Jump to content

Triad Motorsports

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Triad Motorsports was a motorsports team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and ARCA Menards Series from 1993 to 1999. The team was owned by Jim Wilson. The team's drivers included Gary Bradberry, Billy Standridge and Randy MacDonald.

NASCAR

[edit]

The team debuted the No. 78 Ford Thunderbird in 1993 at the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway with driver Jay Hedgecock. Hedgecock would miss the race. They would attempt Pocono later that year, again missing the race. Hedgecock would qualify the 78 at the fall Wilkesboro event.[1] Hedgecock would return in 1994, qualifying for both races he attempted. Pancho Carter would also attempt three races, qualifying for one. Carter would again attempt three races in 1995, and would once again only make one. Canadian driver Randy MacDonald would join the team in 1996 with limited success. The team did however score its first big sponsorship break, with country music band Diamond Rio and Hanes coming aboard. MacDonald had declared for Rookie of the Year, however, success was again limited. MacDonald would attempt 12 races, only qualifying for three.[2] Following his DNQ at the 1996 Southern 500, MacDonald was released in favor of Billy Standridge. Standridge would qualify for three races and was signed for the 1997 season.[3][4] For the first time, Triad would attempt their first full season. The effort would once again prove futile, as Standridge would only qualify for five of the first 17 races. Standridge would leave and re-open his own team. He would be replaced by Gary Bradberry, who had been released by TriStar Motorsports earlier that season. Bradberry would successfully qualify for eight out of 12 races he attempted with the team. At the end of the season, Bradberry was announced to be the team's full time driver for 1998, with sponsorship from Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J. The team's hopes of a successful season began to falter, as Bradberry only timed in with lap of 48.967 at 183 mph in his new Ford Taurus, leaving him 52nd of the 55 drivers entered. The team's former driver Standridge, would qualify 20th in his year old, underfunded, self owned 47 Ford Thunderbird. After starting 21st in his duel, Bradberry came up two spots short of advancing and missed the 500. Bradberry would not qualify until the fourth race of the season at Atlanta, starting 20th. The race, would go extremely bad, as the car only lasted 12 laps, leaving Bradberry and the 78 43rd. The 78 would miss the next two races before qualifying in fine fashion at Texas, starting 10th and finishing 24th. Following two more DNQ's, Bradberry would qualify for Fontana, Charlotte and Dover. Despite this, the team would skip Richmond, and instead return at Michigan, finishing 34th. The team would skip, Pocono, Infineon and New Hampshire, the latter which saw Bradberry take a turn behind the wheel of the ISM Racing Pontiac, known as the "Tobasco Fiasco", finishing 40th after an engine failure.[5] Bradberry and Triad would return at the second Pocono race, missing the show. At the 1998 Brickyard 400, during second round qualifying, Bradberry had a hard crash in turn 2. Team and driver would not make another start until the 1998 Southern 500, finishing 37th. The team would make the final three races of the season, finishing no better than 28th. The team would set eyes in 1999, with Bradberry returning. However, like the previous two seasons, the team would miss the 500. Following three withdrawals and sponsorship problems, owner Jim Wilson had enough, and shut his team down, never to be seen in NASCAR again.[6]

Car No. 78 results

[edit]
NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NWCC Pts
1993 Jay Hedgecock 78 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS
DNQ
MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC
DNQ
TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS
26
CLT CAR PHO ATL
1994 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS
36
MAR
25
TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS
Pancho Carter CLT
DNQ
CAR PHO ATL
17
1995 Jay Hedgecock DAY CAR RCH
DNQ
NWS
DNQ
MAR
DNQ
TAL SON CLT DOV RCH
DNQ
DOV MAR NWS
DNQ
CLT CAR
DNQ
PHO ATL
Pancho Carter ATL
DNQ
DAR POC
35
MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND
DNQ
GLN MCH BRI DAR
Hut Stricklin BRI
DNQ
1996 Randy MacDonald DAY CAR
DNQ
RCH
DNQ
ATL
DNQ
DAR
DNQ
BRI NWS
DNQ
MAR
DNQ
TAL SON CLT
DNQ
DOV POC
24
MCH DAY NHA
32
POC
31
TAL IND
DNQ
GLN MCH BRI DAR
DNQ
RCH DOV 41st 426
Billy Standridge MAR
DNQ
NWS CLT
27
CAR
41
PHO ATL
29
1997 DAY
DNQ
CAR
DNQ
RCH
DNQ
ATL
36
DAR
DNQ
TEX
21
BRI
DNQ
MAR
DNQ
TAL
DNQ
CLT
32
DOV
DNQ
POC
DNQ
MCH
33
CAL
DNQ
DAY
40
NHA
DNQ
44th 1370
Tom Hubert SON
28
Bobby Hillin Jr. POC
DNQ
IND
DNQ
GLN
DNQ
Gary Bradberry MCH
37
BRI
37
DAR
25
RCH
DNQ
NHA
34
DOV
35
MAR
DNQ
CLT
34
TAL
DNQ
CAR
41
PHO
DNQ
ATL
42
1998 DAY
DNQ
CAR
DNQ
LVS
DNQ
ATL
43
DAR
DNQ
BRI
DNQ
TEX
24
MAR
DNQ
TAL
DNQ
CAL
23
CLT
37
DOV
34
RCH MCH
34
POC SON NHA POC
DNQ
IND
DNQ
GLN MCH
DNQ
BRI
DNQ
NHA DAR
37
RCH
DNQ
DOV
28
MAR
DNQ
CLT
42
TAL
DNQ
DAY
DNQ
PHO
41
CAR
28
ATL
33
45th 1053
1999 DAY
DNQ
CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL N/A -

ARCA

[edit]

Triad would run four ARCA races, all in 1996, two with MacDonald and two with Standridge. MacDonald would score the pole position at the first Pocono race, but would break an oil pump and finish 16th. Standridge's best run came at Charlotte, where he started 3rd and finished 14th.[7]

References

[edit]
[edit]