LJ Racing
Owner(s) | Joe Falk, |
---|---|
Series | Winston Cup Series |
Race drivers | Mike Wallace, Kevin Lepage, Todd Bodine, Dick Trickle, Morgan Shepherd |
Sponsors | Spam, First Union Bank, Pionite, KMC Telecom |
Manufacturer | Chevrolet |
Opened | 1997 |
Closed | 2000 |
Career | |
Races competed | 53 |
LJ Racing was a stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1997 and 2000. Owned by Joe Falk, the team posted a best finish of fifth with driver Todd Bodine, and a best Winston West Series finish of second with Mike Wallace driving. LJ Racing has since been revived as Circle Sport Racing.
Winston Cup Series[]
Car No. 91 history[]
Virginia businessman Joe Falk entered NASCAR team ownership in the Winston Cup Series in 1997, fielding the No. 91 Chevrolet in a partnership with under the LJ Racing banner. When the team began, Mike Wallace was the driver and Spam was the sponsor. Neal had been running the team as the No. 81 in the Busch Series as ProTech Motorsports.[1]
That year, Wallace posted the team's best finish in any series, in the only Winston West Series race they ever entered, the 1997 Auto Club 200 at California Speedway. Having failed to qualify for the weekend's Winston Cup Series event, they posted a late entry to the West Series race, and Mike Wallace drove from the back of the field to finish second.[2]
In the Winston Cup Series, the team struggled to make races,[3] and Wallace was released midway through the season.[4] Spam left the team shortly thereafter, and several other drivers drove the car later in the year, with little success. Towards the end of the year, Kevin Lepage joined the team. Lepage would drive the No. 91 through the first half of 1998 before leaving to join Roush Racing.[5] He was replaced by Morgan Shepherd, and then Todd Bodine, who would score the team's best finish in the Cup Series, fifth, in the final race of the 1998 season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.[6]
LJ Racing began the 1999 season with driver Steve Grissom,[7] but after Grissom failed to qualify for two of the first four races,[8] he was replaced by Dick Trickle.[9] For the rest of the season, the team attempted the majority of the races, but only made it into eight: seven with Trickle, and the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with Andy Hillenburg.
In 2000, the team would qualify for two races (at Atlanta and Richmond) with Todd Bodine driving, before closing down.[10] Later that same year, the team's shop was used by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to house their three NASCAR Busch Series teams. The two teams also entered a No. 91 Chevrolet for Blaise Alexander in two races near the end of the season, but Alexander failed to qualify for both of them.[11]
Drivers[]
Driver[12] | Races | Wins | Poles |
---|---|---|---|
Todd Bodine | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Steve Grissom | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Andy Hillenburg | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Tommy Kendall | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Kevin Lepage | 16 | 0 | 0 |
Greg Sacks | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Morgan Shepherd | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Dick Trickle | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Mike Wallace | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Car No. 91 results[]
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 | Owners | Pts | |||||
1997 | Mike Wallace | 91 | Chevy | DAY DNQ |
CAR DNQ |
RCH DNQ |
ATL 26 |
DAR 43 |
TEX 17 |
BRI DNQ |
MAR 39 |
SON 22 |
TAL DNQ |
CLT DNQ |
DOV 23 |
POC 30 |
MCH DNQ |
CAL DNQ |
45th | 1182 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loy Allen Jr. | DAY DNQ |
NHA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greg Sacks | POC DNQ |
IND 31 |
GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR DNQ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ron Hornaday Jr. | RCH DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kevin Lepage | NHA DNQ |
DOV | MAR | CLT 40 |
TAL 17 |
CAR | PHO | ATL 29 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998 | DAY 43 |
CAR DNQ |
LVS 28 |
ATL 14 |
DAR 34 |
BRI 27 |
TEX 37 |
MAR 42 |
TAL 14 |
CAL 40 |
CLT 36 |
DOV 28 |
RCH DNQ |
MCH 40 |
POC 19 |
35th | 2516 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tommy Kendall | SON 16 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andy Hillenburg | NHA 31 |
TAL 22 |
DAY 24 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Morgan Shepherd | POC 40 |
IND 15 |
GLN 43 |
MCH 42 |
BRI 29 |
NHA 26 |
DAR DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Todd Bodine | RCH 32 |
DOV 37 |
MAR 12 |
CLT 15 |
PHO 15 |
CAR 20 |
ATL 5 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1999 | Steve Grissom | DAY DNQ |
CAR 36 |
LVS 42 |
ATL DNQ |
45th | 965 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dick Trickle | DAR 26 |
TEX DNQ |
BRI 31 |
MAR 31 |
TAL DNQ |
CAL | RCH 32 |
CLT DNQ |
DOV 43 |
MCH | POC 40 |
SON | NHA 29 |
IND DNQ |
BRI DNQ |
DAR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hut Stricklin | DAY DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Morgan Shepherd | POC DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jack Baldwin | GLN DNQ |
