Rodney Combs

Rodney Combs (born March 27, 1950) is an American former stock car racing driver. He has not been in NASCAR since 1997, when he was released from his ride in the Busch Series. Combs entered NASCAR after many years on the open-wheel and short track circuit in the Midwest, racing with Mark Martin and Dick Trickle. Combs was a 2001 inductee in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.

Rodney Combs
Born	(1950-03-27) March 27, 1950 (age 72) Cincinnati, Ohio
Awards	National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame (2001)
NASCAR Cup Series career
55 races run over 8 years
Best finish	35th (1987, 1988)
First race	1982 Atlanta Journal 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	1990 Atlanta Journal 500 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
116 races run over 9 years
Best finish	11th (1995)
First race	1982 Miller Time 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	1997 BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 320 (Nashville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 14 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
8 races run over 2 years
Best finish	34th (1995)
First race	1995 Sears Auto Center 125 (Milwaukee)
Last race	1996 Lowe's 250 (North Wilkesboro)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
Statistics current as of April 20, 2013.

Racing career

Winston Cup Series

Combs made his debut in 1982, in the then Winston Cup Series. Driving the #5 for J.D. Stacy, Combs qualified the Stacy-Pak Buick to 28th on the starting position in the fall race at Atlanta, and finished in 9th place, leading five laps.

Combs was invited back by Stacy to drive the #12 Stroh's Buick in the 1983 fall race at Charlotte. Combs started 33rd and appeared to earn another top-ten, but extremely late in the going, Combs' car blew an engine, putting him to 22nd.

The next time Combs showed up was in 1984. This time, Combs was behind the #2 Red Roof Inns Buick owned by Robert Harrington. Combs made it into the August Michigan race with a 19th place qualifying effort. He completed all but eight laps en route to a 25th-place finish.

Combs, who was still doing Midwest racing, disappeared back to those ranks for a year, and then returned with a five-race deal in 1986. Driving Harrington's #2 Solder Seal/Gunk Pontiac, Combs had a best of 16th at Charlotte and a 19th at Talladega, where he led four laps. However, Combs only finished the Charlotte race, falling out of the other four.

Combs drove for a number of teams in 1987, yet still could not crack the top ten. His best run was a 16th at Pocono, although he did have five other top-20s. He ran the majority of the races for Elmo Langley's #64 team, although he did have some runs with DiGard Motorsports and Roger Hamby. Overall, he had 14 starts in 1987, and earned a 35th-place position in points.

Combs ran nineteen races in 1988, the most active year of his career. Seventeen of them were for the #97 ACDelco team, while Combs competed in one race for Ken Allen and another for Richard Childress Racing. Despite all the starts, Combs had a worse year than in 1987, despite matching the 35th in points. His best finish was 11th at Bristol, but he only had one other top-20, a 14th at Michigan. Combs, however, did earn his first career top-10 starting spot, a 9th at Richmond. Combs' biggest issue was 11 DNFs, though to Combs' defense, all but one of them was mechanical.

In 1989, Combs only made nine starts and did not even crack the top-20. His best run was a 23rd at Darlington, driving for Lake Speed. Yet, Combs ran the majority of the races for the #89 Evinrude Pontiac. The best run for that team was a 27th at Phoenix. Combs also had three races in 1989 for Allen.

Combs made his last five career Cup starts in 1990. Combs ran all five races for the #89 team, but could only manage a best of 27th at Phoenix. In addition, Combs only finished two of the races. Overall in his Cup career, Combs had one top-ten finish and one top-10 start.

Busch Series

Combs made his Busch debut in 1982, the same year he made his Cup debut. Driving for J.D. Stacy again, Combs drove the #4 Stacy Pontiac into the Charlotte field with a 7th place starting position. Like he would in his Cup debut, Combs came home with a 9th place showing.

Combs made another one-off start in 1983. Once again, Combs ran at Charlotte, where he qualified a 4th. This time, Combs could not improve on his first finish, but still came home with a 10th-place showing.

Combs disappeared for three years, and was back in 1987, with a four-race deal with the #67 J&J Steel car. His best run once again came at Charlotte, adding another tenth place on. Also noteworthy was a start and finish of 13th at Darlington.

Combs next race came in 1990, driving for Ferree Racing at Charlotte. He started 26th, but finished 37th after his carburetor failed.

Combs finally made his first full season in NASCAR in 1993, driving the #1 Luxaire Ford for the full season, qualifying for all but one race. Combs earned three top-10s in 1993, with a career-best eighth at Milwaukee Mile and back-to-back tenths at Martinsville and Nazareth. Even more to Combs advantage, were a low DNF count of three, an impressive number for someone who is basically a rookie. Most impressive of all, by far, is his lowest finish. His lowest finish of the year was at Darlington, where he finished 26th. This contributed to Combs earning a 15th in points, despite missing one race. Lastly, Combs qualified well too, the best being a triplet of fourth-place starts, of which he converted into a 10th, 12th and 15th-place finish in the race.

