Sharp Gallaher Racing

Last updated
Sharp Gallaher Racing
Sharp Gallaher Racing logo.jpg
Owner(s) Eddie Sharp
Bill Gallaher
Base Mooresville, North Carolina
Series Camping World Truck Series
Race drivers6. Justin Lofton/Danny Efland
8. Max Gresham
Manufacturer Chevrolet
Opened 2005
Closed 2013
Career
Debut 2010 Mountain Dew 250
Latest race 2013 Ford EcoBoost 200
Races competed118
Drivers' Championships 0
Race victories2
Pole positions 1

Sharp Gallaher Racing (formerly known as Eddie Sharp Racing) is a disbanded NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina that competed in the ARCA Racing Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team fielded the No. 6 Chevrolet Silverado for Justin Lofton and various other drivers and the No. 8 Chevrolet for Max Gresham.

Contents

History

ARCA

The team was formed by former driver and crew chief Eddie Sharp in 2005, who had formerly fielded his own ASA team and was the crew chief for Bill Baird during his championship-winning 1999 ARCA season. The team made its debut in 2006 with former Grand-Am driver Michael McDowell running a limited schedule. McDowell and Sharp ran full-time in 2007, running the No. 2 Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge. McDowell grabbed four wins in his rookie season but finished second in the championship to Frank Kimmel. ESR also fielded the No. 22 Dodge, with Josh Wise and Ken Butler III sharing the ride, with Butler winning at Toledo Speedway. With McDowell moving on to Michael Waltrip Racing, Sharp expanded to three teams and switched to running Toyotas, hiring former Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Scott Speed to drive the No. 2, while retaining Butler for the full season and fielding a third car (No. 93) in a number of races for Canadian NASCAR driver Pierre Bourque. The team soon changed numbers to the No. 20 with Justin Lofton for the rest of the year. ESR dominated the season, with Speed winning four races en route to a second-place finish in the championship and Lofton won at Michigan.

With Speed heading to the Sprint Cup Series, ESR gained a reputation of fielding championship-caliber drivers. In 2009, Lofton stayed on with ESR for the full season as the team expanded to a fourth car, the No. 81 for Camping World Series East driver Craig Goess. The No. 2 would be driven by another Grand-Am driver, Tim George Jr., and the No. 20 would be driven by Canadian Steve Arpin on a part-time basis. Lofton won ESR's first ever championship that season, grabbing an impressive four wins, while Goess and Arpin impressed many. Like his predecessors, Lofton moved to Red Horse Racing to run for the Camping World Truck Series title in 2010, while Goess returned for the full season. ESR ran only Goess' 81 for the full season, while continuing to field the 6 for a bevy of drivers, including another former F1 driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., Blake Koch, Brandon McReynolds (son of Fox broadcaster Larry McReynolds), and others. Goess had a solid season, winning only once at Pocono but finishing second in points to Patrick Sheltra.

NASCAR Truck Series

2006: Woodard & Sharp Racing

ESR made its first foray into NASCAR in 2006, when he partnered with co-owner Rick Woodard to field a full-time Truck Series team that year with former Hendrick Motorsports development driver Boston Reid running full-time in the No. 25. Woodard did not join Sharp's existing ARCA team as a co-owner, and their Truck team was operated separately from it. After the first four races of the season, Sharp left WSR, leaving Woodard as the team's only owner. Reid would be replaced by ARCA driver Damon Lusk as the team's driver with five races to go in the season. Although the team supposedly was preparing to return for at least the Daytona season-opener, Woodard Racing closed down before the start of the 2007 season. [1]

Truck No. 25 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425OwnersPts
2006 Boston Reid 25 Dodge DAY
36
CAL
34
ATL
24
MAR
31
GTY
16
CLT
16
MFD
14
DOV
33
TEX
17
MCH
17
MLW
26
KAN
28
KEN
14
MEM
24
IRP
24
NSH
14
BRI
28
NHA
33
LVS
33
TAL
29
27th2262
Damon Lusk MAR
36
ATL
17
TEX
18
PHO
26
HOM
18

2010: Sharp-Hartman Racing

Sharp would not be an owner in the Truck Series again until 2010, where he returned to the series with another co-owner, Carl Hartman, to field a No. 41 Toyota Tundra for Steve Park in two events.

Truck No. 41 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425OwnersPts
2010 Steve Park 41 Toyota DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTY IRP POC NSH DAR BRI CHI
18
KEN
25
NHA LVS MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 55th197

2010–2013: Eddie Sharp Racing

Justin Lofton in the No. 6 at Rockingham Speedway in 2012 Justin Lofton Eddie Sharp Racing Chevrolet Rockingham 2012.jpg
Justin Lofton in the No. 6 at Rockingham Speedway in 2012

Late in the season, ESR had purchased the assets of Team Gill Racing No. 46 and had intended to run Craig Goess for Rookie of the Year in 2011. After only 9 races, Goess was released from the team and Sharp was reunited with Lofton, who had sponsorship from CollegeComplete.com and a new crew chief in Daniel Bormann.

