RAB Racing with Brack Maggard was an American professional stock car racing team that attempted NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Racing Series. The team was co-owned by Robert A. Benton Sr. and his son Robert Benton Jr. along with Georgia businessman Brack Maggard and ran from 2005 through 2015. The team won one race in the Xfinity Series, but never qualified for a Cup Series race in eight attempts.

RAB Racing
Owner(s)Robert A. Benton Sr.
Robert A. Benton Jr.
Brack Maggard
BaseConcord, North Carolina
SeriesSprint Cup Series
Xfinity Series
Camping World Truck Series
ARCA Racing Series
Race driversSprint Cup Series:
29. Justin Marks, Reed Sorenson
Xfinity Series:
29. Justin Marks, Kenny Wallace
SponsorsSprint Cup Series:
29. American Born Moonshine
Xfinity Series:
29. American Born Moonshine (Marks)
U.S. Cellular (Wallace)
ManufacturerToyota
Opened2005
Closed2015
Career
Latest raceXfinity Series:
2015 3M 250 (Iowa)
Camping World Truck Series:
2012 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
ARCA Racing Series:
2010 American 200 Presented by Black's Tire & Auto Service (Rockingham)
Drivers' ChampionshipsTotal: 0
Xfinity Series: 0
Camping World Truck Series: 0
ARCA Racing Series: 0
Race victories1 (Xfinity Series)
Pole positions4

Kenny Wallace drove the most Xfinity races for the team with 57 starts, while Boris Said scored the team's only Xfinity win in 2010.

Sprint Cup Series

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Car No. 29 history

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RAB Racing entered the No. 09 Cup car for Kenny Wallace in the 2012 Daytona 500 with sponsorship from American Ethanol. The team suffered ECU problems in the Duels and failed to qualify.[1] RAB Racing next fielded a Cup car at the 2014 Coke Zero 400. Joe Nemechek attempted qualify the No. 29, but did not qualify. Later in the summer, Matt Crafton attempted to make both his and RAB's first Cup race in the No. 29 at Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400, but posted the slowest time and failed to qualify. In the GEICO 500, RAB made their third attempt of the season with the No. 29, once again using Nemechek. Despite initially running 24th after making it to round two but declining to run in the round, they failed to qualify again after the car failed post-qualifying inspection.

Justin Marks attempted to qualify the No. 29 for the 2015 Daytona 500, bringing American Born Moonshine on board as part of a package deal across all three national series at Daytona. RAB also announced its plans to attempt the full Cup Series schedule.[1] However, Marks failed to qualify. Reed Sorenson joined the team for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500,[2] but failed to qualify after the No. 29 was one of thirteen cars that was unable to clear pre-qualifying inspection in time to make a run. Sorenson then missed the next race at Las Vegas. RAB withdrew from Phoenix but announced they would return at Auto Club, where Sorenson once again failed to qualify.

RAB has never qualified after 8 Cup attempts.

Car No. 29 results

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NASCAR Sprint 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 35 36 Owners Pts
2012 Kenny Wallace 09 Toyota DAY
DNQ
PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV TAL CLT KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 60th 0
2014 Joe Nemechek 29 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX DAR RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY
DNQ
NHA TAL
DNQ
MAR TEX PHO HOM 52nd 0
Matt Crafton IND
DNQ
POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT
2015 Justin Marks DAY
DNQ
50th 0
Reed Sorenson ATL
DNQ
LVS
DNQ
PHO
Wth
CAL
DNQ
MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT KAN TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM

Xfinity Series

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Car No. 29 history

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The second RAB car made its debut at the STP 300 at Chicago in 2012 as the second iteration of the No. 09. Kenny Wallace, who gave up his seat in the team's full-time 99 car due to lack of sponsorship, finished 4th in the race. In 2013, Wallace returned to drive a limited schedule of races in the renumbered 29 car. Alex Bowman, the full-time driver of the main No. 99 car, was set to drive one of two RAB cars at the season finale at Homestead, but his sponsor pulled out and the team released him.

In 2014, Scott Lagasse Jr. drove at both Daytona races with "Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow" as the sponsor. Kenny Wallace ran a single race at Iowa Speedway with U.S. Cellular as his sponsor, starting and finishing 19th. Kelly Admiraal ran three races with a best finish of 22nd twice. In August, Milka Duno signed with the team to run select events,[3] only qualifying for two races out of five attempts (Duno ran the season-finale at Homestead using the owners points of NEMCO Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing's 87 team).[4] Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Suárez ran the 29 with sponsor Arris Group at Chicagoland Speedway in September,[5] scoring a season's-best 15th-place finish.

