the season opener at Daytona, which was marred by a last lap incident. The No. 33 team would take its second and last win of the season with Harvick at Atlanta. Dakoda Armstrong ran Fontana with sponsorship from WinField . Paul Menard , Max Papis , Truck series driver Matt Crafton , and Ryan Gifford all took turns driving

18560-474: The opener at Daytona International Speedway , and Leicht at four standalone events. The drivers did not have as much success as anticipated; Bowyer scored the team's only two wins (the 2nd races at both Daytona and Dover), Burton had 10 top 10s but only two top 5s, and Leicht had 6 top 10s in nine total starts with a best finish of 6th (twice). Burton also made his 300th career Nationwide Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. After 2009, RCR shut down

18720-457: The other manufacturers had openly circumvented the ban. In 1963 GM gave in and openly abandoned compliance, and Chevrolet was allowed to produce the ZO6 427, but it did not immediately enjoy success. Then, in 1964 the new Chrysler 426 Hemi engine so dominated the series in a Plymouth Belvedere "Sport Fury" , the homologation rules were changed so that 1,000 of any engine and car had to be sold to

18880-490: The points. In 2011, Allmendinger showed continued improvement, especially when he was paired with former Roush Fenway Racing crew chief Greg Erwin . The team would finish 15th in points, but it was not enough to retain Best Buy as a primary sponsor. As a result, Allmendinger was granted a release from RPM and he soon joined Penske Racing . To replace Allmendinger, RPM signed Aric Almirola , who had replaced Kasey Kahne in

19040-469: The previous two seasons. This coincided with sponsor Smithfield Foods stepping up to fund 29 races in each the next three seasons with brands Smithfield, Farmland , Eckrich , and Gwaltney . Almirola had a rather slow start to 2014, being involved in a 12 car wreck in the 2014 Daytona 500 . At Bristol, Almirola posted his best career finish to date of 3rd, only behind winner Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The next week at Auto Club Speedway during

19200-784: The public did not have a wide variety of engine choices, and the majority of the buying public at the time was not interested in the large displacement special edition engine options that would soon become popular. However, the end of the Korean War in 1953 started an economic boom, and then car buyers immediately began demanding more powerful engines. Also in 1953, NASCAR recommended that the drivers add roll bars, but did not require them. In 1957, several notable events happened. The Automobile Manufacturers Association banned manufacturers from using race wins in their advertising and giving direct support to race teams. The desire from fans and manufacturers alike for higher performance cars within

19360-417: The public for homologation purposes, the race car rules were further modified, primarily in the interest of safety. This is because race drivers and their cars during this era were subjected to forces unheard of in street use, and require a far higher level of protection than is normally afforded by truly "stock" automobile bodies. In 1963 Ford sold enough of their aerodynamic "sport-roof" edition Galaxies to

19520-472: The public so it would qualify as stock, and with the heavy-duty FE block bored and stroked to the new limit of 427, the top five finishers were all Fords. Chrysler had bored their 413 to create the "Max Wedge" 426, but it still could not compete with the Fords. General Motors' headquarters had genuinely tried to adhere to the 1957 ban, but their Chevrolet division had also constantly tried to work around it, because

19680-486: The public to qualify as a stock part, instead of just 500. This made the 426 Hemi unavailable for the 1965 season. In 1965 Ford adapted two single-overhead-cams to their FE 427 V8 to allow it to run at a higher RPM (called the Ford 427 Cammer ). Ford started to sell "cammers" to the public to homologate it (mostly to dealer-sponsored privateer drag racers), but NASCAR changed the rules to specify that all NASCAR engines must use

19840-442: The public to qualify, hoping to delay the use of aero-bodies until tires could improve. For the 1970 season Dodge raced the 1969 model Daytona, but Plymouth managed to build over 1,920 Plymouth Superbirds , which were similarly equipped to the Daytona. Petty came back to Plymouth in the plus 200 mph (320 km/h) Superbird, and Bobby Isaac won the season championship in a Daytona. NASCAR restricted all "aero-cars" including

20000-560: The public. It also marks the beginning of the Generation 4 car . Modern racing "stock" cars are stock in name only, using a body template that is vaguely modeled after currently available automobiles. The chassis, running gear, and other equipment have almost nothing to do with anything in ordinary automobiles. NASCAR and the auto manufacturers have become aware of this, and for 2013 each brand ( Chevrolet , Dodge , Ford , and Toyota ) have redesigned their racing sheetmetal to more resemble

