JR Motorsports
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| Owner(s) | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Rick Hendrick Kelley Earnhardt Miller |
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| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | Nationwide Series |
| Race drivers |
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| Sponsors | |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet |
| Career | |
| Debut | 2005 Ford 300 |
| Races competed | 176 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 9 |
| Pole positions | 5 |
JR Motorsports is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, cousin and former crew chief Tony Eury, Jr., and the owner of his Cup ride Rick Hendrick. It currently fields the No. 5 Tax Slayer/Unilever Chevrolet Impala part time for Dale Earnhardt Jr., the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Impala for former IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick and the No. 88 Unilever/Tax Slayer Chevrolet Impala driven by Cole Whitt in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
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[edit] History of JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports began in a shed on the property of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 1998 with just one employee, as the marketing division of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s race team. The original intent of the business was to help Earnhardt, Jr. sell t-shirts and negotiate sponsorship deals.[citation needed] It wasn't until 2002 that Earnhardt, Jr. turned the business into a race team, when T. J. Majors drove street stock division at Concord Motorsport Park, in North Carolina. The first win for the team came at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, VA, in 2004. (At the time, Earnhardt, Jr. was co-owner of another racing venture, Chance 2 Motorsports.)
Today the team operates out of a 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m2) race shop near Mooresville, North Carolina. Upon Earnhardt, Jr.'s signing with Hendrick Motorsports the Hendrick and JR Nationwide Series teams were merged.
[edit] Nationwide Series
[edit] #3 car history
JR Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing announced that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would drive the No. 3 car at Daytona on July 2, 2010, with Wrangler sponsoring the car as a tribute to Dale and Kelley's late father, Dale Earnhardt, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 11, 2010. Earnhardt Jr. won the Subway Jalapeño 250 in the No. 3 car.
[edit] #5 car history
This will be JR Motorsports' 3rd entry in 2011, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. running a handful of races part-time. The car will return in 2012 for 5 races with Earnhardt Jr. returning to the seat. The car will be sponsored by TaxSlayer.com and [[Unilever}}'s brands Degeree Men and Hellmann's. Bruce Cook will be the crew cheif.
[edit] #7 car history
The No. 7 car joined in 2008 as the No. 5 as part of the merger with Hendrick Motorsports' Nationwide teams. It was driven by seven drivers in 2008; Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt, Jr., Martin Truex, Jr., Mark Martin and Landon Cassill as well as road course specialists Ron Fellows and Adrian Fernandez,[1] with sponsorship from Lowe's, National Guard, Delphi, and Godaddy.com. The 5 car won twice in 2008, with Martin at Las Vegas and Ron Fellows in Montreal, the first NASCAR race run in wet conditions. The 5 car ran 21 races with sponsorship from Fastenal, GoDaddy.com, Unilever and Delphi in 2009.[dated info] The team's best finish was a third with Earnhardt at Atlanta. Danica Patrick would drive about 12 races with JR Motorsports in with GoDaddy.com sponsorship as the No. 7 in 2010, and Earnhardt driving an additional four races. The schedule was filled out with Scott Wimmer, Landon Cassill, Steve Arpin, Josh Wise and J. R. Fitzpatrick driving on road courses. Patrick will run 12 races with GoDaddy, with her best finish of 4th at Las Vegas. Wise returned to the team for a few races, recording a few top tens. Dale Jr. drove the 7 at Talladega, and Cup drivers Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray drove the car for a few races to finish the season. Danica Patrick will drive the #7 full-time in 2012 while contesting a limited Cup schedule with Stewart-Haas Racing.