With an impressive season with a low-budget team, Combs was hired by Petty Enterprises to drive the #43 Black Flag/French's Pontiac the following year. Despite the famous ride, 1994 was a roller coaster. Combs did not make four of the 27 races, but matched his three top-10s of '93. Combs best runs were a pair of 9th at Martinsville and Myrtle Beach and a 10th at Bristol. Yet, Combs did have seven other top-20s. However, in addition to poor qualifying results with the first year team, Combs' team had 9 DNFs, a tough thing to overcome. (In Combs' defense, all but two were mechanical) This led to a poor 21st place showing in points.

Combs' best career year in any NASCAR series came in 1995, where he finished 11th in points. This year, Combs made all the races, and this enabled him to once again earn three top-10s. Combs earned new career bests of 6th at Myrtle Beach and Atlanta, and tacked on a 10th at Dover International Speedway and a large 16 other top-20s to boot. Along with a lesser DNF count (4), Combs' team looked in good shape for 1996.

However, 1996 was not Combs' best year, and it began to lead to his departure from the sport. Combs made all but one start in 1996, and earned 18th in points, after another up-and-down year. Combs earned a pair of sixths as his only top-10s in 1996 at Daytona and Atlanta. (Combs would later prove to have a career best finish of 6th-four times) Combs did earn what would prove to be his best career start: a 3rd at Myrtle Beach. However, on the flipside, Combs only earned 9 top-20s, down from 19 in 1995, the primary reason for his points slide.

1997 was the end of Combs' career. Petty Enterprises sold the team to David Ridling. He only made five starts for the team before being released, the best being an 11th-place finish at Atlanta. He was replaced by Dennis Setzer and replaced Setzer in the #78 Mark III Financial Chevy. He ran a best of 20th at Richmond in three races for the team. Yet, after Nashville, Combs disappeared from the team and has not been racing in big-league NASCAR since.

Craftsman Truck Series

When racing for Petty Enterprises in 1995 and 1996, Combs made five starts in 1995 and one in 1996 for in the Truck Series. Combs made his series debut at Milwaukee, qualifying ninth and finishing 10th. Combs then came back at IRP, qualifying 9th and once again coming home with a top-10: this time a solid 4th. Combs made three more starts in 1995, with finishes of 11th, 14th and 16th. Combs also added on one more start in 1996. Driving at North Wilkesboro, Combs managed a career-best 4th place start. However, he came home with a career-worst finish of 20th.

Combs has not raced in NASCAR since.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup 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	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1982	Jim Stacy Racing	5	Buick	DAY	RCH	BRI	ATL	CAR	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	POC	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	CLT	MAR	CAR	ATL 9	RSD	71st	143	^[1]
1983		12		DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	BRI	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 22	CAR	ATL	RSD	87th	97	^[2]
1984	Harrington Racing	2	Buick	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH 25	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	ATL	RSD	NA	0	^[3]
1986	Harrington Racing	2	Chevy	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY 32	POC	TAL 19	GLN										ATL 37	RSD		44th	421	^[4]
			Pontiac																			MCH 29	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 16	CAR
1987	DiGard Motorsports	10	Olds	DAY 19	CAR	RCH	ATL																											35th	1098	^[5]
			Chevy					DAR 37	NWS 20	BRI	MAR	TAL	CLT
	Langley Racing	64	Ford											DOV 20	POC 20	RSD	MCH 23	DAY 31	POC 16	TAL 19	GLN 23	MCH 31	BRI 23	DAR 27	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS
	Hamby Motorsports	12	Chevy																										CLT 37	CAR	RSD	ATL
1988		0	Olds	DAY Wth	RCH	CAR																												35th	1468	^[6]
	Winkle Motorsports	97	Buick				ATL 27	DAR 32	BRI DNQ	NWS 23	MAR DNQ	TAL 38	CLT 32	DOV 29	RSD	POC 34	MCH 30	DAY 33	POC 36	TAL 29	GLN 24	MCH 14	BRI 11	DAR 21	RCH 21	DOV 40	MAR DNQ
	Richard Childress Racing	22	Chevy																									CLT DNQ	NWS	CAR 40	PHO
	AAG Racing	34	Buick																													ATL 29
1989	Mueller Brothers Racing	89	Pontiac	DAY 37									CLT DNQ	DOV	SON	POC	MCH 40	DAY	POC	TAL DNQ	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI					CLT 32	NWS	CAR	PHO 27	ATL 41		42nd	470	^[7]
	AAG Racing	34	Buick		CAR 40	ATL	RCH 32	DAR 29	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ
	Speed Racing	83	Olds																					DAR 23	RCH	DOV	MAR
1990	Mueller Brothers Racing	89	Pontiac	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT 33	DOV	SON	POC	MCH 40	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH 34	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO 27	ATL 30		46th	323	^[8]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1987	DiGard Motorsports	Oldsmobile	36	19
1988		Oldsmobile	Wth
1989	Mueller Brothers Racing	Pontiac	30	37
1990			DNQ