In 2015, Justin Marks ran the season-opening race at Daytona with sponsor American Born Moonshine,[1] qualifying on the outside pole, but finishing 34th after a crash. Kenny Wallace returned with the team at Iowa Speedway with the sponsorship U.S. Cellular, finishing 23rd. This would be the team's final race as they later shut down their operations for the rest of the season.

Car No. 29 results

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NASCAR Xfinity 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 Owners Pts
2012 Kenny Wallace 09 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI
4
IND IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 69th -6
2013 29 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH
36
TAL DAR CLT
29
DOV IOW
13
MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW
22
GLN MOH BRI
19
ATL RCH
17
CHI
17
KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 42nd 155
2014 Scott Lagasse Jr. DAY
26
PHO LVS DAY
31
NHA CHI IND 42nd 142
Kelly Admiraal BRI
35
CAL TEX DAR RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN RCH
22
PHO
22
HOM
Kenny Wallace IOW
19
GLN MOH
Milka Duno BRI
DNQ
ATL DOV
DNQ
KAN CLT
Wth
TEX
Daniel Suárez CHI
15
KEN
2015 Justin Marks DAY
34
ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL 49th 31
Kenny Wallace IOW
23
CLT DOV MCH CHI DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM

Car No. 99 History

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John Wes Townley's Zaxby's Ford in 2009.
 
Kenny Wallace in 2011.

RAB moved up from the ARCA Racing Series to the NASCAR Nationwide Series for 2008, hiring John Wes Townley to drive seven races (in addition to the full ARCA schedule). Townley brought his family's Zaxby's sponsorship on board, and team changed manufacturers to Ford. Townley's new number would be 09. The team qualified for only three of their 7 scheduled races, with a best finish of 27th in Charlotte.

In 2009, RAB moved up to the Nationwide Series full-time, running with Townley for Rookie of the Year honors. Townley had a decent year, finishing 23rd in points but amassing no top-15 finishes.[6] Also in 2009, RAB hired Boris Said to run at Watkins Glen and Montreal with a best finish of 11th at The Glen. Travis Kvapil ran at Richmond and finished 20th.

Townley left RAB at the end of 2009 for Richard Childress Racing, and the team announced it would run as much of the 2010 season as possible with Scott Riggs. However, the team only ran the first five races of the year before replacing Riggs with many other drivers including Jason Bowles, Chad McCumbee, Patrick Sheltra, Hermie Sadler, Sean Caisse, Robb Brent, Ken Schrader, Kevin Hamlin, and Landon Cassill. "Road Course Ringer" Boris Said drove for RAB at Watkins Glen and Montreal. In Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Said held off another road course ace, Max Papis, in a photo finish to give RAB its first win in any division.[6] Townley returned to the team for a few races, but left before Richmond. The team then hired former Braun Racing driver Brian Scott to drive the No. 09 car at Kansas. Scott drove the rest of the season and finished runner-up to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for ROTY. Scott left for Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season.

For 2011, the team hired veteran Kenny Wallace from Jay Robinson Racing, with Wallace driving without salary in exchange for being in good equipment. Wallace brought sponsorship from Family Farmers/American Ethanol, University of Northwestern Ohio, and Federated Auto Parts.[7][8] Wallace and RAB would take home 11 top-10s and finish 7th in points.[6] For 2012, Wallace returned to the team for the first few races with sponsorship from American Ethanol/Family Farmers. After campaigning for weeks, he was forced to run a part-time schedule due to sponsorship issues. Meanwhile, the 09 was renumbered 99 in a deal with Michael Waltrip Racing to allow Travis Pastrana to run his seven scheduled Nationwide races.[9][10] The rest of the year was split among Wallace, Townley, Ryan Truex (former driver of the 99 with MWR), Alex Bowman, Victor Gonzalez Jr., Patrick Carpentier and Brett Moffitt (also MWR drivers).[6][11][12] Wallace would grab the team's best finish of 4th at Chicagoland.

 
Alex Bowman driving the No. 99 at Road America in 2013
 
James Buescher racing the No. 99 in 2014

In January 2013, it was announced that Alex Bowman would be running the full 2013 Nationwide Series season for RAB Racing, competing for Rookie of the Year honors.[6][13] In April, he would win his first career Nationwide pole at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas.[14] He would sweep the poles at Texas[6] but would be released prior to the season finale at Homestead-Miami due to lack of sponsorship. Blake Koch would drive the 99 at Homestead to a 13th-place finish.