[edit] #88 car history
The No. 88 debuted in 2005 at the Ford 300 with Mark McFarland driving with sponsorship from the United States Navy, qualifying eighteenth and finishing twentieth. McFarland was named the full-time driver and had a seventh-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, but was replaced by Shane Huffman after twenty-one races,[2][3] with Martin Truex, Jr. and Robby Gordon filling-in for certain races. Huffman was hired as the full-time driver in 2007, and had two top-ten finishes before he was released from the ride as well.[4] Brad Keselowski was hired to replace Huffman for three races,[5] with SCCA driver Andy Pilgrim to be in the car for the race in Montreal and Watkins Glen.[6] Brad Keselowski finished the season with five top-ten finishes[7] signed a two year contract with JR Motorsports with the Navy returning as sponsor in 2008.[8] He won his first race at Nashville Superspeedway and later picked up another win at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing third in points but lost the Navy sponsorship.[9] GoDaddy.com and Delphi Corporation sponsored the No. 88 for a total of 24 races in 2009, with Unilever sponsoring 11 races on the No. 88 car. Keselowski won four races and finished third in points for the second consecutive season before leaving for Penske Racing. Kelly Bires started 2010 as driver of the No. 88 car, but was released on April 13 and replaced with Jamie McMurray (who won at Atlanta) and Elliott Sadler for ten races, along with Greg Sacks at Daytona, Arpin, Coleman Pressley, Earnhardt, Jr., and Ron Fellows on road courses. Aric Almirola drove the car full time in 2011 as a part of a 2 year deal with sponsorship from Unilever and ended up fourth in points in his "rookie" season. Almirola then left JRM after 2011 to join Richard Petty Motorsports in the Cup Series, while the #88 was taken by Cole Whitt in 2012 for his rookie season.
[edit] Sprint Cup Series and Future of JR Motorsports
During a press conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 16, 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated that once the Nationwide Series starts using the Car of Tomorrow chassis, which is set for a July 2010 debut at the Daytona International Speedway, his Nationwide teams possibly will leave the Nationwide Series, due to the costs of switching cars. When asked if he will move JR Motorsports to the Sprint Cup Series, Earnhardt Jr. said that due to the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series almost having the same expensive costs, he might move the team to the Sprint Cup Series as early as 2009 "if the right opportunity comes along with the right sponsorship and driver..."[10]
Earnhardt did not end up moving his team to Sprint Cup and has remained in the Nationwide Series.
[edit] Other racing series
JR Motorsports fields the No. 72 R&B Transport and Refinishing Chevrolet driven by Richard Boswell and Josh Berry. It formerly fielded the No. 88 Racing Collectible Clubs of America Chevrolet Monte Carlo Late Model driven by Curtis Truex, the 06 Champion Spark Plug chevy driven by Davin Scites, the No. 50 Southern Piping Chevy driven by Jamey Cadill, and the No.73 R and B Chevy driven by Owen Kelly.
[edit] Speed 1
In 2007, JR Motorsports supplied cars for Speed Channel's NASCAR coverage. The Speed 1 fleet for NASCAR RaceDay included a superspeedway car, and car for intermediate tracks, and a Car of Tomorrow. Speed 1 was driven by Hermie Sadler.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ "Busch Series No. 5 driver lineup star-studded for '08". ESPN. September 21, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=3&id=3030424. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ From Team Press Release (August 10, 2006). "McFarland released as driver of No.88 car". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/bg/08/10/mmcfarland.released/. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM (August 12, 2006). "Notebook: Junior explains McFarland firing". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/08/12/saturday_notebook/. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ Earnhardt to drive JRM Busch car at Daytona[dead link]
- ^ Team Release (July 10, 2007). "JR Motorsports signs Keselowski to BGN deal". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/bg/07/10/bkeselowski.jr.motorsports/. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ Earnhardt Jr. honoring dad's promise to Pilgrim
- ^ Keselowski to finish season with JR Motorsports[dead link]
- ^ Team Release (November 16, 2007). "Keselowski, Navy back with JR Motorsports in 2008". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/bg/11/16/bkeselowski.dearnhardtjr.navy.2008/index.html. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ Joe Menzer (July 11, 2008). "Sponsorship woes stretch even to Junior's own team". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/bg/07/11/dearnhardtjr.sponsorship.woes/index.html. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
- ^ GM Media Online: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Press Conference
- ^ Official Release (February 20, 2007). "Speed, JR Motorsports take fans inside car". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/02/20/dearnhardtjr.speed.fleet/. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
[edit] External links
- JR Motorsports site
- History of JR Motorsports
- Interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Brad Keselowski by Joshua Hudson, July 2008, G.I. Jobs Magazine
- Dale Jr.
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