Wikipedia

Shane Huffman

Shane S. Huffman (born December 30, 1973) is an American professional former stock car racing driver and current crew chief and team manager for Pinnacle Racing Group,[1] which fields the No. 28 Chevrolet SS full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series.

Shane Huffman
Huffman at Dover International Speedway in 2006
BornShane S. Huffman
(1973-12-30) December 30, 1973 (age 50)
Hickory, North Carolina, U.S.
Achievements2020 ARCA Menards Series championship-winning crew chief
2003 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Champion
2005 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Southern Division Champion
1999 NASCAR Winston Racing Series Blue Ridge Region Champion
1999 Hickory Motor Speedway Track Champion Late Model Stock Class
1996 Hickory Motor Speedway Limited Late Model Series Champion
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
31 races run over 4 years
Best finish34th (2007)
First race2001 Autolite/Fram 250 (Richmond)
Last race2008 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 (Gateway)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 6 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
7 races run over 2 years
First race2006 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last race2007 Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 (Milwaukee)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of April 2, 2013.

As a crew chief, he won the 2020 ARCA Menards Series championship crew chiefing Bret Holmes' No. 23 car for Holmes' family-owned team. As a driver, he competed in that series in 2000 when it was known as the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series as well as in what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2001 and from 2006 to 2008 and in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2006 and 2007.

Huffman is notable for being one of the first drivers for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team during the team's early years. He drove their No. 88 United States Navy-sponsored car in what was then the Busch Series for parts of 2006 and 2007. When he was released by JRM halfway through 2007, his replacement was Brad Keselowski, who would go to on to win dozens of races in the series and the championship in 2010 as well as win the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series championship and dozens of Cup Series races.

Racing career

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Driving career

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Huffman began his racing career at Hickory Motor Speedway in late model stock car racing. In 1996, he won the Limited Late Model Series championship. In 1999 he won the late model track championship, the Blue Ridge Regional Championship, and was the runner-up for the NASCAR Winston Racing Series Champion.

In 2000, he moved up to the USAR Hooters Pro Cup. After posting no top-ten finishes in his rookie year on the circuit, he won his first career race at Coastal Plains Speedway in 2001. That same season, he made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Richmond, driving the No. 77 Jennie-O Ford Taurus for Moy Racing. He started 40th and finished 24th, three laps down.

After a winless 2002, Huffman won five races and was both the champion of USAR's national points standings, as well as the Southern Division. He repeated his Southern Division title in 2005. Huffman has 28 wins in 133 starts in USAR – the 2nd most wins in the USAR series history. Huffman holds the record with most poles in USAR history at 26.

Huffman had three wins in USAR in 2006 driving the No. 88 Champion Chevy for JR Motorsports. He made his first Busch start that year driving the No. 83 Make-A-Wish Foundation Chevy for at Gateway International Raceway in a JR Motorsports car prepared by NEMCO Motorsports. Following the release of regular 88 driver Mark McFarland, Huffman shared the driving duties of the 88 for the rest of the season with Robby Gordon and Martin Truex Jr.

He started the 2007 Busch season in the No. 88 car. On July 3, 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr. released Huffman from driving the No. 88 Navy Chevy for JR Motorsports. He went on to compete part-time in the Truck Series with Curtis Key Motorsports in 2007.

Huffman returned to Nationwide racing on July 4, 2008, driving the No. 31 car for Stanton Barrett Motorsports in the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway. He started 21st and was able to lead 2 laps (17 and 18) when he remained on the track after a lap 14 caution caused by the spinning No. 22 car driven by Josh Wise. When the green flag dropped on lap 17 Huffman was able to hold off a charge by his ex-boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr. After 2 laps he was passed by Earnhardt and remained in the top 10 for one more lap before falling back in the pack. Huffman eventually finished in 41st position, 82 laps down.

Crew chiefing career

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2007–2016

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After he was released from his ride with JR Motorsports midway through the 2007 season, Huffman joined Rusty Wallace Racing as a car chief for Steve Wallace[2] before moving to the Truck Series.[3]

In 2014, he was the crew chief for Brandon Jones at Turner Scott Motorsports in his full-time ride in the K&N Pro Series East (No. 33 car) as well as his part-time rides in the Truck (No. 33) and ARCA Series (No. 4 car). At the very end of the year, he and Jones joined GMS Racing when Jones' No. 33 team was sold by TSM due to the team's financial problems. He continued to work as crew chief of the No. 33 truck when it became full-time in 2015 with Jones and the Dillon brothers until his suspension from the final two Truck races, where he subsequently left the team entirely.[4]

The following year, Huffman returned from his suspension and joined Red Horse Racing where he crew chiefed Timothy Peters' No. 17 truck.[5]

2017–2018: MDM Motorsports

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In 2017, Huffman moved to MDM Motorsports and their No. 99 truck,[6] where he reunited with Jones and the Dillons (all three of whom were driving the truck part-time) and later Peters too (after Red Horse closed down during the season). The other drivers in the truck that he got to crew chief that year were Tommy Joe Martins, Travis Miller, Bubba Wallace, Brian Wong, Cale Gale, and Dalton Sargeant.