20160-515: The race started Donnie Allison's Torino lead the majority of the race (84 laps). Towards the end of the race the Torino of LeeRoy Yarbrough chased down the Dodge of Charlie Glotzbach , who had an 11-second lead. It was the first Daytona 500 won on a last lap pass. Things got worse for Dodge when NASCAR, a few months later, finally allowed Ford to run its hemi-headed Boss 429 engine. With Ford winning

20320-558: The recognizable bodywork of road cars. By the 1970s, chassis and bodywork had evolved into very specialized forms. In 2001 the ASCAR Racing Series was formed and ran until 2008, the series was a "NASCAR" style racing series that was predominantly run at Rockingham Motor Speedway as well as briefly on the continent. The first season was won by John Mickel . Other notable champions were Nicolas Minassian and Ben Collins who also played as The Stig on Top Gear . The field

20480-575: The regular stock car racing scene because of their all-star grids. Cars are built to an extremely rigid design and feature strong steel guards around almost the entire car. "Stockcars" are divided into three classes: Superstocks, Stock cars, Ministocks (Ministocks predominantly being a non-contact youth class). Superstocks are the top class and are typically powered by V8 engines up to 4.1 litres (248 cu in) which can produce over 370 kilowatts (500 hp). The majority of races are of an individual nature however, unique to New Zealand stock car racing

20640-399: The rest. The new deal also brought on branding from Holiday Inn Express, which included commercials featuring Burton. Burton had two poles, but also had two DNFs and went winless in 13 starts. Wimmer, meanwhile had a pole at Bristol and 13 top 10s. This included a win at Nashville , where he went by teammate Clint Bowyer with 21 laps to go to take the victory. Wimmer left the team following

20800-519: The restrictions of homologation meant that carmakers began producing limited production "special edition" cars based on high production base models. It also became apparent that manufacturers were willing to produce increasingly larger engines to remain competitive (Ford had developed a 483 they hoped to race). For the 1963 season NASCAR engines were restricted to using a maximum displacement of 7.0 liters (427 cu.in.) and using only two valves per cylinder. Also, even with heavy duty special editions sold to

20960-565: The season at Atlanta . During the playoffs, he won at Homestead to make the Championship 4. The 29 car first appeared in 2002, with Kevin Harvick (driver of the 29 Cup Series car) running four races with sponsorship from GM Goodwrench, Action Racing Collectibles, Sonic , and Sylvania . Jim Sauter also made his final career start at the Milwaukee Mile with Rockwell Automation and Nilfisk-Advance sponsorship, racing as

21120-489: The season finale with Corey Lajoie behind the wheel. He was involved in a crash and finished 33rd. In 2014, Ambrose returned to the series in the No. 09 Ford Mustang at Watkins Glen International , winning the race. In 2012, the No. 9 was renumbered to the No. 43 running Michael Annett , who brings his sponsorship from Pilot Flying J , though STP served as sponsor for the STP 300 at Chicagoland. With Annett moving up to

21280-583: The season with a 20th place finish at Daytona . On April 20, he scored his first career win at Talladega . The No. 3 car was initially run in the then- Busch Series by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. beginning in 1989, winning two back-to-back championships with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1998 and 1999. The No. 3 made its debut as part of the RCR stable in 2002 at the EAS/GNC Live Well 300 at Daytona , driven twice that year by Earnhardt Jr. with sponsorships from

21440-489: The season with a then-career-high 12 Top 10s, and a 19th-place points finish. Ambrose returned in 2012, and once again won at Watkins Glen, but only had eight Top 10s. However, he did pick up one spot in points to 18th. He failed to win or finish in the Top 5 in 2013, but finished in the Top 10 on six occasions. He dropped to 22nd in points. In September 2014, Marcos Ambrose announced he would not return to RPM for 2015, and would depart from NASCAR to return to Australia and

21600-567: The season's 35 races. After the July Daytona race, Morgan Shepherd stepped behind the wheel for several weeks, taking a break for Bristol to handle his car for Faith Motorsports , which didn't make the field. RCR and Shepherd formed Shepherd Racing Ventures on August 31 to keep the No. 21 running the rest of the year. Bowyer drove with the Zaxby's sponsorship at Atlanta , Richmond , Charlotte , and Texas while Shepherd drove either without

21760-433: The season. Since then, he has taken on other roles with the team. His replacement was Mike Skinner but after his injury, Jeff Purvis briefly took over, winning at Pikes Peak, before Skinner returned. After Skinner's release, Robby Gordon had the driving duties for the balance of the season. The next year, Jeff Green and Jay Sauter drove the car. With Green winning twice at Bristol and Charlotte and Sauter having

