Phil Parsons Racing

Phil Parsons Racing, formerly named MSRP Motorsports, Prism Motorsports, and later HP Racing, was a NASCAR team that competed in the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series. It was owned by former NASCAR driver Phil Parsons, and most recently fielded the No. 98 Ford for Josh Wise.

Phil Parsons Racing

Owner(s)	Phil Parsons
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	Sprint Cup Series Nationwide Series
Race drivers	Phil Parsons Johnny Chapman Terry Cook Dave Blaney Danny O'Quinn, Jr. Michael McDowell Josh Wise
Manufacturer	Ford Toyota Chevrolet
Opened	1991
Closed	2015
Career
Debut	Sprint Cup Series: 2009 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Latest race	Sprint Cup Series: 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead-Miami Speedway)
Races competed	178
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0

The team was formerly owned by Phil's wife Marcia as well as Randy and Stacey Humphrey (hence the original name MSRP: Marcia, Stacey, Randy, Phil). For the first few years of its Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup operations, the team was infamous for being a start and park organization, meaning that the team qualified a car for races, but eventually parked it after just a few laps to avoid the costs of running a full race, even though the car was perfectly able to continue on.^[1] The bad publicity generated by the practice led to Phil Parsons`s refusal to answer questions about MSRP in 2008,^[1] but subsequently Parsons justified the practice by saying that "we furnished a living for some families, so there was some good that came out of it."^[2] In 2009, MSRP continued with two Nationwide Series teams and finally finished a race, while it also added a Sprint Cup team under the Prism Motorsports name that qualified for 30 races but only finished two. After the season, the entire team became known as Prism Motorsports.

In 2010, the team had two Sprint Cup teams, No. 55 and No. 66, led by drivers Michael McDowell and Dave Blaney, which fielded Toyota Camrys under a technical alliance with MWR. Three drivers rotated among the two Nationwide Series cars (90 and 91) in 2010: Danny O'Quinn Jr., David Gilliland, and Chase Miller.

Car No. 55 crew chief Zach McGowan tweeted on November 18 that the team would be shutting down after the 2010 season-ending race at Homestead,^[3] but this was denied by team owner Randy Humphrey.^[4] No information was available regarding PRISM's Nationwide teams. The team returned in 2011 as HP Racing with McDowell behind the wheel of the No. 66 Toyota with Gene Nead as crew chief. Unlike 2009, the team intended to run a limited schedule, running only a few full races but ended up running the full schedule. The team ran with Ford for 2012 and 2013 before switching to Chevrolet for the 2014 season.

The team and driver Josh Wise gained popularity in 2014 after an internet campaign with Dogecoin and Reddit, leading the No. 98 to be voted into the 2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Sprint Cup Series

Car No. 55 history

 

Michael McDowell in the No. 55 during the 2010 Coca-Cola 600

For 2010, Prism Motorsports added a second car provided by Michael Waltrip Racing, the No. 55, driven by former team driver Michael McDowell. The car number had previously been used by Michael Waltrip from 2007 to 2009. Randy Humphrey was listed as the car's official owner. At the start of the season, Prism had no sponsorship for this car.^[5] McDowell succeeded in qualifying the No. 55 into the starting field for the 2010 Daytona 500. After qualifying, McDowell said that this was the "biggest race of the season" for Prism, as the guaranteed winnings would enable the team to stay on the track for several weeks.^[6] McDowell qualified 29th, picked up sponsorship from South Carolina-based Firefly Vodka, and finished 33rd after a drive shaft issue. McDowell and teammate Dave Blaney swapped rides at Phoenix and Texas in an effort to get the team higher in owner points.

Michael Waltrip drove the No. 55 at Talladega with Aaron's sponsorship to a poor finish after getting caught up in a wreck, but was running up front and was at one point leading the race.^[7] Mike Bliss drove the car after McDowell left the team. When Terry Labonte's car failed to qualify at Richmond, he took over as the driver of the No. 55, taking sponsor Gander Mountain with him. Terry Cook later attempted to qualify the car at Martinsville, but failed to do so. Waltrip would later return, along with sponsor Aaron's to the No. 55 at the fall Talladega race.

The No. 55 car did not enter the fall Texas race, possibly because of the large number of entries attempting to qualify. It was also absent on the entry list for Homestead.

