Bill Davis Racing
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| Owner(s) Name | Bill and Gail Davis |
| Racing Series | NEXTEL Cup, Craftsman Truck Series |
| Number of Championships | 0 |
| Car Number(s) | #22, #23, #27, #36 (NEXTEL Cup) #5, #23, #27 (Craftsman Trucks) |
| Driver(s) | Dave Blaney (#22-NEXTEL) Jeremy Mayfield (#36-NEXTEL) Mike Skinner (#5-Craftsman) Johnny Benson (#23-Craftsman) Jacques Villenueve (#27-NEXTEL & Craftsman) Ryan Mathews (Development) Bobby Santos III (Development) Michael Annett (Development) |
| Primary Sponsor(s) | Caterpillar (#22-NEXTEL) 360 OTC (#36-NEXTEL) Toyota Tundra (#5-Craftsman) Toyota Certified Used Vehicles (#23-Craftsman) |
| Shop Location | High Point, North Carolina |
| Homepage | BDR Website |
Bill Davis Racing is a NASCAR team that fields the #22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry for Dave Blaney, the #36 360 OTC Toyota Camry for Jeremy Mayfield in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, the #5 Toyota Tundra for Mike Skinner, the #22 Toyota for Ryan Mathews, and the #23 Toyota for Johnny Benson in the Craftsman Truck Series. The team switched to Dodge in 2001, but when the team switched its trucks over to Toyota in 2003, Dodge stopped backing the team, although the team still ran the Dodge cars in the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series. In 2007, the team switched over to Toyota in full, when the Toyota Camry debuted in NEXTEL Cup.
Beginnings
BDR was formed by then-truck rental owner Bill Davis, who himself was a former
NEXTEL Cup
Car #22 History
Upon arriving in Carolina, Davis was asked by the Ford Motor Company to hire an up-and-coming driver from the Midwest named Jeff Gordon. Gordon won the NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1991, and won 11 pole positions the next year. Davis was hoping to move Gordon and crew chief Ray Evernham to the Winston Cup series, but they were lured away by Rick Hendrick. Davis still moved up to the Cup series full time in 1993 however, with Bobby Labonte driving who finished runner up to Jeff Gordon for Rookie of the Year driving the #22 Maxwell House Ford. After 1994, Labonte left for Joe Gibbs Racing and MBNA replaced Maxwell House as sponsor, and the team traded engines and chassis with Penske Racing. Davis switched to Pontiac. (Penske switched from Pontiac to Ford). Originally, Davis went with another rookie and Busch Series standout Randy LaJoie to drive the car. Midway through the year, LaJoie was fired from the team and was replaced by a series of rotating drivers including Wally Dallenbach who finished 2nd at Watkins Glen. Finally, Ward Burton was hired to finish out the year. He won at North Carolina Motor Speedway before the season was out.
They did not win again until 2000 when Ward won at the spring Darlington race, and took home the trophy for the 2002 Daytona 500. With several races to go in a disappointing 2003 season, Burton moved to Haas CNC Racing, and was replaced with Davis's Busch driver Scott Wimmer. Wimmer raced full-time in 2004, finished 3rd in the first race of his rookie season. Some fans have even argued that the team is too underfunded to compete in the sport, even though it has won 4 races over the past decade. Surprisingly, in late 2005, BDR announced it would part ways with Wimmer at the end of the year. Dave Blaney, who previously drove the #93 for BDR, was tapped to drive the #22 beginning with the 2006 season. He had two top-tens and finished 26th in the standings, and recently won the pole for the Lenox Tools 300 race in New Hampshire the first pole for Toyota in the NEXTEL Cup Series[1]. Blaney scored his first top 10 with Toyota at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 29, 2007 and the best finish for Toyota to date with a career-best third place finish in the fall Talladega race. Additionally, the #22 car is the only Toyota in the top thirty-five in owner points, which guarantees him a starting position in every race.
