Rick Carelli

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Rick Carelli
Rick Carelli.jpg
Carelli in 1997
Born (1954-11-09) November 9, 1954 (age 67)
Arvada, Colorado, United States
Achievements1993 NASCAR Winston West Series Champion
1991 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Champion
Awards2009 West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame inductee
NASCAR Cup Series career
9 races run over 3 years
Best finish49th (1994)
First race1992 Save Mart Supermarkets 300 (Sears Point)
Last race1994 Slick 50 300 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 2 years
Best finish119th (2003)
First race1998 Lycos.com 250 (Pikes Peak)
Last race2003 TrimSpa Dream Body 250 (Pikes Peak)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
134 races run over 8 years
Best finish6th (1995)
First race1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic (Phoenix)
Last race2002 Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona)
First win1996 Coca-Cola 200 (Bristol)
Last win2000 Kroger 200 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 60 0

Rick Carelli (born November 9, 1954) is a retired American race car driver from Arvada, Colorado.[1] He was nicknamed the "High Plains Drifter".[2] He won multiple times in the No. 6 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series truck. He is the spotter for Erik Jones in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Racing career[]

Carelli's 1997 truck

Carelli won the NASCAR Southwest Tour championship in 1991 and won 21 times in the series during his career.[2] He joined the NASCAR Winston West Series in 1992,[1] and he was named the series Rookie of the Year. He returned to the series in 1993, capturing the series championship and Most Popular Driver award.[1][2] He has won nine times in that series.[2]

He was one of the original drivers in the Craftsman Truck Series, starting at the series' first race at Phoenix in 1995. Carelli raced every series race until he suffered near-fatal injuries when his truck hit the wall during a race at Memphis Motorsports Park in 1999. He suffered a basilar skull fracture, damaged his carotid artery and sinus.[3] He recovered and returned to race the entire 2000 season.[3] He won another race at Richmond International Raceway in 2000 with an underfunded team that he was the crew chief for. He also made 9 Winston Cup starts from 1992 to 1994. He stopped driving in 2004 and moved into the administrative side of motorsport.[3]

After retiring from driving, he later became the team manager for Kevin Harvick Incorporated – a position that he held when Ron Hornaday won the 2007 championship.[2] He later worked with NTS Motorsports as the team general manager.[4] Carelli was also the spotter for the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41, driven by Kurt Busch after first working with him at Furniture Row Racing;[5] FRR's general manager Joe Garone was Carelli's crew chief from 1989 to 1994.[6] He later became Erik Jones' spotter at FRR before following him to Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports.[5][7]

Awards[]

Carelli was inducted in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2009 along with Wayne Spears, Doug George, and Chuck Bown.[8][9]

Motorsports career results[]

NASCAR[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series[]

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team 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 NWCC Pts
1991 37 Chevy DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO
DNQ 		ATL NA -
1992 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON
37 		POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO
42 		ATL 74th 89
1993 61 DAY CAR RCH
DNQ 		ATL
DNQ 		DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL PHO
21 		ATL
35 		49th 258
37 SON
21 		CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR
1994 61 DAY
DNQ 		CAR
DNQ 		RCH
DNQ 		ATL
DNQ 		DAR
DNQ 		BRI NWS MAR TAL SON
41 		CLT DOV POC MCH
DNQ 		DAY NHA POC TAL IND
DNQ 		GLN MCH
27 		BRI DAR
DNQ 		RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR
22 		PHO
33 		ATL
DNQ 		49th 283

Busch Series[]

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team 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 NBC Pts
1990 46 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR MAR HCY DAR BRI NZH HCY CLT DOV
DNQ 		ROU VOL MYB NHA SBO DUB IRP BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NHA CAR MAR NA -
1998 Phoenix Racing 41 Chevy DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR
42 		GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM 126th 0
2000 Ken Schrader Racing 86 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSV TAL CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO
DNQ 		HOM NA -
2003 Biagi Brothers Racing 4 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR
19 		IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 119th 106

Craftsman Truck Series[]