Car No. 55 results

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
2010	Michael McDowell	55	Toyota	DAY 33	CAL 42	LVS 42	ATL 42		MAR 43				RCH DNQ	DAR 40	DOV 42	CLT 42	POC 39			NHA 41	DAY DNQ	CHI DNQ	IND 42	POC 43	GLN 42	MCH 42	BRI 43													43rd	1281
	Michael Waltrip							BRI 41				TAL 39						MCH DNQ	SON DNQ																	TAL 28	TEX
	Dave Blaney									PHO 42	TEX 43
	Mike Bliss																											ATL 42	RCH QL	NHA 41	DOV 40	KAN DNQ	CAL DNQ	CLT DNQ				PHO 39	HOM
	Terry Labonte																												RCH 40
	Terry Cook																																		MAR DNQ

Car No. 98 history

2009–2010: Prism Motorsports

 

The No. 66 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2009

The No. 98 car was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team that debuted in 2009 as the No. 66 under a technical alliance with MWR, which supplied the team's Toyota Camry, engines and technical support.^[8] Terry Labonte ran the No. 66 for the 2009 Daytona 500, where he finished 24th. Dave Blaney ran the rest of the season, except for the Aarons 499 at Talladega as he was away with his family. Michael McDowell attempted to qualify for the event but failed to do so. According to Blaney, Prism had anticipated attempting to run all of the laps in "six or eight" Sprint Cup races in which the team was able to secure full sponsorship, which included Window World for the Daytona 500 and Aaron's for the Coca-Cola 600. The Denny Hamlin Foundation was on the car at Lowes Motor Speedway, Talladega and Texas, with Blaney only making the race at Talladega. Ultimately, the team qualified for 31 of the 36 Sprint Cup races in the 2009 season – 30 by Blaney and 1 by Labonte—but only ran two complete races (the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600). For the remainder of 2009, the No. 66 car was a start and park team, much like their Nationwide Series counterparts.^[9]

Blaney returned to the No. 66 in 2010. Again, Prism struggled with sponsorship, as it was unable to find a sponsor for the team for even the 2010 Daytona 500, and Blaney subsequently failed to qualify for it.^[5] Blaney made the team's first race of the year in the 2010 Auto Club 500, qualifying fifth,^[10] leading four laps before finishing 41st. The 66 was later impounded by NASCAR. The team was able to rebound from the impound, and ran the whole entire race, finishing 29th at the Shelby American. Blaney left the team after Watkins Glen, and Scott Riggs took over the No. 66 for the next four races, qualifying only once at Bristol Motor Speedway, Likewise, Jason Leffler drove the No. 66 for four races, only qualifying at Auto Club Speedway. Johnny Sauter failed to make each of the three races he attempted with the team, and Mike Bliss drove the car at Texas and Homestead.

While the 66 team frequently start-and-parked, it occasionally showed competitive speed. Blaney qualified 8th, 4th, and 3rd at the 2009 Food City 500, the 2009 Sharpie 500, and the 2010 Food City 500, respectively (all at Bristol), as well as a 5th place start spot at the 2009 Auto Club 500, though the team finished 41st or worst in all four races.^[11][12]

2011: HP Racing

For 2011, McDowell returned to the team, now renamed HP Racing. The team missed the 2011 Daytona 500, but started and parked the next three races. HP ran its first full race at Martinsville, where the team finished 32nd after a late wreck. KLOVE sponsored the team at Richmond and Darlington. Todd Bodine drove at both Pocono and Michigan in August, while Josh Wise took over the 66 at Texas while McDowell filled in for Kyle Busch, who was suspended for intentionally wrecking another driver during the Truck Series race.

2012–2015: PPR with Mike Curb

 

Josh Wise in the No. 98 at Sonoma Raceway in 2014

For 2012, McDowell returned to the team, renamed Phil Parsons Racing. The team also merged with Whitney Motorsports and partnered with entertainment icon Mike Curb. The team ran Fords with Roush Yates Engines and used the number 98 to honor the memory of Benny Parsons. Phil Parsons Racing planned to run the first 5 races in their entirety with the hope of cracking the top 35. The 98 raced their way into the Daytona 500, with sponsorship from Curb Records and Christian radio station KLOVE. McDowell finished 30th after starting 11th in the 2012 Daytona 500. McDowell ran all but six races during the season, failing to qualify for three of them.

