Akins Motorsports

Akins Motorsports
Owner(s)	Brad Akins; Bob Sutton; Doug Stringer
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina; Concord, North Carolina
Series	Busch Series; Craftsman Truck Series
Race drivers	Kasey Kahne, Mark Green, A. J. Foyt IV, Tyler Walker, Elton Sawyer, Christian Elder, Bobby Hamilton
Sponsors	Great Clips, Deka Batteries, Channellock, Lysol, Barbasol
Manufacturer	Ford, Dodge
Opened	1992
Closed	2006 (merged with Braun Racing)
Career
Race victories	3

Akins Motorsports, formerly Akins-Sutton Motorsports^[4] was a NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, which is near Charlotte. The team was formed in 1992 by Brad Akins, owner of several car dealerships in Georgia and team pit crew member,^[2]^[4] and Bob Sutton who served as the team's financial manager.^[4] At the time the team was sold to Braun Racing in 2006, it was owned by longtime team general manager Doug Stringer.^[3]^[5]^[1] The team was known for its Great Clips-sponsored #38 team in the Busch Series (now the Xfinity Series), which was later fielded by Braun Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.^[6]

Busch Series

Car #38 history

Akins Motorsports debuted in 1993, running the #38 Country Time Ford Thunderbird driven by Bobby Hamilton. They ran two Winston Cup races with Hamilton driving, posting a tenth-place finish at Dover International Speedway. They also ran a pair of Busch Races with Elton Sawyer driving, his best finish a 25th at Richmond International Raceway.

Sawyer went full-time with the team in 1994 with sponsorship from Ford Credit. They had six top-tens, as well as winning at Myrtle Beach Speedway, finishing fourteenth in championship points. The following season, they moved to ninth in points and Sawyer won the pole at Indianapolis Raceway Park. At the end of the year, Sawyer was replaced with Dennis Setzer with Lipton Tea sponsorship for 1996. He had two top-tens, before Sawyer came back to the team to finish out the year, posting one top-ten.

In 1997, Barbasol became primary sponsor, and Sawyer finished a then-career-best sixth in points, before moving up to fifth the following season.

Glenn Allen Jr. took over the #38 for the 1999 season,^[1] and had a fourth-place finish at The Milwaukee Mile, but was replaced during the season by Hut Stricklin,^[7] who ended the season with a pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 38 team was forced to shut down at the end of the season due to sponsor Barbasol departing.^[7]

Rookie Christian Elder drove the #38 in 2001 with Great Clips/Deka Batteries sponsorship for sixteen races that year, posting a best finish of 20th twice. Elder drove the 38 for eight races in 2002, sharing the ride with Mark Green before Green took over the ride permanently, posting three top-fifteen finishes.

In 2003, Akins hired Ford development driver Kasey Kahne as the team's driver.^[2] Kahne finished seventh in points and won his first career race at the Ford 300. He would take over the 9 Dodge in the Winston Cup Series for Evernham Motorsports' for the 2004 season,^[8]^[9] but continued to run Akins' Busch team, as they switched to Dodge Intrepids. He went winless in 2004, but had two poles and finished eleventh in points.

In 2005, team manager Doug Stringer assumed full ownership, and Kahne shared the car with Tyler Walker. He had two wins and three poles, while Walker did not finish better than 14th, and was released in August 2005. Mike Wallace and A. J. Foyt IV shared the driving duties with Kahne for the balance of the season.

Foyt IV was to compete for Rookie of the Year in the #38 Akins ride in 2006 but was released from the team when Doug Stringer merged Akins Motorsports with Braun Racing.^[6]^[10]

