King Racing

King Racing was a racing team which fielded cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as well as in CART and the Indianapolis 500. The team was owned by NHRA drag racing driver Kenny Bernstein.

King Racing

Owner(s)	Kenny Bernstein
Base	Huntersville, North Carolina (NASCAR), Indianapolis, Indiana (CART)
Series	Winston Cup CART
Race drivers	Joe Ruttman, Morgan Shepherd, Ricky Rudd, Brett Bodine, Dick Trickle, Steve Kinser, Hut Stricklin
Sponsors	Quaker State
Manufacturer	Buick, Ford
Opened	1986
Closed	1995
Career
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	3

NASCAR

For its entire run in NASCAR’s top series, King Racing fielded a car numbered 26 and carrying sponsorship from Quaker State Motor Oil. Bernstein fielded Buick Regals until General Motors pulled the brand from NASCAR following the 1991 season; after that, the team competed with Ford Thunderbirds.

King’s first season was 1986 with the 26 being driven by Joe Ruttman with Larry McReynolds, who had begun working in the sport nearly ten years earlier, as crew chief. In 1987 Ruttman was replaced with Morgan Shepherd, and for 1988 Ricky Rudd joined the team.

The team won its first Cup Series race in 1988 with Rudd at The Budweiser at the Glen. Rudd also won the Banquet Frozen Foods 300 at Sears Point Raceway in 1989 on his way to an eighth place points finish.

Rudd left King Racing to take over for Geoff Bodine at Hendrick Motorsports following the 1989 season, and for 1990 Geoff’s brother Brett Bodine took over the 26. He won the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro, which proved to be the team’s final victory.

Partway through the 1991 season, Robert Yates Racing signed McReynolds away from the 26 to replace Jake Elder as the crew chief to Davey Allison. Bodine, meanwhile, recorded six top tens, including two top five finishes at Martinsville, on his way to a 19th-place finish in the points.

Bodine would stay on with King for three more seasons, competing in a total of 158 races for the team. 1992 saw him finish 15th in the standings with thirteen top ten finishes and two top fives. He recorded nine top tens and three top fives, finishing 20th despite missing the fall race at Dover due to injury. Then, in 1994, Bodine managed a second-place finish in the inaugural Brickyard 400, scoring his last career top five finish. He followed this up with two more top tens, the last at Charlotte in the fall, and finished 19th in points.

In 1995, Bodine left to join Junior Johnson & Associates as the replacement for Bill Elliott following Elliott's decision to become an owner-driver (something Bodine would do a year later), and Steve Kinser was signed away from the World of Outlaws sprint car series to take over. The multiple time world champion had trouble adjusting to the world of stock car racing, and after he finished 40th or worse three times in five starts and failed to qualify for two other races, Kinser was released from the team. Hut Stricklin was brought in to finish the season and recorded two top five finishes and five total top tens.

After a 34th-place finish in points, Bernstein sold his team to Rudd Performance Motorsports at the end of 1995 and returned to focusing strictly on drag racing.

Indy cars

1988

King Racing made their debut during the 1988 season, fielding the No. 15 and 17 Mac Tools Lola T8700-Buick V6 at the Indianapolis 500 with Jim Crawford in No. 15 and Johnny Rutherford in No. 17. Both qualified mid-pack. Crawford led for eight laps (the only laps not led by a Team Penske driver). Crawford was running in second place late in the race. Crawford then ran too low on the track, getting into the grass, and dropped to 6th place during a pit stop to change the damaged tire.

1989–1991

For the 1989 season, the team fielded Crawford again in the No. 15 Mac Tools Lola T8700-Buick V6 at the Indianapolis 500 and qualified in 4th place. Crawford suffered a practice crash. The car was repaired in time to race. Crawford retired with mechanical problems. King Racing did not compete in 1990. They made a return during the 1991 season with Crawford driving the No. 26 Quaker State Lola T9100-Buick V6 and would qualify in 8th place. Crawford would retire with mechanical problems.

