The car started in 1971 at what turned out to be the only Winston Cup race at Smoky Mountain Raceway as the No. 41 Ford owned and driven by Ulrich, who finished 29th out of 30 cars for heating problems on the 4th lap. Ulrich ran full-time for a couple of years, but normally he stepped aside and let other drivers race for him. During his tenure as an owner, he employed many younger drivers. Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, Morgan Shepherd, and Mark Martin all went on to successful careers after piloting Ulrich's car.
In 1987, Ulrich noticed a young short track driver from California named Ernie Irvan, who qualified 20th in a Dale Earnhardt-sponsored car for a race that Ulrich didn't make. Ulrich put the aggressive young Irvan in his car for three races that year, with Irvan's partner Marc Reno as crew chief. When Ulrich was able to get Kroger as a full-time sponsor for the team, he fielded the car full-time in 1988 with Irvan competing for NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year in the No. 2 Chevrolet/Pontiac, finishing 59 points behind Ken Bouchard for Rookie of the Year. In 1989, Irvan posted 4-top ten finishes and ending the season 22nd in points, three better than the previous year. Unfortunately, Kroger decided not to renew its contract, and Irvan had no choice but to leave the team. Ulrich was able to get several different sponsorships together for 1990, and the team ran most of the races.
The car returned full-time for 1991 as the No. 55 Pontiac sponsored by Jasper Engines, based in Jasper, Indiana. The team's original plan was a Winston Cup rookie campaign for popular USAC veteran and Indianapolis 500 starter Rich Vogler, but he perished while leading a USAC event at the Salem Speedway in Indiana in July 1990. Their next choice was Wisconsin's Ted Musgrave, who narrowly missed Rookie of the Year honors to Bobby Hamilton. During the 1992 and 1993 NASCAR seasons, Ulrich formed a partnership with Ray DeWitt to form RaDiUs Motorsports which continued with Musgrave behind the wheel. During the 1992 season, the team ran various makes from General Motors before switching to Ford halfway through the year. In 1994 Musgrave left for Roush Racing and Ulrich and DeWitt ended their partnership. DeWitt formed a new team with the RaDiUS name and No. 55 while Ulrich retained the Jasper sponsorship on the newly renumbered No. 77, with Doug Bawel, an executive from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, became a business partner with Ulrich, the team being renamed Jasper Motorsports with veteran journeyman Greg Sacks handling the driving chores as well as a major co-sponsorship from USAir.[1] Jasper Engines & Transmissions co-sponsored the team for the 1995 season, with the car originally piloted by rookie Davy Jones and later Bobby Hillin Jr. After the season, Bawel bought the entire team from Ulrich and started a partnership with Jasper salesmen Mark Wallace and Mark Harrah. Hillin continued to drive the car for 1996, and the first part of 1997, before being replaced by Robert Pressley and Morgan Shepherd.
Pressley was full-time for 1998, during which he had a then-career-best finish of 3rd at Texas. 1999 was a tumultuous year for the team, struggling with qualifying and finishing 39th in points. For the 2000 season, the team began using Penske engines and hired Ryan Pemberton as crew chief. Change made a huge difference as Pressley finished 25th in points the next two years, finishing 2nd at the 2001Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
2000s
Pressley, although picking up a few top-tens during his tenure with Jasper, struggled with consistency, even with his successful pairing with Pemberton. Therefore, Pressley and Jasper parted ways after the season, and former sprint car champion Dave Blaney was tabbed to replace him.[2] But Blaney, while competitive in some races also struggled with consistency and was gone at the end of 2003.[3]
Boris Said drove a No. 67 car on road courses and as a teammate to Blaney in 2002, finishing a best of 8th at Watkins Glen. The car is featured in the widely popular video game NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.
At the end of the year, Wallace sold his share of the team, and Roger Penske, who was already providing engines and support to the Jasper team, took his place.[4] The team got a new sponsor in Kodak, as well as a new driver in rookie Brendan Gaughan and a new manufacturer in Dodge (the team had ran Dodge instead of the usual Ford for the 2003 EA Sports 500, causing Ford to pull their factory support).[5] Despite grabbing 4 top-10 finishes, Gaughan was replaced to the shock of fans by another rookie, Travis Kvapil. In his first year in the Cup circuit, he finished 32nd in points with two top-10 finishes. When the season came to a close, it was announced the No. 77 car would not run the 2006 season, as Penske would go back to fielding two cars in his own team.[6]
Not long after the announcement, the team shut down and sold its owner's points to Bill Davis, who fielded car No. 55 for Michael Waltrip for the 2006 season.[7] After 2006, Waltrip bought the 55 team and Michael Waltrip Racing became a full-time Nextel Cup team.
Driver history
Notable drivers (Winston Cup Champions, Rookies of the Year, and Cup race winners) are highlighted in bold.