Car No. 38 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	35	NBSC	Pts
1993	Bobby Hamilton	38	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	DAR	BRI	HCY 23	ROU	MAR 31	NZH	CLT	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	TAL	IRP 9	MCH	NHA	BRI	DAR
1993	Elton Sawyer																							RCH 25	DOV	ROU	CLT 36	MAR	CAR	HCY	ATL
1994				DAY 20	CAR 12	RCH 4	ATL DNQ	MAR 22	DAR 13	HCY 28	BRI	ROU 31	NHA DNQ	NZH 2	CLT 21	DOV 13	MYB 1	GLN 35	MLW 8	SBO 17	TAL 21	HCY 14	IRP 22	MCH 20	BRI 15	DAR 9	RCH 31	DOV 13	CLT 5	MAR 19	CAR 39
1995				DAY 39	CAR 32	RCH 15	ATL 10	NSV 30	DAR 38	BRI 18	HCY 26	NHA 2	NZH 8	CLT 27	DOV 12	MYB 10	GLN 22	MLW 14	TAL 10	SBO 7	IRP 2	MCH 13	BRI 26	DAR 8	RCH 10	DOV 17	CLT 20	CAR 14	HOM 12
1996	Dennis Setzer			DAY 27	CAR 31	RCH 22	ATL DNQ	NSV 37	DAR 36	BRI DNQ	HCY DNQ	NZH 20	CLT DNQ	DOV 33	SBO 11	MYB 8	GLN 11	MLW 24	NHA 24	TAL DNQ	IRP 6
1996	Elton Sawyer																					MCH 25	BRI 12	DAR 16	RCH 22	DOV 8	CLT 19	CAR 14	HOM 15
1997				DAY 16	CAR 12	RCH 11	ATL 2	LVS 31	DAR 17	HCY 6	TEX 11	BRI 32	NSV 17	TAL 42	NHA 4	NZH 23	CLT 43	DOV 9	SBO 5	GLN 19	MLW 6	MYB 5	GTY 4	IRP 3	MCH 16	BRI 34	DAR 13	RCH 31	DOV 16	CLT 22	CAL 19	CAR 12	HOM 32						8th	3419
1998				DAY 28	CAR 14	LVS 30	NSV 10	DAR 11	BRI 4	TEX 27	HCY 27	TAL 10	NHA 27	NZH 36	CLT 8	DOV 8	RCH 18	PPR 4	GLN 11	MLW 2	MYB 11	CAL 12	SBO 25	IRP 8	MCH 8	BRI 18	DAR 12	RCH 33	DOV 3	CLT 13	GTY 38	CAR 32	ATL 13	HOM 26					5th	3533
1999	Glenn Allen Jr.			DAY 16	CAR DNQ	LVS DNQ	ATL 9	DAR 30	TEX 27	NSV 29	BRI 26		CAL 21	NHA 28	RCH 26	NZH 14	CLT DNQ	DOV 24	SBO DNQ	GLN 29	MLW 4	MYB DNQ	PPR 37	GTY 33	IRP 24	MCH DNQ	BRI DNQ												26th	2358
	Glenn Allen Jr.		Chevy									TAL 13
	Hut Stricklin		Ford																									DAR 22	RCH DNQ	DOV 16	CLT 21	CAR DNQ	MEM 42	PHO 29	HOM 21
2001	Christian Elder			DAY DNQ	CAR	LVS 23	ATL 26	DAR	BRI 20	TEX	NSH	TAL 26	CAL 24	RCH	NHA	NZH 28	CLT 37	DOV 20	KEN 24	MLW	GLN	CHI 29	GTY 30	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI 35	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN 27	CLT 40	MEM	PHO 28	CAR	HOM 43			41st	1259
2002	Christian Elder			DAY 36	CAR 37	LVS 38			TEX 31		TAL 43	CAL 43							KEN 26		DAY 29	CHI INQ^†																	31st	2351
2002	Mark Green						DAR 17	BRI 17					RCH 28	NHA	NZH 33	CLT 35	DOV 15	NSH 12		MLW 22		CHI 41	GTY 22	PPR 19	IRP	MCH	BRI 37	DAR	RCH 16	DOV 20	KAN 16	CLT 30	MEM 38	ATL 28	CAR 19	PHO 14	HOM 30		31st	2351
2003	Kasey Kahne			DAY 8	CAR 26	LVS 11	DAR 8	BRI 13	TEX 9	TAL 37	NSH 29	CAL 4	RCH 18	GTY 31	NZH 12	CLT 6	DOV 8	NSH 25	KEN 11	MLW 16	DAY 38	CHI 28	NHA 9	PPR 10	IRP 14	MCH 2	BRI 14	DAR 6	RCH 12	DOV 4	KAN 30	CLT 8	MEM 15	ATL 7	PHO 27	CAR 18	HOM 1		9th	4104
2004	Kasey Kahne		Dodge	DAY 43	CAR 26	LVS 2	DAR 11	BRI 27	TEX 32	NSH 3	TAL 38	CAL 5	GTY 13	RCH 10	NZH 16	CLT 25	DOV 7	NSH 6	KEN 17		DAY 6	CHI 4	NHA 4			MCH 5	BRI 34	CAL 4	RCH 9	DOV 3	KAN 13	CLT 36		ATL 4	PHO 11	DAR 11	HOM 18		7th	4219
	Shane Hmiel																			MLW 4					IRP 12
	Tyler Walker																							PPR 27									MEM 12
2005	Kasey Kahne			DAY 5			LVS 20	ATL 5			TEX 1			DAR 34			DOV 13				DAY 25	CHI 12						MCH 27						CLT 12					23rd	3213
	Tyler Walker				CAL 39	MXC 24			NSH 17	BRI 35		PHO 42			RCH 28	CLT 14		NSH 19	KEN 19	MLW 40			NHA 19	PPR 23	GTY 17	IRP 37	GLN 36
	Casey Mears												TAL 26
	Mike Wallace																												BRI 14	CAL 29	RCH 26	DOV 31	KAN 21
	A. J. Foyt IV																																		MEM 32	TEX 39	PHO 42	HOM 24
2006	A. J. Foyt IV			DAY 42	CAL 38	MXC 21	LVS 37	ATL 33	BRI 35	TEX 41	NSH																												18th	3554
2006	Ryan Moore		Chevy									PHO 29	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	18th	3554