For 2012, Eddie Sharp purchased the spun-off assets of Kevin Harvick Incorporated that were not acquired in the race team's merger with Richard Childress Racing, specifically the 8 and 33 trucks driven by Piquet and Ron Hornaday. Cale Gale drove the 33 in 2012 with sponsorship from Rheem, and a technical alliance with Childress. The 8 truck was driven by Mike Skinner at Daytona, but he wrecked early alongside Gale. In Martinsville, Eddie Sharp sold the No. 8 Truck's owners points to Jennifer Jo Cobb, who swapped manufacturers and numbers (Cobb had the No. 8 as a Dodge, while Chris Lafferty drove the No. 10 Chevrolet). Sharp then gave the owners points to Cobb for the rest of 2012 in order to allow the truck to eventually be used part-time if a third driver was necessary.[ citation needed ] On May 18, 2012, Justin Lofton won his first race in the No. 6 truck. Gale would win the season finale at Homestead in a photo finish.

The team's No. 6 truck in a partnership with Young's Motorsports, driven by Tyler Young, at Rockingham Speedway in 2013 Tyler Young Eddie Sharp Racing Chevrolet Rockingham 2013.jpg
The team's No. 6 truck in a partnership with Young's Motorsports, driven by Tyler Young, at Rockingham Speedway in 2013

For 2013, Lofton would reduce his schedule to only a few races, while Gale and Rheem departed for Turner Scott Motorsports. Max Gresham would run the full schedule for the team, with Truck Series veteran crew chief Gary Showalter.

2013: Sharp Gallaher Racing

In August of that year, Eddie Sharp announced a partnership with California businessman Bill Gallaher, changing the team name to Sharp Gallaher Racing. Soon after this, it was also announced that the team would relocate from Denver, North Carolina to the stock car racing hotbed of Mooresville, North Carolina. [2] On December 17, 2013, reports arose that the team had shut down with immediate effect until later in the day when it was confirmed that the team had shut down with the remaining staff being laid off.

Truck No. 6 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425OwnersPts
2010 Craig Goess 46 Toyota DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTW IRP POC NSH DAR BRI CHI KEN NHA LVS MAR TAL
10
HOM
12
21st2445
Jason Bowles TEX
28
Steve Park PHO
19
2011 Craig Goess DAY
16
PHO
23
DAR
19
MAR
24
NSH
9
DOV
24
CLT
22
KAN
23
TEX
18
16th684
Justin Lofton KEN
15
IOW
12
6 NSH
15
IRP
20
POC
16
MCH
15
BRI
7
ATL
26
Chevy CHI
15
NHA
13
KEN
11
LVS
19
TAL
11
MAR
17
TEX
10
HOM
18
2012 DAY
3
MAR
4
CAR
10
KAN
7
CLT
1
DOV
10
TEX
9
KEN
14
IOW
5
CHI
21
POC
9
MCH
12
BRI
10
ATL
14
IOW
31
KEN
7
LVS
20
TAL
24
MAR
19
TEX
22
PHO
10
HOM
9
9th710
2013 DAY
4
MAR CAR KAN CLT
10
DOV TEX KEN IOW BRI
14
IOW
19
CHI
15
LVS
18
TAL
20
TEX
5
22nd437
Jared Landers ELD
12
POC MCH
Mike Skeen MSP
13
Daniel Hemric MAR
32
PHO
13
Austin Dillon HOM
20

Truck No. 8 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122OwnersPts
2012 Mike Skinner 8 Chevy DAY
33
MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW CHI POC MCH BRI 37th150
Max Gresham ATL
22
IOW KEN
23
LVS TAL MAR
11
TEX
12
PHO HOM
23
2013 DAY
24
MAR
30
CAR
16
KAN
25
CLT
3
DOV
28
TEX
22
KEN
31
IOW
15
ELD
10
POC
13
MCH
18
BRI
15
MSP
24
IOW
13
CHI
19
LVS
10
TAL
8
MAR
11
TEX
18
PHO
15
HOM
22
18th579

Truck No. 33 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122OwnersPts
2012 Cale Gale 33 Chevy DAY
32
MAR
15
CAR
17
KAN
11
CLT
19
DOV
5
TEX
8
KEN
25
IOW
26
CHI
6
POC
14
MCH
20
BRI
28
ATL
15
IOW
5
KEN
19
LVS
7
TAL
10
MAR
35
TEX
15
PHO
7
HOM
1
14th634
2013 John King DAY
18
MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW ELD POC MCH BRI MSP IOW CHI LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 59th26

Truck No. 45 results

YearDriverNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425OwnersPts
2011 Mike Skinner 45 Toyota DAY
DNQ
PHO
24
62nd20
Chad McCumbee DAR
DNQ
MAR NSH DOV CLT KAN TEX KEN IOW NSH IRP POC MCH BRI ATL CHI NHA KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX
Tim George Jr. Chevy HOM
DNQ

References

  1. "2007 Truck Series Team/Driver Chart". Jayski's Silly Season Site . ESPN . Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  2. Elkins, Ken (September 23, 2013). "Sharp-Gallaher Racing to spend $3.1 million to move shop to Mooresville from Denver". Charlotte Business Journal . Charlotte, NC. Retrieved 2013-09-23.