1992

For 1992 season King Racing would compete in their first race besides the Indianapolis 500 when Roberto Guerrero drove the No. 36 Quaker State Lola T9100-Buick V6 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the streets of Long Beach; he was however off the pace due to CART ruling not giving V6 engines as much boost. However at the Indianapolis 500 King Racing ran a pair of Quaker State Lola T9200-Buick V6 with Guerrero in No. 36 and Crawford in No. 26. The USAC (who sanctioned the Indianapolis 500) regulations for V6 engines gave them more boost. As a result, Guerrero would qualify on the pole position setting new one-lap and 4-lap records with a 4-lap average of 232 mph and one lap at 233 mph. Crawford was also fast but had mechanical problems on pole day and recovered to qualify. Guerrero would spin out during the parade lap and would fail to start as a result. Crawford was running in the top 10 when he spun into the wall, collecting Rick Mears. Mears' teammate Emerson Fittipaldi also spun and crashed on the same lap.

1993

For 1993 King Racing would expand to a full-time team with Guerrero driving the No. 40 Budweiser King Lola T9300-Ilmor-Chevrolet Indy V8. Jim Crawford would drive No. 80 and Al Unser Sr. in No. 60. At the Indianapolis 500, Guerrero was involved in a crash with Jeff Andretti. Unser led early on but dropped to 13th. Crawford would spin out early on and would not recover. Guerrero would get a best finish of 4th at the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway but was replaced by Eddie Cheever for the last few races of the season. Guerrero would finish 14th in points.

1994

For 1994 Scott Goodyear would drive the No. 40 Budweiser King Lola T9400-Ford-Cosworth XB. At the Indianapolis 500 the team hired Davy Jones to drive a spare car numbered 40T (it would be changed to 60 on race day). Goodyear would fail to qualify while Jones would qualify. So Goodyear would replace Jones on race day but retired with mechanical problems early on. Goodyear gave King Racing their only CART win when he drove to victory at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway. Goodyear finished 12th in points (King Racing's highest CART position in points).

The 1994 season was the last in CART for King Racing, as Bernstein opted to shut the team down.

Driver history

CART IndyCar

•   Jim Crawford (1988–1989, 1991–1993)
•   Johnny Rutherford (1988)
•   Geoff Brabham (1991)
•   Roberto Guerrero (1991–1993)
•   Willy T. Ribbs (1991)
•   Eddie Cheever (1993)
•   Al Unser (1993)
•   Scott Goodyear (1994)
•   Andrea Montermini (1994)

NASCAR

•   Joe Ruttman (1986)
•   Morgan Shepherd (1987)
•   Ricky Rudd (1988–1989)
•   Brett Bodine (1990–1994)
•   Dick Trickle (1993; injury replacement at Dover)
•   Steve Kinser (1995, replaced after North Wilkesboro)
•   Hut Stricklin (1995)

Racing results

Complete CART Indy Car World Series results

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
1988					PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA
	Lola T87/00	Buick 3300 V6t	Jim Crawford	15			6
			Johnny Rutherford	17			22
1989					PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T87/00	Buick 3300 V6t	Jim Crawford	15			19
1991					SFR	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T91/00	Buick 3300 V6t	Jim Crawford	26				26
			Roberto Guerrero							15						19					18
1992					SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MCH	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T92/00	Buick 3300 V6t	Jim Crawford	26				25
	Lola T91/00		Roberto Guerrero				13
	Lola T92/00			36				33
1993					SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T93/00	Chevrolet 265C V8t	Roberto Guerrero	40	19	15	5	28	7	26	24	29	10	7	4	23	11
			Eddie Cheever															28	10	14
			Jim Crawford	60				24
			Al Unser	80				12
1994					SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8t	Scott Goodyear	40	10	11	19	30	22	11	28	14	10	1	22	11	4	7	8	27
			Andrea Montermini	60								16	7

IndyCar win

#	Season	Date	Sanction	Track / Race	No.	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Grid	Laps Led
1	1994	July 31	CART	Michigan 500 (O)	40	Scott Goodyear	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8t	Goodyear	12	26