21920-419: The season. The 44 would also run Fords in several late season races in preparation for a manufacturer switch the next year. Considering the circumstances the year began on, Allmendinger had a solid season, with one Top 5, six Top 10s, and a 24th-place points finish. He would move over to the 43 the next year. For 2010, due to the buyout of Yates Racing by RPM, Paul Menard replaced Reed Sorenson (driver of

22080-630: The series is the Daytona 500 , an annual 500-mile (800 km) race at the Daytona International Speedway . The series' second-biggest event is arguably The Brickyard 400 , an annual 400-mile (640 km) race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , the legendary home of the Indianapolis 500 , an open-wheeled race. However, the event was excluded from the 2021 schedule in favor of a race on

22240-532: The sponsor at Atlanta with Kahne as driver. Bumper to Bumper sponsored Sadler at New Hampshire. McDonald's was the sponsor at Daytona in July and at Bristol in August. The team was brought back in 2011, RPM provided a car for Marcos Ambrose in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Montreal. The No. 9 Ford Mustang was prepared by Roush Fenway Racing . Owen Kelly practiced and qualified

22400-408: The street models of their cars. A stock car, in the original sense of the term, is an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. This term is used to differentiate such a car from a " race car ", a special, custom-built car designed only for racing purposes. The degree to which

22560-449: The success from KHI, finishing second in the 2012 drivers championship for the second year in a row to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Even though Sadler scored four wins, it was announced in September that he turned down an extension offered by Childress to continue in the second tier series; he and sponsor OneMain Financial moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013, which included a start in the Cup Series. For 2013, former JGR driver Brian Scott took

22720-591: The team after Holiday Inn pulled its sponsorship. In 2012, the No. 33 car was transferred to RCR to run for the owner's championship. 2011 champion Tony Stewart drove the No. 33 with sponsorship from Nabisco's Oreo and Ritz brands at the season opener in Daytona . Kevin Harvick ran 13 races with South Point, Pinnacle Foods , Hunt Brothers Pizza and AdvancePierre Foods sponsoring, Brendan Gaughan drove for 10 races with South Point sponsoring, Menard ran for 7 races, and Max Papis drove at Road America , both with sponsorship from Menards and Rheem . Harvick would be

22880-423: The team had traditionally been strong at. He wound up finishing seventeenth in points, top of the non-Chase field. For the 2016 season Hornish was replaced by Brian Scott , whom Almirola had previously tangled with in his career. Almirola said that he felt "more excited than ever" and was confident that his extended pairing with crew chief Owens would yield good results. However, after a strong 12th place showing in

23040-652: The team to four cars. The organization was renamed Richard Petty Motorsports in the process. Ray Evernham was not involved in the merger negotiations, and both he and Richard Petty only maintained minority shares in the new team. Near the end of the season, the team announced its departure from the Dodge banner and switched to Ford . The team would also merge with Yates Racing , owned by Ford head engine builder Doug Yates , which had fielded several successful NASCAR drivers including Davey Allison , Ernie Irvan , Dale Jarrett , and Ricky Rudd . By 2010, RPM's continued operation

23200-420: The top ten seven out of the ten times the car raced in 2006, including a win at Dover in June. Burton started 36th after qualifying was rained out, and passed Kurt Busch with 18 laps to go. In 2007 , the No. 29 went full-time and, like the No. 21 several years before, Childress set out to win the owners' championship for a second time without a full-time driver. Burton and Scott Wimmer , who had just lost

23360-457: The track's road course. Together the Cup Series and Xfinity Series drew 8 million spectators in 1997, compared to 4 million for both American open-wheel series ( CART and IRL ), which merged in 2008 under the IRL banner. In 2002, 17 of the 20 US top sporting events in terms of attendance were stock car races. Only football drew more television viewers that year. The NASCAR Xfinity Series

23520-501: The way at the bottom of the race track and ran into me. He's not even racing this series for points. He's out there having fun because his daddy gets to pay for it and he wrecked us. That's frustrating." At the 2014 Coke Zero 400 , Almirola would earn his first career win in the Sprint Cup Series after avoiding two major wrecks, and leading the field when the race was called off after 112 laps due to rain. His win also marked

23680-486: The wheel of the No. 2 under a multi-year contract (essentially swapping rides with Sadler). He brought sponsorship from the Idaho-based Shore Lodge and Whitetail Club , owned by his father. The No. 2 team also switched back to RCR-style angled number logos from KHI-style logos. Scott had markedly improved consistency from his crash-marred seasons with Gibbs, with three Top 5s and 13 Top 10s en route to