The team opened the 2013 season with a ninth-place finish at the Daytona 500, the first top ten finish for the team and for McDowell.^[13] Phil Parsons Racing withdrew from Phoenix after the team could not prepare the Generation 6 cars in time. They would later skip the road courses as well. Johnny Sauter raced 2 races because McDowell was not in the car. Mike Curb is listed as the owner of the 98. McDowell left after the 2013 season and Josh Wise took over as the team switched to Chevrolet for all but the superspeedway events, where they used Fords. In March 2014, Reddit users started a fundraiser to raise Dogecoin to sponsor the No. 98 at the Aaron's 499. On March 25, Reddit user Reddit_Racing announced that the fundraiser was a success, having met their $50,000 goal by accumulating 67 million Dogecoin.^[14] Florida gubernatorial candidate and Democrat Charlie Crist was to sponsor the No. 98 for the July 5 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona,^[15] the sponsorship provided by former owner James Finch, but was withdrawn by Parsons to respect his business partner Mike Curb, a Republican.^[16]

Wise returned to PPR for the 2015 season.^[17] Finch would once again provide sponsorship to the team in the Daytona 500, this time through his company Phoenix Construction. However, the car suffered a terminal mechanical failure before the green flag flew on their Budweiser Duel, and PPR ultimately missed the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2011. However, the team has been able to qualify for every race since then. Wise scored a top 10 in the 2015 GEICO 500 at Talladega.

Before the 2015 Coca-Cola 600, Parsons and Curb sold the team's assets and Wise's contract to Premium Motorsports and the team shut down.

Car No. 98 results

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
2009	Terry Labonte	66	Toyota	DAY 24																																				42nd	1435
	Dave Blaney				CAL 42	LVS DNQ	ATL 41	BRI 43	MAR 42	TEX 43	PHO 42		RCH 43	DAR 41	CLT 28	DOV 39	POC 40	MCH 40	SON 42	NHA 42	DAY 43	CHI 43	IND 42	POC 40	GLN 42	MCH 42	BRI 43	ATL 43	RCH 43	NHA 42	DOV 37	KAN 40	CAL 41	CLT DNQ	MAR 40	TAL 41	TEX DNQ	PHO 42	HOM DNQ
	Michael McDowell											TAL DNQ
2010	Dave Blaney			DAY DNQ	CAL 41	LVS 29	ATL 41	BRI 42	MAR 42			TAL 43	RCH DNQ	DAR 42	DOV 41	CLT 43	POC 40	MCH DNQ	SON 37	NHA 42	DAY 43	CHI DNQ	IND 41	POC 42	GLN DNQ															44th	1241
	Michael McDowell									PHO 43	TEX 41
	Scott Riggs																									MCH DNQ	BRI 42	ATL DNQ	RCH DNQ
	Johnny Sauter																													NHA DNQ					MAR DNQ	TAL DNQ
	Ted Musgrave																														DOV DNQ
	Jason Leffler																															KAN DNQ	CAL 43	CLT DNQ				PHO DNQ
	Mike Bliss																																				TEX 39		HOM 43
2011	Michael McDowell			DAY DNQ	PHO 41	LVS 41	BRI 43	CAL 43	MAR 32	TEX 40	TAL DNQ	RCH 40	DAR 43	DOV 43	CLT 39	KAN 41	POC 41	MCH 43	SON 30	DAY 42	KEN 41	NHA 40	IND 37		GLN 41		BRI 39	ATL 41	RCH 39	CHI 43	NHA 37	DOV 40	KAN 39	CLT 39	TAL 40	MAR 39		PHO 40	HOM 43	41st	144
	Todd Bodine																							POC 37		MCH 39
	Josh Wise																																				TEX 40
2012	Michael McDowell	98	Ford	DAY 30	PHO 43	LVS 38	BRI 31	CAL 38	MAR 40	TEX 41	KAN 40	RCH 39	TAL 43	DAR DNQ	CLT 36	DOV 42	POC 34	MCH 38		KEN 38	DAY 43	NHA 40	IND DNQ		GLN 37		BRI 23	ATL DNQ	RCH 41	CHI 43	NHA 37	DOV 38	TAL 31	CLT 31	KAN 43	MAR 39	TEX 38	PHO 38	HOM 41	39th	199
	David Mayhew																		SON 40
	Mike Skinner																							POC 41		MCH 39
2013	Michael McDowell			DAY 9	PHO	LVS 43	BRI 42	CAL 42	MAR 43	TEX 43	KAN 42	RCH 41	TAL 21	DAR 42	CLT 42	DOV 42	POC 40	MCH 42	SON	KEN 38	DAY 42	NHA 42	IND 32	POC 40	GLN		BRI 41	ATL 42	RCH 43	CHI 43		DOV 43	KAN 38	CLT 40	TAL 15	MAR 26	TEX 43	PHO 32	HOM 43	42nd	194
	Johnny Sauter																									MCH 42					NHA 42
2014	Josh Wise			DAY 24									TAL 20				POC 35				DAY 23														TAL 28					37th	405
			Chevy		PHO DNQ	LVS 42	BRI 23	CAL 37	MAR 35	TEX 36	DAR 21	RCH 39		KAN 33	CLT 41	DOV 28		MCH 33	SON 40	KEN 29		NHA 29	IND 29	POC 24	GLN 38	MCH 28	BRI 29	ATL 33	RCH 32	CHI 33	NHA 33	DOV 42	KAN 38	CLT 41		MAR 25	TEX 41	PHO 41	HOM 32
2015			Ford	DAY DNQ	ATL 32	LVS 34	PHO 36	CAL 36	MAR 30	TEX 38	BRI 39	RCH 42	TAL 10	KAN 28	CLT 35	DOV 40	POC 29	MCH 34		DAY 31	KEN 43																			39th	309
			Chevy																SON 28
	Timmy Hill		Ford																			NHA 38	IND 41				BRI 39
			Chevy																						GLN 38	MCH 43
	Reed Sorenson																							POC 34
			Ford																										RCH 41	CHI 40		DOV 33	CLT 35	KAN 38
	T. J. Bell																											DAR 37
	Ryan Preece		Chevy																												NHA 32						TEX 36		HOM 38
			Ford																																	MAR 42		PHO 37
	Michael Waltrip		Toyota																																TAL 13

