LJ Racing

Last updated
LJ Racing
Owner(s) Joe Falk, Ron Neal
Series Winston Cup Series
Race drivers Mike Wallace, Kevin Lepage, Todd Bodine, Dick Trickle, Morgan Shepherd
Sponsors Spam, First Union Bank, Pionite, KMC Telecom
Manufacturer Chevrolet
Opened1997
Closed2000
Career
Races competed53

LJ Racing was a stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1997 and 2000. Owned by Joe Falk, the team posted a best finish of fifth with driver Todd Bodine, and a best Winston West Series finish of second with Mike Wallace driving. LJ Racing has since been revived as Circle Sport Racing.

Contents

Winston Cup Series

Car No. 91 history

The LJ Racing car at Pocono Raceway in 1997 MikeWallace1997Pocono.jpg
The LJ Racing car at Pocono Raceway in 1997

Virginia businessman Joe Falk entered NASCAR team ownership in the Winston Cup Series in 1997, fielding the No. 91 Chevrolet in a partnership with Ron Neal under the LJ Racing banner. When the team began, Mike Wallace was the driver and Spam was the sponsor. Neal had been running the team as the No. 81 in the Busch Series as ProTech Motorsports. [1]

That year, Wallace posted the team's best finish in any series, in the only Winston West Series race they ever entered, the 1997 Auto Club 200 at California Speedway. Having failed to qualify for the weekend's Winston Cup Series event, they posted a late entry to the West Series race, and Mike Wallace drove from the back of the field to finish second. [2]

In the Winston Cup Series, the team struggled to make races, [3] and Wallace was released midway through the season. [4] Spam left the team shortly thereafter, and several other drivers drove the car later in the year, with little success. Towards the end of the year, Kevin Lepage joined the team. Lepage would drive the No. 91 through the first half of 1998 before leaving to join Roush Racing. [5] He was replaced by Morgan Shepherd, and then Todd Bodine, who would score the team's best finish in the Cup Series, fifth, in the final race of the 1998 season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. [6]

LJ Racing began the 1999 season with driver Steve Grissom, [7] but after Grissom failed to qualify for two of the first four races, [8] he was replaced by Dick Trickle. [9] For the rest of the season, the team attempted the majority of the races, but only made it into eight: seven with Trickle, and the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with Andy Hillenburg.

In 2000, the team would qualify for two races (at Atlanta and Richmond) with Todd Bodine driving, before closing down. [10] Later that same year, the team's shop was used by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to house their three NASCAR Busch Series teams. The two teams also entered a No. 91 Chevrolet for Blaise Alexander in two races near the end of the season, but Alexander failed to qualify for both of them. [11]

Drivers

Driver [12] RacesWinsPoles
Todd Bodine 900
Steve Grissom 200
Andy Hillenburg 400
Tommy Kendall 400
Kevin Lepage 1600
Greg Sacks 100
Morgan Shepherd 600
Dick Trickle 700
Mike Wallace 700

Car No. 91 results

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334OwnersPts
1997 Mike Wallace 91 Chevy DAY
DNQ		 CAR
DNQ		 RCH
DNQ		 ATL
26		 DAR
43		 TEX
17		 BRI
DNQ		 MAR
39		 SON
22		 TAL
DNQ		 CLT
DNQ		 DOV
23		 POC
30		 MCH
DNQ		 CAL
DNQ		45th1182
Loy Allen Jr. DAY
DNQ		 NHA
Greg Sacks POC
DNQ		 IND
31		 GLN MCH BRI DAR
DNQ
Ron Hornaday Jr. RCH
DNQ
Kevin Lepage NHA
DNQ		 DOV MAR CLT
40		 TAL
17		 CAR PHO ATL
29
1998 DAY
43		 CAR
DNQ		 LVS
28		 ATL
14		 DAR
34		 BRI
27		 TEX
37		 MAR
42		 TAL
14		 CAL
40		 CLT
36		 DOV
28		 RCH
DNQ		 MCH
40		 POC
19		35th2516
Tommy Kendall SON
16
Andy Hillenburg NHA
31		 TAL
22		 DAY
24
Morgan Shepherd POC
40		 IND
15		 GLN
43		 MCH
42		 BRI
29		 NHA
26		 DAR
DNQ
Todd Bodine RCH
32		 DOV
37		 MAR
12		 CLT
15		 PHO
15		 CAR
20		 ATL
5
1999 Steve Grissom DAY
DNQ		 CAR
36		 LVS
42		 ATL
DNQ		45th965
Dick Trickle DAR
26		 TEX
DNQ		 BRI
31		 MAR
31		 TAL
DNQ		 CAL RCH
32		 CLT
DNQ		 DOV
43		 MCH POC
40		 SON NHA
29		 IND
DNQ		 BRI
DNQ		 DAR
Hut Stricklin DAY
DNQ
Morgan Shepherd POC
DNQ
Jack Baldwin GLN
DNQ		 MCH
Tom Baldwin RCH
DNQ
Derrike Cope NHA
DNQ		 DOV
DNQ
Tim Fedewa MAR
DNQ
Andy Hillenburg CLT
DNQ		 TAL
43
Rich Bickle CAR
DNQ		 PHO HOM ATL
2000 Andy Hillenburg DAY
DNQ		 CAR LVS 52nd281
Todd Bodine ATL
7		 DAR BRI TEX
DNQ		 MAR TAL CAL RCH
43		 CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR
Larry Gunselman CLT
DNQ
Blaise Alexander TAL
DNQ		 CAR PHO HOM ATL
DNQ