23840-401: The wheel, in a program headed up by veteran crew chief Gil Martin , winning at Nashville Speedway and Memphis Motorsports Park to finish second in points. Bowyer was back in the No. 2 car in 2006 with crew chief Dan Deeringhoff, while Martin moved up to run the No. 07 Jack Daniels-sponsored Cup car for Bowyer's rookie season. Bowyer would finish 3rd in points with a win a Dover . 2006 was

24000-407: Was considered to return in 2012 after Richard Childress Racing driver Clint Bowyer was offered a contract, but RPM withdrew their offer by September, with Bowyer accepting a 3-year contract with Michael Waltrip Racing to drive the No. 15 5-hour Energy Toyota Camry. Since then, the team has remained inactive. The number 19 would later be reassigned by NASCAR to Humphrey Smith Racing (which used

24160-460: Was inspired by off-road truck racing. Unlike the other two national touring NASCAR series, the Truck Series race pickup truck styled bodies, though it is still considered a stock car series because of its similarity. Much like the Xfinity Series, the Truck Series often features Cup Series drivers competing for parts of the season. The Automobile Racing Club of America was founded in 1953 as

24320-428: Was put into question when lead driver Kasey Kahne announced his departure by the end of the season for Red Bull Racing Team . Kahne would be released by the team before the second Martinsville race with five events left in the season, after several mechanical failures. Kahne's decision was in the midst of financial problems for the Gillett family in several of their ventures, which included George Gillett defaulting on

24480-402: Was resolved in November, when Richard Petty partnered with Medallion Financial (headed by lead investor Andrew M. Murstein ) and DGB investments (headed by Douglas G. Bergeron ) to purchase the team for "less than $ 50 million." Petty once again was at the helm of a race team, and retained a one-third stake in the company by investing "several million dollars" of his own. Murstein had been seeking

24640-495: Was signed to drive the newly renumbered No. 44 (used by Kyle Petty , Buckshot Jones , and others at Petty Enterprises in the past) in 2009 with an option for a second season. The only starts guaranteed for the team were the Budweiser Shootout and the first eight-point races of 2009, with the possibility of more races if the team could secure sponsorship. The team unveiled a retro Valvoline /Petty Blue paint scheme for

24800-569: Was some controversy as Cup Series drivers tended to be more successful than full-time Xfinity drivers. Cup drivers are not eligible to score points in the Xfinity series, and are limited to the number of races they are allowed to race in the Series. Starting in 1995, the NASCAR Truck Series is the third highest ranking stock car series in the United States. The series was the brainchild of then-NASCAR West Coast executive Ken Clapp, who

24960-478: Was suspended for four races after the car lost a ballast during the 2022 Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Speedway . At the September Darlington race , Creed scored a career-best second place after engaging in a three-car battle with race winner Noah Gragson and Kyle Larson on the closing laps. Creed started the 2023 season with a 34th place DNF at Daytona . Despite not winning

25120-463: Was tapped to drive the 21 car for 15 races of the season. In May 2008, the team shut down due to financial problems but returned at the Emerson Radio 250 to debut Austin Dillon , son of former driver Mike Dillon and grandson to Richard Childress. In 2010, RCR hired John Wes Townley as the driver of car No. 21, with family-owned Zaxby's as the sponsor. On April 9, Townley was pulled from

25280-574: Was the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour , is another prominent modified tour. In many areas of the country late models are usually the highest class of stock cars in local racing. Rules for construction of a late model car vary from region to region and even race track to race track. The most common variations (on paved tracks) include super late models (SLMs), pro Late models (PLMs), late model stock cars (LMSCs), and limited late models (LLMs). A late model may be

25440-473: Was usually populated by professional or semi-professional stock car drivers, however notable drivers who were famous from other areas of motorsport either took part in single races or for one complete season, they included Colin McRae , Jason Plato , Matt Neal , Darren Manning , Max Papis , John Cleland and former NASCAR drivers Brandon Whitt and Randy Tolsma . The modern BriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars are

25600-550: Was won back-to-back while driving for different teams (2018 was in JR Motorsports). On December 10, 2020, it was announced that Myatt Snider will drive the No. 2 car full-time. Snider picked up his first career win in the Contender Boats 250 . On September 14, 2021, it was announced that Sheldon Creed will drive the No. 2 car full-time in 2022 replacing Snider. On April 12, 2022, crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz

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