Car #58 history

Akins added a second car to its stable in 2005, with Brent Sherman driving a Serta Mattress and Hickory Farms-sponsored Dodge. However, following the sale of team to Doug Stringer the team consolidated its operations to the #38 and sold the #58 to Glynn Motorsports.^[11]

Car No. 58 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	35	NBSC	Pts
2004	Brent Sherman	58	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN 37	CLT	MEM 37	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM 30		75th	177
2005	Brent Sherman			DAY DNQ	CAL 32	MXC 23	LVS 32	ATL 31	NSH 23	BRI 36	TEX 34	PHO 24	TAL 9	DAR 32	RCH DNQ	CLT 34																							31st	2738
2005	Regan Smith																DOV 20	NSH 15	KEN 41	MLW 29	DAY 19	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	31st	2738

Car #98 history

In 1999, Akins formed a second car, the #98 with Lysol sponsorship with Elton Sawyer driving.^[1] He won his second race at New Hampshire International Speedway and finished fifth in points again.^[1]

In 2000, Sawyer continued to drive the 98, posting fourteen top-tens.

In 2001, clothing brand Starter and Hot Tamales came on board as sponsor and in April 2001 Akins sold the #98 team to Michael Kranefuss in order to focus on the #38. Sawyer posted a career-best nineteen top-ten finishes and finished 5th in points. At the end of the year, Starter and Hot Tamales left and unable to find a sponsor, Kranefuss was forced to disband the #98 team.

Car No. 98 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	NBSC	Pts
1999	Elton Sawyer	98	Chevy	DAY 21				DAR 2		NSV 8		TAL 41																										5th	3891
1999			Ford		CAR 7	LVS 26	ATL 8		TEX 12		BRI 3		CAL 7	NHA 1	RCH 34	NZH 32	CLT 8	DOV 9	SBO 23	GLN 11	MLW 34	MYB 7	PPR 8	GTY 13	IRP 8	MCH 26	BRI 7	DAR 14	RCH 16	DOV 26	CLT 19	CAR 14	MEM 3	PHO 15	HOM 13
2000				DAY 30	CAR 12	LVS 25	ATL 18	DAR 9	BRI 12	TEX 28	NSV 13	TAL 18	CAL 9	RCH 34	NHA 9	CLT 9	DOV 9	SBO 3	MYB 3	GLN 7	MLW 6	NZH 2	PPR 25	GTY 10	IRP 6	MCH 31	BRI 29	DAR 3	RCH 19	DOV 33	CLT 29	CAR 19	MEM 2	PHO 11	HOM 40			5th	3891	7th	3776
2001				DAY 43	CAR 29	LVS 8	ATL 35	DAR 9	BRI 17	TEX 21	NSH 5	TAL 6	CAL 12	RCH 40	NHA 9	NZH 11	CLT 19	DOV 6	KEN 4	MLW 6	GLN 6	CHI 8	GTY 8	PPR 30	IRP 4	MCH 7	BRI 5	DAR 2	RCH 8	DOV 11	KAN 16	CLT 9	MEM 26	PHO 38	CAR 10	HOM 2		5th	4100
2003	Mark Green			DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH 16	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM	95th	115