Car #27 History
The #27 car made its debut at the season finale NAPA 500 in 2000 with Scott Wimmer driving the
For 2002, the car was renumbered to #27 with Scott Wimmer behind the wheel as an R&D team. The team returned in 2003 but ran Chevrolet equipment rather than the Dodge's ran by the other BDR teams. In 2006 the #23 returned to the track as an R&D team for Davis. Mike Skinner failed to qualify for the 2005 Daytona 500, but Bill Lester became the first African-American since Willy T. Ribbs to compete in a Cup race at the Golden Corral 500. He started nineteenth and finished 39th. Lester attempted two more races that season, finishing 32nd at Michigan International Speedway, but failing to qualify at California Speedway. The 23 attempted the Daytona 500 in 2007 with Mike Skinner, but did not qualify. In the latter stages of 2007, the car switched to the 27 and attempted the UAW-Ford 500 with Jacques Villeneuve driving.
Car #36 History
What is now the #36 Toyota started as the #93 Amoco Pontiac driven by sprint car racer Dave Blaney. The team moved to Winston Cup in 2000. Despite failing to qualify at the spring Rockingham race, Blaney finished 3rd in the Rookie of the year standings. The team flirted with victory lane a few times in 2001, but Amoco decided not to renew its contract, and Blaney left for Jasper Motorsports.
In 2002, Hut Stricklin brought his Hills Bros. sponsorship over from Junie Donlavey's operation. Stricklin missed the season-opening Daytona 500, and failed to record any top 10 finishes. He was released following the night race at Bristol. Kenny Wallace finished out the season for the car with help from Geoff Bodine, Scott Wimmer, and Tom Hubert. Wallace also piloted the car in 2003 with Stacker 2 sponsorship, before moving down to the team's Busch program.
In 2004 and 2005 the car ran mostly unsponsored, with a couple of drivers running selected events. Shane Hmiel, Tony Raines, and Blaney ran the car in 2004. Mike Skinner ran six events in 2005.
In the fall of 2005, it was announced that the team would return to full-time competition as the #55 car in 2006 as a partnership between Bill Davis Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. The partnership allowed Bill Davis to return his second team to full-time status while Michael Waltrip and his sponsor NAPA Auto Parts would have a car to race while building Michael Waltrip Racing. The agreement also allowed for the transfer of owner points from BDR to MWR following the season. Soon afterwards, Jasper Motorsports closed down, and Waltrip purchased that team's owners points to be guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races of the 2006 season, with former Jasper owner Doug Bawel being listed as owner.
Jeremy Mayfield was hired drive the car full-time in 2007, with the car renumbered #36 for new sponsor 360 OTC. After four consecutive failed qualifying attempts, the 36 car made its first start of at the 2007 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mayfield drove the car at every track except for Infineon Raceway, when Butch Leitzinger drove the re-numbered #23 for one race. Mayfield will not drive the 36 after 2007.
With the team's August 2007 announcement of the signing Jacques Villenueve for the 2008 Sprint Cup season, it is rumored that he will take over the car, although Davis has stated that a restructuring of the team's entire Cup operation is also possible. [1]
Busch Series
Besides the current #22 NEXTEL Cup Series team, BDR has fielded cars in the Busch Series before. In 1996, Burton drove eight races in the #22 MBNA Pontiac, posting three top-tens. Davis did not field a Busch team again until 1998, when he fieled the #93 Amoco Pontiac piloted by sprint car ace Dave Blaney. Running a limited schedule, Blaney finished in 6th place 3 times. Blaney had an even better 1999 season, winning the pole position several times and finished eighth in points. That same year, Davis fielded a second car for Burton, the #02 sponsored by Siemens. He finished in the top-ten in every race and won a pole at Darlington.
In 2000, Davis opened the #20 ride sponsored by
Wimmer took over the #20, renumbered the #23, for 2001, posting eight top-tens and finishing eleventh in points in a Jani-King sponsored car. Siemens became a part-time sponsor in 2002, but the team threatened to shut down to a lack of finances. However, it remained open, and Wimmer won four races in the second-half of the season, finishing 3rd in points. For 2003, Stacker 2 came onboard as sponsor, and he picked up a win at Pikes Peak. At the end of the season, Wimmer moved to Cup, and Kenny Wallace took his place, posting ten top-ten finishes and finishing ninth in points. After Wallace and Stacker 2 left for ppc Racing, Davis sold the equipment to Keith Coleman Racing. The team still remained involved in Busch supplying engines to MacDonald Motorsports.