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch 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	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1982	Jim Stacy Racing	4	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	BRI	MAR	DAR	HCY	SBO	CRW	RCH	LGY	DOV	HCY	CLT	ASH	HCY	SBO	CAR	CRW	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP	BRI	HCY	RCH	MAR	CLT 9	HCY	MAR							112th	138	^[9]
1983		89	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	NWS	SBO	GPS	LGY	DOV	BRI	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	CRW	ROU	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP	GPS	BRI	HCY	DAR	RCH	NWS	SBO	MAR	ROU	CLT 10	HCY	MAR	107th	134	^[10]
1987		67	Pontiac	DAY 10	HCY	MAR	DAR 13	BRI	LGY	SBO	CLT 32	DOV 28	IRP	ROU	JFC	OXF	SBO	HCY	RAL	LGY	ROU	BRI	JFC	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR									41st	404	^[11]
1988				DAY DNQ	HCY	CAR	MAR	DAR	BRI	LNG	NZH	SBO	NSV	CLT	DOV	ROU	LAN	LVL	MYB	OXF	SBO	HCY	LNG	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR						NA	-	^[12]
1990	Ferree Racing	49	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	HCY	CLT 37	DOV	ROU	VOL	MYB	OXF	NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NHA	CAR	MAR					117th	0	^[13]
1993	Rexrode Galiano Motorsports	1	Ford	DAY 14	CAR 23	RCH 19	DAR 18	BRI 23	HCY 21	ROU 12	MAR 10	NZH 10	CLT 19	DOV 18	MYB 22	GLN 16	MLW 8	TAL 14	IRP 25	MCH 14	NHA 11	BRI 20	DAR 26	RCH DNQ	DOV 25	ROU 19	CLT 19	MAR 19	CAR 15	HCY 25	ATL 14								15th	2969	^[14]
1994	Petty Enterprises	43	Pontiac	DAY 11	CAR 27	RCH 38	ATL 18	MAR 9	DAR 28	HCY DNQ	BRI 10	ROU 28	NHA 29	NZH 38	CLT 27	DOV 14	MYB 9	GLN 11	MLW 14	SBO 13	TAL 28	HCY DNQ	IRP 17	MCH 39	BRI	DAR 42	RCH 35	DOV 24	CLT 32	MAR	CAR								21st	2131	^[15]
1995				DAY 16	CAR 11	RCH 20	ATL 6	NSV 16	DAR 17	BRI 19	HCY 19	NHA 12	NZH 21	CLT 41	DOV 11	MYB 6	GLN 14	MLW 23	TAL 39	SBO 13	IRP 33	MCH 17	BRI 15	DAR 20	RCH 36	DOV 10	CLT 15	CAR 17	HOM 22										11th	2782	^[16]
1996			Chevy	DAY 6			ATL 6		DAR 34		HCY 21	NZH 17	CLT 26			MYB 22	GLN 21	MLW 28	NHA 27	TAL 35	IRP 28	MCH 20	BRI 22	DAR 17	RCH 17	DOV 12	CLT DNQ	CAR 34	HOM 38										18th	2396	^[17]
			Pontiac		CAR DNQ	RCH 11		NSV 19		BRI 28				DOV 11	SBO 24
	Ken Wilson	02	Chevy		CAR 39
1997	Ridling Motorsports	43	Chevy	DAY 11	CAR 15	RCH 31	ATL 33	LVS 17																															45th	743	^[18]
	Mark III Racing	78	Chevy						DAR 32	HCY DNQ	TEX	BRI 20	NSV 28	TAL DNQ	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO	GLN	MLW	MYB	GTY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAL	CAR	HOM

Craftsman Truck Series

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	NCTC	Pts	Ref
1995	Petty Enterprises	43	Chevy	PHO	TUS	SGS	MMR	POR	EVG	I70	LVL	BRI	MLW 10	CNS	HPT	IRP 4	FLM	RCH 16	MAR 14	NWS 11	SON	MMR	PHO					34th	660	^[19]
1996	Combs Racing	49	Chevy	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	TUS	CNS	HPT	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	I70	IRP	FLM	GLN	NSV	RCH	NHA	MAR	NWS 20	SON	MMR	PHO	LVS	104th	103	^[20]

ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series

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

ARCA Permatex SuperCar 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	APSC	Pts	Ref
1988		4	Olds	DAY 18	ATL	TAL	FRS	PCS	ROC	POC	WIN	KIL	ACS	SLM	POC	TAL	DEL	FRS	ISF	DSF	SLM	ATL	96th	-	^[21]

References

1. "Rodney Combs – 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
2. "Rodney Combs – 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
3. "Rodney Combs – 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
4. "Rodney Combs – 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
5. "Rodney Combs – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
6. "Rodney Combs – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
7. "Rodney Combs – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
8. "Rodney Combs – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
9. "Rodney Combs – 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
10. "Rodney Combs – 1983 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
11. "Rodney Combs – 1987 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
12. "Rodney Combs – 1988 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
13. "Rodney Combs – 1990 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
14. "Rodney Combs – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
15. "Rodney Combs – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
16. "Rodney Combs – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
17. "Rodney Combs – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
18. "Rodney Combs – 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
19. "Rodney Combs – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series by Craftsman Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
20. "Rodney Combs – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
21. "Rodney Combs – 1988 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 16, 2016.

External links

• Rodney Combs driver statistics at Racing-Reference