Craftsman Truck Series

Truck #38 history

During the 1995 season, Akins/Sutton also fielded a Craftsman Truck Series team with Sammy Swindell full-time driving with sponsorship from Channellock, posting five top-tens and a 4th place run at Bristol, finishing twelfth in points. The team racked up an astounding 7 DNFs during the 20-race season. Akins/Sutton never fielded a truck again.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "BUSCH: Akins Motorsports Names General Manager". Concord, North Carolina: motorsport.com. May 12, 1999. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "BUSCH: Kasey Kahne signs with Akins Motorsports". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. December 19, 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b Braun Racing (January 18, 2007). "BUSCH: Braun Racing expands to three-car entry". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c NASCAR Online (July 20, 1998). "BUSCH: Fontana Akins Injury Report". Fontana, California: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ "Turner Motorsports acquires Braun Racing". motorsport.com. Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. September 24, 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
^ ^a ^b Braun-Akins Racing (April 25, 2006). "BUSCH: Jason Leffler transfers points to new number". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b NASCAR Online (August 30, 1999). "BUSCH: Hut Stricklin Sings with Akins Motorsport". Bristol, Tennessee: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ "Kahne and Elliott share No. 9 in 2004". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. December 6, 2003. Archived from the original on 2015-06-04. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
^ Jenkins, Chris (May 30, 2004). "Rookie's rise has familiar ring". USA Today. Concord, North Carolina: USA Today. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
^ Braun Racing (April 19, 2006). "BUSCH: Braun Racing changes announced". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
^ "BUSCH: Akins Motorsports, Glynn Motorsports announce merger". Charlotte, North Carolina: motorsport.com. March 18, 2005. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[Motorsport-Akins-Stringer-GM-1999-1] "BUSCH: Akins Motorsports Names General Manager". Concord, North Carolina: motorsport.com. May 12, 1999. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[Motorsport-KKahne-Akins-2002-2] "BUSCH: Kasey Kahne signs with Akins Motorsports". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. December 19, 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[Motorsport-Braun-3Car-BiagiPPC-2007-3] Braun Racing (January 18, 2007). "BUSCH: Braun Racing expands to three-car entry". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 19 August 2015.

[Motorsport-Akins-Injury-1998-4] NASCAR Online (July 20, 1998). "BUSCH: Fontana Akins Injury Report". Fontana, California: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[Motorsport-Braun-Turner-5] "Turner Motorsports acquires Braun Racing". motorsport.com. Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. September 24, 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2014.

[Motorsport-BraunAkins-Leffler-38-2006-6] Braun-Akins Racing (April 25, 2006). "BUSCH: Jason Leffler transfers points to new number". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[Motorsport-Akins-Stricklin-1999-7] NASCAR Online (August 30, 1999). "BUSCH: Hut Stricklin Sings with Akins Motorsport". Bristol, Tennessee: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[Motorsport-Kahne-Elliott-2004-8] "Kahne and Elliott share No. 9 in 2004". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. December 6, 2003. Archived from the original on 2015-06-04. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

[USA2Day-Kahne-RookieRise-2004-9] Jenkins, Chris (May 30, 2004). "Rookie's rise has familiar ring". USA Today. Concord, North Carolina: USA Today. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

[Motorsport-BraunAkins-Changes-2006-10] Braun Racing (April 19, 2006). "BUSCH: Braun Racing changes announced". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

[11] "BUSCH: Akins Motorsports, Glynn Motorsports announce merger". Charlotte, North Carolina: motorsport.com. March 18, 2005. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

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