For 2014, former Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher left Turner Scott Motorsports to run the full season in the No. 99 car, bringing sponsor Rheem.[15][16] After the Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 at Bristol, the 99 was penalized for violating two sections of the NASCAR rulebook: 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20A-2.3A (added car weight; improperly attached weight; loss of weight during the event); crew chief Chris Rice and car chief John Guerra were placed on probation until December 31, the former also being fined $10,000.[17] Buescher struggled throughout the season, posting only two top 10s and finishing 10th in points.[18] The team was forced to shut down after Rheem left for Richard Childress Racing.[18]

Car No. 99 results

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NASCAR Xfinity 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 35 Owners Pts
2008 John Wes Townley 09 Ford DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI
DNQ
CAL RCH DOV
30
KAN CLT
27
MEM
DNQ
TEX
DNQ
PHO
38
HOM
DNQ
57th 298
2009 DAY
21
CAL
22
LVS
38
BRI
16
TEX
36
NSH
18
PHO
36
TAL
18
RCH
DNQ
DAR
34
CLT
DNQ
DOV
38
NSH
42
KEN
32
MLW
DNQ
NHA
28
DAY
36
CHI
21
GTY
21
IRP
DNQ
IOW
29
MCH
DNQ
BRI
33
ATL
DNQ
DOV
18
KAN
31
CAL
17
CLT
28
MEM
40
TEX
18
PHO
23
HOM
24
32nd 2436
Boris Said GLN
11
CGV
25
Travis Kvapil RCH
20
2010 Scott Riggs DAY
15
CAL
16
LVS
14
BRI
DNQ
NSH
19
24th 3297
Jason Bowles PHO
25
Chad McCumbee TEX
31
DAR
28
DOV
32
CLT
27
Patrick Sheltra TAL
18
Hermie Sadler RCH
32
Sean Caisse NSH
18
KEN
27
NHA
21
Robb Brent ROA
30
Ken Schrader DAY
25
Landon Cassill CHI
33
GTY
31
RCH
28
Kevin Hamlin IRP
27
John Wes Townley IOW
24
MCH
17
BRI
27
ATL
22
Boris Said GLN
22
CGV
1
Kelly Bires DOV
21
Brian Scott KAN
21
CAL
15
CLT
28
GTY
14
Toyota TEX
32
PHO
11
HOM
18
2011 Kenny Wallace DAY
28
PHO
10
LVS
10
BRI
17
CAL
15
TEX
20
TAL
25
NSH
12
RCH
13
DAR
11
DOV
7
IOW
6
CLT
20
CHI
7
MCH
20
ROA
28
DAY
7
KEN
6
NHA
6
NSH
10
IRP
12
IOW
7
GLN
32
CGV
16
BRI
36
ATL
19
RCH
5
CHI
17
DOV
16
KAN
19
CLT
16
TEX
13
PHO
17
HOM
33
14th 963
2012 DAY
30
PHO
36
LVS
11
BRI
33
CAL
7
18th 768
99 TAL
9
MCH
34
KEN
11
CHI
20
KAN
18
TEX
15
HOM
15
Ryan Truex 09 TEX
32
99 RCH
14
DOV
16
Travis Pastrana RCH
22
DAR
17
IOW
26
CLT
24
NHA
31
CHI
17
IND
13
ATL
26
John Wes Townley DOV
20
DAY
25
BRI
23
CLT
32
Victor Gonzalez Jr. ROA
17
GLN
16
Brett Moffitt IOW
9
Patrick Carpentier CGV
29
Alex Bowman KEN
25
PHO
15
2013 DAY
3
PHO
31
LVS
8
BRI
14
CAL
12
TEX
14
RCH
27
TAL
13
DAR
17
CLT
20
DOV
17
IOW
22
MCH
14
ROA
24
KEN
10
DAY
20
NHA
10
CHI
31
IND
15
IOW
7
GLN
13
MOH
11
BRI
33
ATL
34
RCH
15
CHI
11
KEN
5
DOV
18
KAN
11
CLT
18
TEX
18
PHO
11
16th 917
Blake Koch HOM
11
2014 James Buescher DAY
16
PHO
12
LVS
18
BRI
13
CAL
16
TEX
13
DAR
25
RCH
10
TAL
29
IOW
19
CLT
11
DOV
15
MCH
15
ROA
17
KEN
14
DAY
14
NHA
22
CHI
23
IND
21
IOW
26
GLN
11
MOH
25
BRI
9
ATL
19
RCH
19
CHI
18
KEN
14
DOV
15
KAN
21
CLT
31
TEX
24
PHO
14
HOM
18
15th 868

Camping World Truck Series

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John Wes Townley at Rockingham Speedway in 2012

For 2012, RAB formed a Camping World Truck Series team with longtime driver John Wes Townley, using the number 09.[6] However, Townley was cited with a DUI before Speedweeks, resulting in his suspension by RAB. Townley was replaced by Travis Kvapil for Daytona. Townley returned the next race, at Martinsville. After competing for Rookie of the Year honors in 2012 and collecting his best series finish of eighth at Pocono Raceway,[6] Townley left the team and joined Red Horse Racing for 2013.