Complete NASCAR Winston 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	Owners	Pts
1986	Joe Ruttman	26	Buick	DAY 28	RCH 2	CAR 33	ATL 42	BRI 19	DAR 21	NWS 5	MAR 2	TAL 17	DOV 11	CLT 32	RSD 42	POC 7	MCH 9	DAY 7	POC 38	TAL 8	GLN 33	MCH 30	BRI 17	DAR 38	RCH 6	DOV 6	MAR 5	NWS 6	CLT 25	CAR 9	ATL 9	RSD 5			15th	3295
1987	Morgan Shepherd			DAY 16	CAR 5	RCH 31	ATL 10	DAR 22	NWS 27	BRI 8	MAR 17	TAL 10	CLT 2	DOV 32	POC 31	RSD 35	MCH 25	DAY 5	POC 36	TAL 39	GLN 22	MCH 3	BRI 24	DAR 9	RCH 30	DOV 40	MAR 5	NWS 4	CLT 20	CAR 5	RSD 25	ATL 39			17th	3099
1988	Ricky Rudd			DAY 17	RCH 2	CAR 17	ATL 24	DAR 30	BRI 20	NWS 2	MAR 18	TAL 29	CLT 7	DOV 19	RSD 3	POC 30	MCH 11	DAY 22	POC 12	TAL 41	GLN 1	MCH 16	BRI 16	DAR 10	RCH 26	DOV 10	MAR 24*	CLT 8	NWS 7*	CAR 2	PHO 26*	ATL 4			11th	3547
1989				DAY 19	CAR 32	ATL 24	RCH 4	DAR 12	BRI 8	NWS 6	MAR 23	TAL 31	CLT 10	DOV 6	SON 1*	POC 20	MCH 4	DAY 9	POC 31	TAL 17	GLN 29	MCH 8	BRI 3	DAR 3	RCH 4	DOV 5	MAR 8	CLT 21	NWS 9	CAR 28	PHO 29	ATL 14			8th	3608
1990	Brett Bodine			DAY 17	RCH 8	CAR 25	ATL 11	DAR 8	BRI 22	NWS 1*	MAR 12	TAL 12	CLT 29	DOV 18	SON 41	POC 4	MCH 14	DAY 22	POC 16	TAL 33	GLN 3	MCH 17	BRI 25	DAR 10	RCH 31	DOV 20	MAR 4	NWS 3	CLT 8	CAR 17	PHO 15	ATL 18			12th	3440
1991				DAY 22	RCH 24	CAR 13	ATL 15	DAR 16	BRI 22	NWS 30*	MAR 4	TAL 11	CLT 28	DOV 33	SON 11	POC 33	MCH 36	DAY 36	POC 8	TAL 32	GLN 25	MCH 37	BRI 10	DAR 14	RCH 18	DOV 32	MAR 2	NWS 7	CLT 8	CAR 30	PHO 14	ATL 29			19th	2980
1992			Ford	DAY 41	CAR 8	RCH 33	ATL 20	DAR 6	BRI 11	NWS 10	MAR 8	TAL 16	CLT 20	DOV 30	SON 15	POC 8	MCH 19	DAY 12	POC 8	TAL 10	GLN 10	MCH 12	BRI 9	DAR 4	RCH 18	DOV 22	MAR 3	NWS 7	CLT 28	CAR 7	PHO 12	ATL 40			15th	3491
1993				DAY 17	CAR 22	RCH 32	ATL 8	DAR 12	BRI 9	NWS 17	MAR 7	TAL 30	SON 24	CLT 41	DOV 16	POC 29	MCH 39	DAY 19	NHA 13	POC 5	TAL 9	GLN 20	MCH 14	BRI 7	DAR 2	RCH 5		MAR 6	NWS 21	CLT 15	CAR 35	PHO 28	ATL 40		20th	3183
	Dick Trickle																										DOV 25
1994	Brett Bodine			DAY 32	CAR 6	RCH 8	ATL 31	DAR 36	BRI 13	NWS 23	MAR 24	TAL 17	SON 13	CLT 42	DOV 32	POC 8	MCH 32	DAY 16	NHA 12	POC 35	TAL 17	IND 2	GLN 28	MCH 12	BRI 14	DAR 29	RCH 8	DOV 26	MAR 30	NWS 33	CLT 6	CAR 18	PHO 13	ATL 36	19th	3159
1995	Steve Kinser			DAY 40	CAR 27	RCH 28	ATL 41	DAR 40	BRI DNQ	NWS DNQ																									34th	2369
	Hut Stricklin										MAR 33	TAL 24	SON 33	CLT 7	DOV 4	POC 5	MCH 37	DAY 16	NHA 27	POC 41	TAL 36	IND 22	GLN 40	MCH 10	BRI 33	DAR 7	RCH 32	DOV 38	MAR 36	NWS 25	CLT 18	CAR 28	PHO 35	ATL 38

External links

• Kenny Bernstein Website