Wauters Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, fielding the No. 5 Toyota Tundra part-time. The team also competes in late models. The team is primarily owned by Wauters, with former NASCAR team owners Billy Ballew and James Finch also part of the organization as co-owners since 2020.
| Owner(s) | Richie Wauters |
|---|---|
| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Late Models |
| Manufacturer | Toyota |
| Opened | 1999 |
| Career | |
| Debut | Camping World Truck Series: 1999 NAPA 250 (Martinsville) ARCA/CRA Super Series: 2013 SpeedFest 200 (Watermelon Capital) |
| Latest race | Camping World Truck Series: 2017 Active Pest Control 200 (Atlanta) ARCA/CRA Super Series: 2004 Snowball Derby (Five Flags) |
| Races competed | Total: 136 Camping World Truck Series: 45 ARCA/CRA Super Series: 91 |
| Drivers' Championships | Total: 0 Camping World Truck Series: 0 ARCA/CRA Super Series: 0 |
| Race victories | Total: 2 Camping World Truck Series: 0 ARCA/CRA Super Series: 2 |
| Pole positions | Total: 0 Camping World Truck Series: 0 ARCA/CRA Super Series: 0 |
History
editTruck No. 5 history
edit
In January 2012, veteran NASCAR crew chief Richie Wauters reformed the team after buying the remnants of the Randy Moss Motorsports team and its owner points.
Wauters Motorsports debuted in 2011 as the number 51 Ford, in a joint venture with Richie Wauters' longtime team Billy Ballew Motorsports. The truck utilized the paint scheme Ballew ran early in their history, and Wauters served as crew chief. Colin Braun drove the truck in two races with sponsorship from Bullet Liners, scoring a ninth-place finish in the team's debut.
The No. 5 truck began racing in 2012 with former Drive for Diversity member Paulie Harraka, who intended to contend for Rookie of the Year in the No. 5 Ford. Midway through the season the team chose to skip races at Michigan International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway to regroup;[1] but before the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Harraka was released from the team.[2] Harraka had an average finish of 23.8 in 11 races, with a best finish of 17th at Dover and Kentucky. After the split with Harraka, Aric Almirola drove the truck at Atlanta, Talladega and Texas II, John King at Kentucky II and Phoenix, Josh Richards at Martinsville II, and Ryan Reed at Las Vegas. Only Almirola would earn a top-5 and top 10 (twice) finish in the year, the best results for the team during the year.
In 2013, former Richard Childress Racing development driver Tim George Jr. announced his addition to the team for the season, bringing sponsorship from Applebee's.[3] In May after four races, the team switched manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet, with engines coming from ECR Engines.[4] Jason Bowles drove a single race at Eldora with Valvoline sponsorship,[5] and after 11 races the team shut down.[6]
In 2014, the team signed John Wes Townley, who brought longtime sponsor Zaxby's from Red Horse Racing. The team also switched to Toyota, with engines from Joe Gibbs Racing.[7][8] Prior to the Iowa race, Townley moved to Athenian Motorsports owned by his father.[7] Wauter's team shut down for the remainder of the season.[7]
For 2015, the team planned to return to competition with driver Germán Quiroga at Kansas in May, with funding coming from a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign, however, failed to raise the desired amount of money.[9][10] K&N Pro Series East driver Dalton Sargeant, who also runs late models for Wauters, made his Truck Series debut with the team in 2015 at Bristol in August.[11] Sargeant did well in his races, including a 9th-place finish at Bristol.
After being absent for most of 2016, the team returned for the round of Talladega in October with Korbin Forrister driving.
On February 22, 2017, Wauters announced a deal with Forrister to drive the full 2017 season.[12] After crashing in the first two races of the season, Forrister and Wauters split and Wauters focused on his Super Late Model program with Mason Mingus, Trevor Noles, and Spencer Wauters for the remainder of 2017.[13] The arrangement with Mingus continued into 2018 with only him driving it in select events.[14]
The team returned to the Truck Series in 2020 with Erik Jones at Charlotte. They did not qualify.
Truck No. 5 results
editTruck No. 18 history
editNoah Gragson was scheduled to drive the No. 18 truck from Kyle Busch Motorsports, but since KBM wanted to focus their assets on William Byron and Christopher Bell in their 2016 championship bids, Wauters fielded the No. 18 truck for Gragson in the final two races of the season finishing 16th and 15th respectively.
Truck No. 18 results
edit| 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 | Owners | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Noah Gragson | 18 | Toyota | DAY | ATL | MAR | KAN | DOV | CLT | TEX | IOW | GTW | KEN | ELD | POC | BRI | MCH | MSP | CHI | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO 16 |
HOM 15 |
40th | 35 |
Recent wins
edit- 1. Snowball Derby won by Steven Wallace in Circa. December 2004
- 2. All American 400 won by Mason Mingus on November 3, 2019
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Vorse, Sandra (August 16, 2012). "Harraka – Wauters Motorsports MIS Bristol Release". Wauters Motorsports. Retrieved 2012-08-16.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Paulie Harraka and Wauters Motorsports Part Ways Effective Immediately". YardBarker. Fox Sports. August 30, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- ^ "Tim George Jr. and Wauters Motorsports Team Up With Grand Touring Vodka (GTV) for a Sweet Deal at Daytona". Wauters Motorsports. February 20, 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Wauters Motorsports Announces Switch to Chevrolet". Wauters Motorsports. May 13, 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Wauters Motorsports Teams with Jason Bowles and Valvoline™ Motor Oil for Eldora". Wauters Motorsports. July 22, 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Tim George Jr Takes Break for Next Three NCWTS Events – No Driver Announced by Wauters Motorsports for the Events". Wauters Motorsports. August 15, 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ a b c Wolkin, Joseph (August 7, 2014). "The race against oneself: John Wes Townley's journey". motorsport.com. Motorsport.com. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ Info Manager (December 19, 2013). "NASCAR Notes: Townley To Drive For Wauters". RacinToday.com. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ Starer, Taylor (March 25, 2015). "FUND-RAISER STARTED TO GET GERMAN QUIROGA BACK IN TRUCKS". NASCAR. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ Jimenez, Jose (2015). "Nation Rising". Charlotte, North Carolina: Kickstarter. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Dalton Sargeant Set to Make his NCWTS Debut with Wauters Motorsports at Bristol Motor Speedway". Dalton Sargeant. August 12, 2015. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "Forrister set for full season with Wauters". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
- ^ "Mingus Teams With Wauters Motorsports for SLM Major Races | Speed 51 | 100% Short Track Racing". speed51.com. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
- ^ Soquet, William (2018-04-10). "ARCA: Mike Basham falls out first in Darrell Basham Racing's 2018 debut". LASTCAR. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
External links
edit- Official website
- Richie Wauters owner statistics at Racing-Reference