^Williams, Charlean (November 15, 1993). "A Bad Weekend For The Bodines". Orlando Sentinel. p. B8. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
^"Blaney replaces Pressley at Jasper". Crash.net. October 18, 2001. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
^"Blaney to leave Bill Davis Racing". Motorsport.com. October 18, 2001. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
^"Jasper Motorsports thriving with 2003 changes made". Motorsport.com. March 18, 2003. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
^"Ford cuts ties with Jasper Motorsports after team uses Dodge". New Haven Register. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
^"Penske to close #77 team". Crash.net. December 10, 2005. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
^Redmayne, Tim (January 21, 2006). "Waltrip-Jasper Racing formed". Autosport. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
External links
Doug Bawel Winston Cup/Nextel Cup Owner Statistics
D.K. Ulrich Winston Cup Owner Statistics
January 07, 2023
jasper, motorsports, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Jasper Motorsports news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Jasper Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup team It was owned by a variety of owners including D K Ulrich and Doug Bawel Jasper MotorsportsOwner s D K Ulrich Doug Bawel Mark Wallace Mark Harrah Bobby Hillin Jr Roger PenskeBaseStatesville North CarolinaSeriesWinston CupRace driversTim Richmond Ernie Irvan Dave Blaney Robert PressleySponsorsKodak Jasper Engines amp Transmissions US AirManufacturerFord Dodge ChevroletOpened1971Closed2006CareerDebut1971 Maryville 200 Maryville Latest race2005 Ford 400 Homestead Races competed876Drivers Championships0Race victories0Pole positions2 Contents 1 1970s 1980s 2 1990s 3 2000s 4 Driver history 5 References 6 External links1970s 1980s EditThe car started in 1971 at what turned out to be the only Winston Cup race at Smoky Mountain Raceway as the No 41 Ford owned and driven by Ulrich who finished 29th out of 30 cars for heating problems on the 4th lap Ulrich ran full time for a couple of years but normally he stepped aside and let other drivers race for him During his tenure as an owner he employed many younger drivers Sterling Marlin Tim Richmond Morgan Shepherd and Mark Martin all went on to successful careers after piloting Ulrich s car In 1987 Ulrich noticed a young short track driver from California named Ernie Irvan who qualified 20th in a Dale Earnhardt sponsored car for a race that Ulrich didn t make Ulrich put the aggressive young Irvan in his car for three races that year with Irvan s partner Marc Reno as crew chief When Ulrich was able to get Kroger as a full time sponsor for the team he fielded the car full time in 1988 with Irvan competing for NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year in the No 2 Chevrolet Pontiac finishing 59 points behind Ken Bouchard for Rookie of the Year In 1989 Irvan posted 4 top ten finishes and ending the season 22nd in points three better than the previous year Unfortunately Kroger decided not to renew its contract and Irvan had no choice but to leave the team Ulrich was able to get several different sponsorships together for 1990 and the team ran most of the races 1990s Edit A Jasper Motorsports Ford Thunderbird on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum The car returned full time for 1991 as the No 55 Pontiac sponsored by Jasper Engines based in Jasper Indiana The team s original plan was a Winston Cup rookie campaign for popular USAC veteran and Indianapolis 500 starter Rich Vogler but he perished while leading a USAC event at the Salem Speedway in Indiana in July 1990 Their next choice was Wisconsin s Ted Musgrave who narrowly missed Rookie of the Year honors to Bobby Hamilton During the 1992 and 1993 NASCAR seasons Ulrich formed a partnership with Ray DeWitt to form RaDiUs Motorsports which continued with Musgrave behind the wheel During the 1992 season the team ran various makes from General Motors before switching to Ford halfway through the year In 1994 Musgrave left for Roush Racing and Ulrich and DeWitt ended their partnership DeWitt formed a new team with the RaDiUS name and No 55 while Ulrich retained the Jasper sponsorship on the newly renumbered No 77 with Doug Bawel an executive from Jasper Engines amp Transmissions became a business partner with Ulrich the team being renamed Jasper Motorsports with veteran journeyman Greg Sacks handling the driving chores as well as a major co sponsorship from USAir 1 Jasper Engines amp Transmissions co sponsored the team for the 1995 season with the car originally piloted by rookie Davy Jones and later Bobby Hillin Jr After the season Bawel bought