David Stremme
| David Stremme | |||||||
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| Awards | 2002 American Speed Association Rookie of the Year 2003 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 2007 position | 24th | ||||||
| Best finish | 24rd - 2007 (NEXTEL Cup) | ||||||
| First race | 2005 USG Sheetrock 400 (Chicagoland) | ||||||
| Last race | 2007 Ford 400 (Homestead) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team |
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| First race | 2003 Pepsi 300 (Nashville) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
| First race | 2006 Kroger 250 Martinsville) | ||||||
| Last race | 2006 Kroger 250 Martinsville) | ||||||
David Andrew Stremme (born in South Bend, Indiana on June 19, 1977) is a NASCAR driver. Stremme was a contender for the 2006 Rookie of the Year award. He is signed by Rusty Wallace Racing to drive the #64 Atreus Homes & Communities Chevy in the 2008 Nationwide Series.
Background
A third-generation driver, David is the eldest son of Lou and Cindy Stremme, both of whom are multi-time Track Champions at South Bend area tracks. Stremme began racing at the New Paris (IN) Speedway just before his 16th birthday and won his first Track Championship a few years later. He moved to the NASCAR-sanctioned Kalamazoo (MI) Speedway where he was noticed and brought to the American Speed Association (ASA) circuit. Stremme won the 2002 ASA Rookie Of The Year Award.
David Stremme had his first full season in the Cup Series driving Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 40 Dodge in 2006 after coming off his first full back-to-back Busch Series campaigns in which he finished 10th and 13th, respectively, in the final point standings.
Stremme made four Cup starts for Ganassi in 2005, finishing 16th in his debut at Chicago.
It was in the upper Midwest where Stremme's racing roots first took hold. His great uncle was racing in the 1950s at South Bend Motor Speedway. Stremme's father was an independent racer in the Midwest. Even Stremme's mother was a race-winner.
At age 6, Stremme was winning "Big Wheel" races held on the same night his parents were racing stock cars at local tracks.
Taking his father's advice, Stremme took an interest in working on racecars in his family's garage before competing in the Street Stocks Division in 1993. His first victory came at New Paris Speedway, in his mother's Street Stock car. Once officials found out he was only 15, he had to quit racing.
Legal again, Stremme posted 24 feature victories and two rookie of the year titles and two track championships in four years. In 1998 he competed in his first full NASCAR Weekly Racing Late Model Series, finishing seventh in points at Kalamazoo Speedway, the same track he used to stand in Victory Lane with his winning father.
In 1999 he recorded one victory, six top-fives and seven top-10s in nine starts in the Kendall Late Model Series. He completed 842 of 900 laps that season, and led all 100 laps in his first Kendall victory.
Stremme has competed in a wide range of series, from Open-Wheel Modifieds to the CRA Super Series. Stremme also raced in various NASCAR series, but it was the American Speed Association Series which proved to be the most beneficial.
In 2001 Stremme met ASA crew chief Howard Lettow, who was a part of Tony Raines' championship in '96. When veteran racer Scott Hanson couldn't make the Winchester (Ind.) 400, Lettow recommended Stremme.
Stremme started from the pole and led several laps before mechanical problems retired the car. But he was given a full-time ride in 2002. His first victory came at his "home" track at Salem Speedway, outracing two-time series champ Gary St. Amant to the finish line.
Stremme won twice that season and was named the series' rookie of the year, finishing with 13 top-fives and 15 top-10s in 20 starts. He was fourth in the final point standings.
In 2003 Stremme became the first Busch Series driver to take top rookie honors while not competing in a full season. In 18 starts, he had three top-fives and seven top-10s. In the next two years, Stremme compiled 10 top-fives and 24 top-10s.
Busch Series
After signing a driver development contract with Chip Ganassi, Stremme started 15th in his Busch Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway in April 2003, driving the #1 for James Finch, and finished 7th in the race. He finished 14th in both of his next two starts, before coming to 6th at Nazareth Speedway. He led 32 laps in that race, which were the first in his career.
He finished 4th after starting 3rd at Nashville in June, and duplicated the result at the Milwaukee Mile. He had a 10th at Kentucky and a 9th at Memphis. Stremme's worst finish that year was a 31st at Dover. Due to a contract obligation, Finch had Jamie McMurray back in the car for the final two races, and Stremme moved to Braun Racing for the remaining two races. Stremme led 48 laps at Rockingham, finishing 5th, and in addition drove the #30 Sport Clips Dodge home in 14th, enough to secure the Rookie of the Year award, despite competing in only 18 of the 34 races.
Stremme raced in the #32 TrimSpa Dodge in 2004. Stremme started 4th and finished 6th in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. He received his best qualifying effort to that time at Rockingham, starting on the outside pole. Stremme then finished 3rd at Las Vegas and 5th at Darlington. Despite winning his first career pole at Milwaukee, and finishing that up with a second, Stremme's team began to run mid-pack with a handful of top-10s mixed in.
When Braun announced they would put Shane Hmiel in the car, Ganassi made an alliance with FitzBradshaw Racing to put Stremme in the #14 U.S. Navy Chevy (as part of the alliance, FitzBradshaw would switch to Dodges for the following season). Despite a 7th at Memphis, Stremme's next laps would be with the #14 team at Atlanta. At the end of 2004, Stremme's 12th place at Miami secured him a top-10 finish in points.
Stremme drove full-time with FBR in 2005, posting five top-five finishes and finishing 13th in points, when it was announced he would run full-time in NEXTEL Cup.
In 2007 Stremme will share driving duties of the #41 Wrigley Company Dodge Charger in the Busch Series with Ganassi teammate Reed Sorenson. It will run numerous paint schemes including Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, and Winterfresh. He was able to get his second career Busch pole at Nashville but ended up 11th in the race. He also drove the #42 Winterfresh car at Bristol, after it had been rumored that the #42 Busch team would be dissolved and become a Car of Tomorrow testing team.
Stremme will return to the Busch Series in 2008 driving for Rusty Wallace, in the #64 Chevrolet (as Wallace's team switches from Dodge). It will be the first time Stremme is driving a Chevrolet since the end of the 2004 season.
Nextel Cup Series
In June 2005, Chip Ganassi announced David would go to the Cup series, driving the #40 Coors Light Dodge in 2006. Stremme made his Cup debut in 2005 driving Ganassi's R&D #39 Navy Dodge at Chicagoland Speedway. He started 31st and would finish 16th in his debut. He also had finishes of 42nd at Richmond and Miami, and a 36th at Charlotte.
In 2006, Stremme had a best finish of 11th at New Hampshire International Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The team struggled to remain in the top-35 in owners points (guaranteeing a spot in the next race). At the end of the 2006 season, Stremme and the #40 Dodge are locked into the top 35 in owner points, guaranteeing them a start in the first five races of the 2007 season.
Stremme started 2007 starting 6th in the 49th annual Daytona 500 and went on to finish 11th. Three weeks later he would get his best career start, 2nd in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the Samsung 500at Texas Motor Speedway he would get his first career Top 10 finish. Two weeks later he would follow that up with a career best finish, 8th in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway Stremme will not be back in the #40 Dodge in 2008.
Craftsman Truck Series
Stremme has also made one Craftsman Truck Series start in 2006. Chip Ganassi agreed to a deal with Bobby Hamilton Racing to let Stremme drive the #04 Dodge Hemi Dodge in the spring Martinsville, replacing Scott Lagasse Jr.. However, that start went poorly. Stremme only qualified 28th and only four laps into the race was Stremme involved in an accident. After replacing the radiator, Stremme's team made laps and finished 32nd.