Craftsman Truck Series
Truck #5 history
The #5 truck started out in 2004 at Bang! Racing as the #42 driven by Mike Skinner. Skinner started the year with two top-fives, but his performance began to decline, and his team was sold to Davis, changing to the #5, starting at the Las Vegas 350. He won two poles and had a sixth-place run at the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2005, he won seven poles and two races, at Bristol and Richmond respectively, finishing fifth in points. In 2006, he had thirteen top-tens including a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Skinner is signed to drive for BDR through the 2009 season.
Truck #23 history
The #23 truck began in 2004 when Davis purchased its equipment from Phil Bonifield. The truck was piloted by Shelby Howard. Howard ran eight races before he was released, and Johnny Benson took over. Despite running a limited schedule, Benson finished 25th in points. Benson became the full-time driver in 2005, and had six top-fives en route to a tenth place points finish. Benson went on to collect five wins during the 2006 season with additional backing from Exide Batteries and finished runner-up to Todd Bodine for the championship. 360 OTC will sponsor the 23 for ten races during the 2007 season.
Truck #24 history
The #24 truck entered as a research and development entry for BDR in 2005. Steve Park drove the #67 South Padre Island entry in a pair of races towards the end of the year following his release from Orleans Racing. His best finish was 16th at Texas. In 2006, A. J. Allmendinger drove the newly-numberd 24 for three races, posting a fifth-place run at Talladega Superspeedway.
Truck #27 history
BDR's original foray into the Truck series(initially running #22), it debuted in 2004 at the Florida Dodge Dealers 250, where Bill Lester drove it to a sixteenth place run. He posted just one top-ten that year and finished 22nd in points. The next season, he won two poles (back-to-back at Kansas and Kentucky), had a best finish of fifth and moved up to seventeenth in points. Lester failed to finish in the top-ten during the 2006 season and dropped to twentieth in points. Tyler Walker began the season driving the renumbered #36 truck full-time in 2007, with sponsorship from 360 OTC. Six races into the season, rookie Ryan Mathews replaced Walker after it was learned that Walker was suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, and the team had lost its sponsor, 360 OTC (which wanted #36). Mathews, in his short season, posted two top tens, one top five, and one pole at Kentucky Speedway. Mathews will step out of the truck for the debut of 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1997 Formula One Champion Jacques Villeneuve. The plan is to run Villeneuve for the remaining 2007 races, starting with the Smith's Las Vegas 350 , and Villeneuve could run in Trucks or Cup for 2008. In preparation for this, the truck was renumbered #27, which Jacques used in his 1995 CART and Indy 500 championship season, as a tribute to his father Gilles.
References
- ^ Exclusive interview with Bill Davis. autosport.com
External links
| Bill Davis Racing | |
| Nextel Cup Drivers | Dave Blaney (#22) | Jeremy Mayfield (#36) |
| Craftsman Truck Series Drivers | Mike Skinner (#5) | Johnny Benson (#23) | Jacques Villeneuve (#27) |
| Development drivers | Michael Annet | Ryan Mathews | Bobby Santos III |
| Other | Bill Davis |
| Former Notable Drivers | Mark Martin | Jeff Gordon | Bobby Labonte | Ward Burton |
| Toyota in NASCAR (TRD) | ||
| Nextel Cup Teams | Bill Davis Racing | Michael Waltrip Racing | Team Red Bull | |
| Busch Series Teams | Braun Racing | Germain Racing | Michael Waltrip Racing | |
| Craftsman Truck Series Teams | Bill Davis Racing | Germain Racing | HT Motorsports | Red Horse Racing | Wyler Racing | Waltrip Racing | |
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