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team 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 NCTC Pts
1995 6 Chevy PHO
24 		TUS
3 		SGS
9 		MMR
12
8
8 		I70
6 		LVL
5 		BRI
23 		MLW
4 		CNS
7 		HPT
11 		IRP
3
2 		RCH
12 		MAR
29 		NWS
12 		SON
15 		MMR
11 		PHO
11 		6th 2683
1996 HOM
16 		PHO
6 		POR
6
13 		TUS
23 		CNS
19 		HPT
24 		BRI
1
16 		MLW
11 		LVL
7 		I70
3 		IRP
18 		FLM
7 		GLN
24 		NSV
9 		RCH
15 		NHA
13 		MAR
29 		NWS
6
9 		MMR
34 		PHO
16 		LVS
14 		10th 2953
1997 WDW
5 		TUS
30 		HOM
8 		PHO
10 		POR
28 		EVG
19 		I70
7 		NHA
3 		TEX
22 		BRI
4 		NZH
6 		MLW
5 		LVL
19 		CNS
7 		HPT
9 		IRP
8 		FLM
5 		NSV
10 		GLN
10 		RCH
11 		MAR
15 		SON
7 		MMR
12 		CAL
15 		PHO
5 		LVS
6 		7th 3461
1998 WDW
3 		HOM
18 		PHO
17 		POR
3 		EVG
7
32 		GLN
28 		TEX
9 		BRI
30 		MLW
6 		NZH
9 		CAL
16
4 		IRP
17 		NHA
20
16 		NSV
17 		HPT
30 		LVL
31 		RCH
8 		MEM
30 		GTY
1* 		MAR
11 		SON
11 		MMR
6 		PHO
11 		LVS
35 		11th 3195
1999 HOM
10 		PHO
27 		EVG
6 		MMR
1 		MAR
9 		MEM
36 		I70 BRI TEX GLN MLW NSV NZH MCH NHA IRP GTY HPT RCH LVS LVL TEX CAL 33rd 739
2000 66 Ford DAY
7 		HOM
34 		PHO
26 		MMR
20 		MAR
33
17 		GTY
29 		MEM
34
20
7 		TEX
31 		KEN
7 		GLN
32 		MLW
13 		NHA
11
8 		MCH
31 		IRP
24 		NSV
23 		CIC
5 		RCH
1 		DOV
8 		TEX
9 		CAL
21 		15th 2606
2001 DAY
13 		HOM
30 		MMR
4 		MAR
12 		GTY DAR DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN NHA IRP NSH CIC 40th 675
44 Dodge RCH
34 		SBO TEX LVS
Harvick Motorsports 6 Chevy PHO
11 		CAL
2002 DAY
5 		DAR MAR GTY DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN NHA MCH IRP NSH RCH TEX SBO LVS CAL PHO HOM 72nd 160

Winston West Series[]

NASCAR Winston West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NWWSC Pts
37 Chevy EVG MMR SON SGS POR EVG
27 		SSS MMR
2 		PHO
DNQ 		24th 391
MMR
1* 		SGS
1* 		SON
37
4* 		POR
10 		EVG
4 		SSS
1 		CAJ
14 		TWS
6 		MMR
2 		PHO
42 		3rd 1765
TWS
8 		MMR
4 		SGS
1* 		SON
21 		TUS
9
1* 		EVG
1* 		POR
2*
1* 		SSS
4 		CAJ
1
8 		1st 2390
61 MMR
3 		PHO
21
MMR TUS SON
41 		SGS MMR POR
1 		IND
DNQ 		CAJ LVS MMR
10 		PHO
33 		TUS 19th 804
TUS MMR SON CNS
6 		MMR POR SGS TUS AMP POR LVS SON MMR PHO 46th 150
TUS
5 		AMP MMR SON POR TUS EVG CNS
15 		MMR SON MMR PHO LVS 34th 273
57 Chevy TUS
4 		LVS
16 		PHO CAL
3 		PPR MMR IRW EVG POR IRW LVS MMR MOT 32nd 445
05 Chevy PHO LVS TUS MMR CAL
9 		IRW LAG KAN EVG CNS IRW LVS IRW 47th 143

ARCA Re/Max Series[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year Team 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 ARSC Pts
37 Chevy DAY TOL MCH ISF DSF
6 		N/A –
DAY
8 		TOL MCH KIL ISF DSF TOL N/A –
05 Chevy
4 		SLM GTY
5 		KEN KAN MCH
8
2 		KEN
4 		POC NSH TOL
40 		TAL
3 		31st 1285

2 		SLM KAN
38 		POC
3 		MCH
36 		TOL KEN POC NSH ISF CHI
2 		TAL
4 		30th 975
DAY
6
10 		SLM TOL KAN
5 		MCH
27 		LER POC NSH ISF DSF CHI TAL 39th 700

24 Hours of Daytona[]

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year Class No Team Car Co-drivers Laps Position Class Pos.
2002 AGT 90 United States Flis Motorsports Chevy Corvette United States Kevin Harvick
United States
United States 		123 69 DNF 8 DNF
2003 GTS 05 United States Chevy Corvette United States
United States
United States 		378 27 DNF 8 DNF

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Rick Carelli". Racing West. 1999. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame to induct 10 in July". NASCAR. April 8, 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Wack, Craig (June 21, 2009). "Rick Carelli's seat safer than '99 Trucks Series ride". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  4. ^ "No. 14 California Clean Power Chevrolet to Feature Throwback Paint Scheme From Inaugural Truck Series Race". NTS Motorsports. September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Carelli, Rick (July 19, 2018). "Eye in the Sky: Veteran Rick Carelli helps Erik Jones grab 1st Cup win". Motorsport.com (Interview). Interviewed by Southers, Tim. Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  6. ^ Valdez, Alexandria (July 11, 2014). "NASCAR's Furniture Row Racing team fueled by homegrown Joe Garone". The Denver Post. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  7. ^ Pockrass, Bob (December 14, 2020). "2021 Brings Change". Foxsports.com. Fox Sports. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "HOF Modern Era Inductees". Racing West. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  9. ^ "West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame". West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Retrieved 16 March 2012.

External links[]

Achievements
Preceded by NASCAR Winston West Series champion
1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour champion
1991 		Succeeded by
Ron Hornaday
Retrieved from ""