MCH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tom Baldwin | RCH DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derrike Cope | NHA DNQ |
DOV DNQ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tim Fedewa | MAR DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andy Hillenburg | CLT DNQ |
TAL 43 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rich Bickle | CAR DNQ |
PHO | HOM | ATL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 | Andy Hillenburg | DAY DNQ |
CAR | LVS | 52nd | 281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Todd Bodine | ATL 7 |
DAR | BRI | TEX DNQ |
MAR | TAL | CAL | RCH 43 |
CLT | DOV | MCH | POC | SON | DAY | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | NHA | DOV | MAR | |||||||||||||||||||
Larry Gunselman | CLT DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Blaise Alexander | TAL DNQ |
CAR | PHO | HOM | ATL DNQ |
Busch Series[]
ProTech Motorsports was founded by and began competition in the NASCAR Busch Series during the 1996 season, with driver Todd Bodine. Running the No. 81 for most of the season, Bodine finished third in series points, scoring one win at South Boston Speedway.[13] In the final race of the year, at Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, he ran the No. 82, while Ron Neal's son ran the team's regular No. 81.
The team was in financial trouble throughout the season, and was partially bought out by Joe Falk to run Winston Cup in 1997.[14] The team ran the first four races of the 1997 NASCAR Busch Series season with Stanton Barrett before switching fully to Winston Cup.
Drivers[]
Driver[15] | Races | Wins | Poles |
---|---|---|---|
Stanton Barrett | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Todd Bodine | 26 | 1 | 0 |
1 | 0 | 0 |
ARCA Racing Series[]
For the 2001 season, LJ Racing closed their Winston Cup Series team and moved to the ARCA RE/MAX Series, competing in 21 of the 25 races held that season. The team's main drivers were Blaise Alexander and Joe Falk's son Jeff Falk, with Brent Glastetter and Roger Blackstock each driving in two races, Josh Richeson driving at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Casey Mears making his ARCA debut in the team's final race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Drivers[]
Driver[15] | Races | Wins | Poles |
---|---|---|---|
Blaise Alexander | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Roger Blackstock | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Falk | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Brent Glastetter | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Casey Mears | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Josh Richeson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
References[]
- ^ Kallmann, Dave (February 13, 1997). "New NASCAR teams reach ultimate crossroad". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee, WI. p. 4C. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
- ^ Hodges, Jim (June 22, 1997). "It's No Way to Break In a New Track". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA.
- ^ "Trying to make sirloin out of Spam: Joe Falk determined to succeed in Winston Cup racing". Roanoke Times. Roanoke, Virginia. May 25, 1997. pp. B2. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ Pearce, Al (June 26, 1997). "Shifting gears not easy for new owner". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. B1. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ Zeller, Bob (June 27, 1998). "Lepage to leave Falk for Roush". Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ "Bodine happy with 5th place". Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. November 9, 1998. p. 4B. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ Shacklette, Buddy (February 6, 1999). "Grissom happy at LJ Racing". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. p. 09B. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ "Steve Grissom, Joe Falk Part Company". Motorsport.com. March 15, 1999. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ "Trickle takes over for fired Grissom". Washington Times. Washington, D.C. March 19, 1999. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ Cavin, Curt (August 3, 2000). "NASCAR squeezes out small teams". Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. p. I5. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ^ "Gastonia Gaston Gazette Archives, Oct 11, 2000, p. 17". NewspaperArchive.com. 2000-10-11. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
- ^ "Joe Falk Owner Statistics". Racing-Reference. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ "Todd Bodine - 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
- ^ "Skinner grabs pole". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, SC. September 8, 1996. p. D9. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
- ^ a b "Ron Neal Owner Statistics". Racing-Reference. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
External links[]
- Defunct NASCAR teams
- Auto racing teams established in 1997
- 2000 disestablishments in the United States