Busch Series

ProTech Motorsports was founded by Ron Neal and began competition in the NASCAR Busch Series during the 1996 season, with driver Todd Bodine. Running the No. 81 for most of the season, Bodine finished third in series points, scoring one win at South Boston Speedway. [13] In the final race of the year, at Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, he ran the No. 82, while Ron Neal's son Jeff Neal ran the team's regular No. 81.

The team was in financial trouble throughout the season, and was partially bought out by Joe Falk to run Winston Cup in 1997. [14] The team ran the first four races of the 1997 NASCAR Busch Series season with Stanton Barrett before switching fully to Winston Cup.

Drivers

Driver [15] RacesWinsPoles
Stanton Barrett 400
Todd Bodine 2610
Jeff Neal 100

ARCA Racing Series

For the 2001 season, LJ Racing closed their Winston Cup Series team and moved to the ARCA RE/MAX Series, competing in 21 of the 25 races held that season. The team's main drivers were Blaise Alexander and Joe Falk's son Jeff Falk, with Brent Glastetter and Roger Blackstock each driving in two races, Josh Richeson driving at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Casey Mears making his ARCA debut in the team's final race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Drivers

Driver [15] RacesWinsPoles
Blaise Alexander601
Roger Blackstock200
Jeff Falk900
Brent Glastetter200
Casey Mears100
Josh Richeson100

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References

  1. ↑ Kallmann, Dave (February 13, 1997). "New NASCAR teams reach ultimate crossroad". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Milwaukee, WI. p. 4C. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  2. ↑ Hodges, Jim (June 22, 1997). "It's No Way to Break In a New Track". Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, CA.
  3. ↑ "Trying to make sirloin out of Spam: Joe Falk determined to succeed in Winston Cup racing". Roanoke Times. Roanoke, Virginia. May 25, 1997. pp. B2. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  4. ↑ Pearce, Al (June 26, 1997). "Shifting gears not easy for new owner". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. B1. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  5. ↑ Zeller, Bob (June 27, 1998). "Lepage to leave Falk for Roush". Virginian-Pilot. Norfolk, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  6. ↑ "Bodine happy with 5th place". Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. November 9, 1998. p. 4B. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  7. ↑ Shacklette, Buddy (February 6, 1999). "Grissom happy at LJ Racing". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. p. 09B. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  8. ↑ "Steve Grissom, Joe Falk Part Company". Motorsport.com. March 15, 1999. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  9. ↑ "Trickle takes over for fired Grissom". Washington Times. Washington, D.C. March 19, 1999. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  10. ↑ Cavin, Curt (August 3, 2000). "NASCAR squeezes out small teams". Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. p. I5. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  11. ↑ "Gastonia Gaston Gazette Archives, Oct 11, 2000, p. 17". NewspaperArchive.com. 2000-10-11. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  12. ↑ "Joe Falk Owner Statistics". Racing-Reference. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  13. ↑ "Todd Bodine - 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  14. ↑ "Skinner grabs pole". Spartanburg Herald-Journal . Spartanburg, SC. September 8, 1996. p. D9. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  15. 1 2 "Ron Neal Owner Statistics". Racing-Reference. 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
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