On August 12, he got his first win as a crew chief in the LTi Printing 200 at Michigan with Wallace driving. In 2018, MDM decided to downsize their Truck operation and expand their ARCA team, and Huffman became the crew chief for the part-time No. 12 car driven by Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones. At the start of the season, he remained the crew chief of the No. 99 truck whenever it was entered, the first race being at the spring Martinsville race with Tyler Matthews. However, in the other three races the truck ran that year (Eldora with Sheldon Creed and the fall Martinsville race and Phoenix with Chase Purdy), Jeff Stankiewicz was the crew chief of the No. 99 instead.

2019–2022: Bret Holmes Racing

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After MDM shut down in 2019, Huffman moved to Bret Holmes Racing to crew chief driver-owner Bret Holmes' No. 23 car. Although they did not win a race that year, they finished third in the standings, a career-best for Holmes. Huffman returned to crew chief Holmes in 2020 and they won the championship together that year. He continued to crew chief for BHR in 2021 which added a part-time Truck Series team that year. Holmes, Sam Mayer and Ty Dillon drove the No. 32 truck with Huffman as crew chief. The team's No. 23 ARCA car which he crew chiefed only ran part-time with Holmes and Mayer that year. In 2022, Huffman again crew chiefed BHR's No. 23 car and No. 32 truck which were both part-time again and driven by Holmes and Connor Mosack. Huffman and Holmes came close to winning both the ARCA and Truck Series races at Talladega (Holmes' home track) that year but finished second and third, respectively.

2023–present: Pinnacle Racing Group

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In 2023, Huffman would leave BHR and start his own ARCA team, Pinnacle Racing Group, with NASCAR spotter Lorin Ranier and former NASCAR driver Josh Wise. The team would field a full-time car for Luke Fenhaus the No. 28 Chevrolet, in the ARCA Menards Series East with Huffman as the crew chief. In addition, Huffman would serve as the team's general manager.[1]

Personal life

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Huffman has a son, Landon S. Huffman, who runs in Late Model Stock Cars for Pinnacle Racing Group, the team Shane manages.

While attending St. Stephens High School in Hickory, North Carolina, Huffman was a three-year starter for the well respected high school wrestling team (1989–1990, 1990–1991, 1991–1992).[7] He was instrumental in helping with the success of the team; posting a career record of 59–27[8] at the 112 lb and 119 lb weight classes, as the team won the Big-6 3A conference championship 2 out of the 3 years he started. He also served as one of the team captains during his senior year.

To this day Huffman still ranks high on the individual records lists for the school in Single Season Near Fall Points (141),[9] Single Season Pins (21),[10] Single Season Team Points (181.5),[11] Career Near Fall Points (245),[12] Career Pins (34),[13] Career Team Points (342),[14] and Career Wins (59).[8]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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

Nationwide Series

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NASCAR Nationwide 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 35 NNSC Pts Ref
2001 PRW Racing 77 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
24 		DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 108th 91 [15]
2006 JR Motorsports 83 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA MAR GTY
27 		IRP GLN MCH 49th 841 [16]
88 BRI
31 		CAL RCH
22 		DOV
36 		KAN
21 		CLT
39 		MEM
5 		TEX
42 		PHO
8 		HOM
37
2007 DAY
36 		CAL
21 		MXC
21 		LVS
9 		ATL
19 		BRI
38 		NSH
6 		TEX
39 		PHO
42 		TAL
15 		RCH
18 		DAR
27 		CLT
24 		DOV
37 		NSH
19 		KEN
5 		MLW
10 		NHA
23 		DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 34th 1727 [17]
2008 SKI Motorsports 31 Chevy DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY
41 		CHI 106th 151 [18]
MacDonald Motorsports 81 Dodge GTY
19 		IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM

Craftsman Truck Series

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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 NCTC Pts Ref
2006 Key Motorsports 40 Chevy DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI NHA LVS TAL MAR
35 		ATL TEX
26 		PHO
28 		HOM
20 		48th 325 [19]
2007 DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT
24 		MFD DOV
24 		TEX MCH MLW
22 		MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 59th 279 [20]

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

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

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde 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 ABSC Pts Ref
2000 PRW Racing 74 Ford DAY
20 		SLM AND CLT KIL FRS MCH POC TOL KEN BLN POC WIN ISF KEN DSF SLM CLT TAL ATL 109th 130 [21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pinnacle Racing Group launching motorsports development program, will compete on ARCA platform in 2023". ARCARacing.com. February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  2. ^ "BUSCH: Shane Huffman joins RWI as car chief". Motorsport.com. September 19, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ^ "DRIVEN TO WIN: CREW CHIEFS STARTED AS DRIVERS". NASCAR. June 14, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  4. ^ DeGroot, Nick (November 19, 2015). "Crew chief Shane Huffman parts ways with GMS Racing". Motorsport.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Knight, Chris (November 23, 2015). "Marcus Richmond Set To Join GMS Racing As Johnny Sauter's Crew Chief". Catchfence. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  6. ^ Knight, Chris. "Timothy Peters lands Truck Series ride for Texas Motor Speedway". Catchfence. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  7. ^ All Wrestlers in SSHS History
  8. ^ a b Career Wins Leader Board Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Single Season Near Fall Points Leader Board Archived 2007-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Saint Single Season Pins Leader Board Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Saint Single Season Team Points Leader Board Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Career Near Fall Points Leader Board Archived 2007-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Saint Career Pins Leader Board Archived 2007-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Saint Career Team Points Leader Board Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  16. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  17. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  18. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  19. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  20. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  21. ^ "Shane Huffman – 2000 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
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