Truck No. 09 results

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NASCAR Camping World Truck 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 Owners Pts
2012 Travis Kvapil 09 Toyota DAY
4
17th 561
John Wes Townley MAR
23
CAR
20
KAN
16
CLT
16
DOV
16
TEX
27
KEN
31
IOW
20
CHI
14
POC
8
MCH
25
BRI
24
ATL
19
IOW
15
KEN
10
LVS
14
TAL
25
MAR
18
TEX
16
PHO
13
HOM
32

ARCA Re/Max Series

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After leaving the drivers seat and having an eight-year stint as a crew member for Robert Yates Racing, Robert Benton decided to start his own race team in 2005 in the ARCA RE/Max Series.[6] The team first hired young Georgia native Walt Brannen to drive their No. 65 for a few races with little success. Brannen was released as RAB stepped up to a full-time schedule with Justin Marks[1] and Damon Lusk splitting the No. 65 Construct Corps/Crocs Dodge.[19] The duo would earn a pole, two top fives and nine top tens. Marks ran the full 2007 season with RAB and ended the season fifth in points with a pole, four top fives, and ten top tens. Marks would move to Germain Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series for 2008.[1]

For 2008, John Wes Townley ran the renumbered 09 car with sponsor Zaxby's,[19] scoring 8 top tens and ending the season 7th in points. Townley ran the two restrictor plate races in 2009, with a best finish of 4th at Daytona. Grant Enfinger and Tom Hessert III also ran races in the car.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e DeGroot, Nick (February 19, 2015). "RAB Racing's Daytona 500 dream: Justin Marks prepares for 'the race of his life' in Duels". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Atlanta Entry List". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  3. ^ Staff Report (August 4, 2014). "RAB RACING ANNOUNCES FEMALE DRIVER ADDITION". nascar.com. NASCAR. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  4. ^ Knight, Chris (November 16, 2014). "Milka Duno Meets Homestead Goal; Finishes Race". Catchfence.com. Catchfence.com. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Daniel Suarez and ARRIS Join RAB Racing at Chicagoland Speedway". [www.teamrab.com RAB Racing]. Concord, North Carolina: RAB Racing. September 10, 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "About The Team". [www.teamrab.com teamrab.com]. RAB Racing. Archived from the original on 2015-03-16. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  7. ^ RAB Racing (December 21, 2010). "RAB Racing signs Kenny Wallace". motorsport.com. Concord, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  8. ^ Ebersole, Amanda (April 10, 2011). "Kenny Wallace: Life is a Time Warp". Skirts & Skuffs. Skirts & Skuffs. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. ^ Michael Waltrip Racing (April 17, 2012). "RAB Racing & MWR create Nationwide alliance for 2012". motorsport.com. Cornelius, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  10. ^ Michael Waltrip Racing (May 23, 2012). "Travis Pastrana has seasoned help on Nationwide program". motorsport.com. Cornelius, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  11. ^ MWR (June 1, 2011). "Pastrana-Waltrip Racing Adjusts Schedule". motorsport.com. Cornelius, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  12. ^ Toyota Motorsports (July 15, 2012). "Carpentier is looking forward to returning to racing at Montreal". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  13. ^ "Bowman Will Try For Rookie Of The Year". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. January 21, 2013. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
  14. ^ "Bowman wins Nationwide pole at Texas". Yahoo! Sports. April 12, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  15. ^ Pockrass, Bob (December 18, 2013). "James Buescher explains decision to leave father-in-law's team". Sporting News. Sporting News. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  16. ^ Pockrass, Bob (December 13, 2013). "James Buescher leaving father-in-law's team for RAB Racing". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-12-14.
  17. ^ Turner, Jared (March 18, 2014). "Buescher's RAB Racing team hit with Bristol penalty". Foxsports.com. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  18. ^ a b Fraley, Gerry (February 18, 2015). "Fraley: Looking for a team, Plano's James Buescher finds lifeline with return to trucks". The Dallas Morning News. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Daytona Entries Solid with Driver Development, Series Regulars". arcaracing.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Automobile Racing Club of America. January 30, 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
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