See also

• D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports

Notes

1. Rob Zeller, "The Quitting Game", Car and Driver, Feb. 2009, pp. 96–100.
2. Lee Montgomery (2009-02-04). "MSRP Motorsports to field two Nationwide teams". SceneDaily.com. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
3. PRISM might be gone? - Rubbin's Racin' 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine Nov. 18th, 2010: "Our team will be shutting down after this week. I hate it for our guys. I have enjoyed working everyone. We all made the best out of bad situation. Good luck to everyone." - Zach McGowan.
4. Prism Motorsports to shut down operations; maybe not? 2010-05-14 at the Wayback Machine Jayski, Nov. 20, 2010.
5. Dave Rodman (2010-02-03). "Prism Motorsports will attempt two full schedules". NASCAR.
6. Associated Press (February 11, 2010). "Johnson, Kahne divide wins in Daytona qualifiers; Waltrip in". USA Today.
7. Associated Press (2010-03-12). "Michael Waltrip to enter Talladega race". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
8. "Waltrip says alliance with Prism Motorsports helpful", NASCAR, 4 February 2009.
9. John Bassetti (2009-05-11). "Blaney blessed at squeezing a buck". Youngstown Vindicator. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
10. "Jamie McMurray sits on pole in California week after winning Daytona 500". ESPN.com. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
11. "Dave Blaney". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
12. "Dave Blaney". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
13. Wackerlin, Jeff (2013-02-25). . Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
14. Estrada, Chris (2014-03-26). "NASCAR fans on Reddit use DogeCoin to sponsor Josh Wise". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
15. Smith, Adam. "Charlie NASCAR Crist". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
16. Miller, Jake (2014-07-05). "NASCAR team pulls Charlie Crist sponsorship". CBS News. Retrieved 2014-07-06.
17. Aragon, Dominic (December 1, 2014). "Josh Wise to return to Phil Parsons Racing". The Racing Experts. Retrieved December 2, 2014.

External links

• Phil Parsons Racing Facebook page
• Phil Parsons Owner Statistics