the entire team from Ulrich and started a partnership with Jasper salesmen Mark Wallace and Mark Harrah Hillin continued to drive the car for 1996 and the first part of 1997 before being replaced by Robert Pressley and Morgan Shepherd Pressley was full time for 1998 during which he had a then career best finish of 3rd at Texas 1999 was a tumultuous year for the team struggling with qualifying and finishing 39th in points For the 2000 season the team began using Penske engines and hired Ryan Pemberton as crew chief Change made a huge difference as Pressley finished 25th in points the next two years finishing 2nd at the 2001 Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway 2000s EditPressley although picking up a few top tens during his tenure with Jasper struggled with consistency even with his successful pairing with Pemberton Therefore Pressley and Jasper parted ways after the season and former sprint car champion Dave Blaney was tabbed to replace him 2 But Blaney while competitive in some races also struggled with consistency and was gone at the end of 2003 3 Boris Said drove a No 67 car on road courses and as a teammate to Blaney in 2002 finishing a best of 8th at Watkins Glen The car is featured in the widely popular video game NASCAR Racing 2003 Season At the end of the year Wallace sold his share of the team and Roger Penske who was already providing engines and support to the Jasper team took his place 4 The team got a new sponsor in Kodak as well as a new driver in rookie Brendan Gaughan and a new manufacturer in Dodge the team had ran Dodge instead of the usual Ford for the 2003 EA Sports 500 causing Ford to pull their factory support 5 Despite grabbing 4 top 10 finishes Gaughan was replaced to the shock of fans by another rookie Travis Kvapil In his first year in the Cup circuit he finished 32nd in points with two top 10 finishes When the season came to a close it was announced the No 77 car would not run the 2006 season as Penske would go back to fielding two cars in his own team 6 Not long after the announcement the team shut down and sold its owner s points to Bill Davis who fielded car No 55 for Michael Waltrip for the 2006 season 7 After 2006 Waltrip bought the 55 team and Michael Waltrip Racing became a full time Nextel Cup team Driver history EditNotable drivers Winston Cup Champions Rookies of the Year and Cup race winners are highlighted in bold D K Ulrich 1971 1975 1978 1987 1990 Roy Mayne 1971 Dick May 1971 1980 1982 Frank Warren 1973 Harry Schilling 1974 Ed Negre 1974 Tony Bettenhausen Jr 1974 Randy Bethea 1975 Al Elmore 1979 1983 Bill Whittington 1980 Joe Booher 1980 1982 1986 Ricky Rudd 1980 Dick Skillen 1980 Mike Alexander 1980 J D McDuffie 1980 Tommy Gale 1980 1981 1983 Lennie Pond 1980 Sterling Marlin 1980 1981 Tim Richmond 1980 1981 Harry Dinwiddie 1980 Stan Barrett 1980 1982 Chuck Bown 1981 Rick Baldwin 1981 Kevin Housby 1981 Al Loquasto 1981 1982 Terry Herman 1981 1982 Rick Knoop 1981 1986 1987 Cecil Gordon 1981 Elliott Forbes Robinson 1981 Slick Johnson 1981 1982 Bob McElee 1981 Ronnie Thomas 1981 Don Hume 1981 Tommy Houston 1982 Jimmy Hensley 1982 Ferrel Harris 1982 Randy Becker 1982 Bob Jarvis 1982 Jim Sauter 1983 1984 1990 Mark Martin 1983 Connie Saylor 1983 1984 1987 Morgan Shepherd 1984 1997 Jimmy Ingalls 1984 Clark Dwyer 1984 Doug Heveron 1984 Eddie Bierschwale 1985 1990 Trevor Boys 1986 1987 Richard Petty one race in 1986 Bobby Baker 1987 Ron Esau 1987 Ernie Irvan 1987 1989 Rick Mast 1990 Jim Bown 1990 Troy Beebe 1990 Charlie Glotzbach 1990 Rick Ware 1990 Jerry O Neil 1990 Ted Musgrave 1990 1993 1998 Greg Sacks 1994 P J Jones 1994 Davy Jones 1995 Bobby Hillin Jr 1995 1997 Robert Pressley 1997 2001 Hut Stricklin 1998 Boris Said 2001 2002 road races only Dave Blaney 2002 2003 Brendan Gaughan 2004 Travis Kvapil 2005 References Edit Williams Charlean November 15 1993 A Bad Weekend For The Bodines Orlando Sentinel p B8 Retrieved 2013 04 18 Blaney replaces Pressley at Jasper Crash net October 18 2001 Retrieved February 7 2020 Blaney to leave Bill Davis Racing Motorsport com October 18 2001 Retrieved February 7 2020 Jasper Motorsports thriving with 2003 changes made Motorsport com March 18 2003 Retrieved February 7 2020 Ford cuts ties with Jasper Motorsports after team uses Dodge New Haven Register 2022 10 03 Retrieved 2022 07 04 Penske to close 77 team Crash net December 10 2005 Retrieved February 7 2020 Redmayne Tim January 21 2006 Waltrip Jasper Racing formed Autosport Retrieved February 7 2020 External links EditDoug Bawel Winston Cup Nextel Cup Owner Statistics D K Ulrich Winston Cup Owner Statistics Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jasper Motorsports amp oldid 1096457074, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
