 |
The Racer's Group, or TRG, is a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing team located in Petaluma, California, owned by Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra. TRG has competed professionally in road racing since 1995. The team formerly competed in NASCAR as TRG Motorsports from 2007 to 2011.
In 1992, Buckler started racing in regional Porsche Club races, working his way through the ranks before entering his first professional race at the 1995 IMSA Grand Prix of California, which he ended up winning. From then until 2001, The Racer's Group ran part-time schedules with various drivers. Just before the 2002 season started, the Porsche factory offered to support the team at the Rolex 24 at Daytona by lending the services of factory drivers Timo Bernhard and Jörg Bergmeister.
After seven previous attempts at Daytona, The Racer's Group, with drivers Buckler, Bernhard, Bergmeister, and Michael Schrom, won the GT class at the 2002 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. With the success of the team at Daytona, the Porsche factory again provided TRG with factory support and drivers for the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans. In one of the closest GT races in history, Buckler, Bernhard, and Lucas Luhr edged the Freisinger Motorsport team by little more than one minute to capture a win at the team's maiden run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As the American Le Mans Series and Grand American seasons continued, The Racer's Group strung together a long series of high finishes, including wins at the Grand Prix of Mosport, Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, and the Grand-Am 400 at California Speedway. TRG finished on the podium 14 times in 2002, including 8 in a row in the ALMS.
After the season, Buckler and co-driver Schrom had a 1-2 finish in the Porsche World Cup. The award, given annually to the top independent Porsche drivers in the world, was given to Buckler at the Porsche factory in Weissach, Germany, in December 2002. Buckler and Schrom were the first and only teammates to finish 1-2 in the Porsche Cup. They followed the award up with a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona since 1977, becoming the first GT-class team to win overall.
2003 and the few years beyond saw TRG continue to compete in ALMS and Grand American. In 2005, TRG was selected by GM as a factory team. Pontiac Motorsports and TRG teamed up to race the new generation of Pontiac GTO vehicles, specifically twin GTO.R's. GM brought in Paul Edwards and Jan Magnussen to drive the No. 64, while TRG hired Marc Bunting and Andy Lally to drive of the No. 65. In 2006, Kelly Collins replaced Magnussen, the same year Pontiac won the manufacturer's championship, TRG took 1st and 3rd in the team championship, and drivers Bunting and Lally took won the driver's championship.
In 2006, Marc Bunting and Andy Lally won the GT drivers championship, and Bunting won the Bob Akin Sportsman Award. TRG won the GT team championship, second straight year. Lally and Bunting broke the record for most podium finishes with 14 of a possible 16 this year. The old record was their own, set in 2004 of 11 podium finishes.
The TRG GTO.R Daytona 24 Hour effort was the subject of a six-part documentary by noted film maker Sean Heckman and is currently playing on INHD.
The GTO program has been discontinued by GM as of the 2006 season end, and TRG returned Porsche vehicles in 2007, as well as running in the DP class. They began 2008 with second, third, and fourth-place finishes at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
For the 2015 United SportsCar Championship season, TRG entered one Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for a full season with drivers Christina Nielsen and James Davison running the number 007. [1] The team recorded a runner-up class finish at Sebring.
Co-driver R. J. Valentine announced Lally's plans to race in the NASCAR Busch Series, possibly with support from TRG during the broadcast of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series GT Race at Iowa Speedway on July 14, 2007. Lally raced the No. 47 Clorox Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Busch Series road races at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 4 and Watkins Glen on August 11 as part of a partnership between TRG and Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. He finished 29th and 10th respectively. In October 2007, TRG purchased the assets of Darrell Waltrip Motorsports' Craftsman Truck Series team, with Lally serving as the team's driver and United States Army Reserve sponsoring the No. 00 Toyota Tundra.
In 2008, TRG switched to Chevrolet Silverados and formed a second team. They began the 2008 season fielding entries in the No. 7 for Lally and the No. 71 for fellow rookie Donny Lia. Lia won in his 8th career start in Mansfield driving the No. 71 TRG truck. Midway through the season, sponsorship issues forced Lally to cut a part-time schedule. He was replaced by Nevada driver T. J. Bell for the rest of the season. Lally would return to the No. 71 late in the year when the team released Lia, followed by Ben Stancill and J. R. Fitzpatrick. Bell had a streak of five consecutive top-tens and had a total of seven on the year.
In 2009, TRG Motorsports announced they would field a full-time team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup with the number 71. The team also ran a second car in a few races using the number 70. After failing to make the Daytona 500 with Mike Wallace, the team signed David Gilliland and was 35th in points after Bristol, guaranteeing the team a start in Martinsville, only to fall out of the top-35 after the event. They were sponsored by Capital Windows and had announced an agreement to be sponsored by American Monster that fell through. The team shut down its Truck team very early into the season. In the summer, TaxSlayer.com became the team's new sponsor. Starting with the September race in Atlanta, Bobby Labonte began to share the ride with Gilliland. Mike Bliss also filled in for the team on occasion.
Labonte competed the first half of the season for the team in 2010. TaxSlayer.com sponsored the team for twelve races. Since the team was not sponsored for the full season, a number of races resulted in a start-and-park situation. [2] At Dover, the team quit after 65 laps. On June 23, Labonte parted ways with TRG Motorsports. Bliss finished ninth at Daytona. Andy Lally, Landon Cassill, Chad McCumbee and Tony Raines also drove the No. 71. Hermie Sadler made his first start since 2006 at the October Martinsville race. Brendan Gaughan raced at Phoenix, his first Cup race since 2004. Despite the team's sponsorship troubles and driver changes, TRG Motorsports finished 35th in the owner's points, guaranteeing the team a start for the first five races of 2011.
Owner Kevin Buckler said on NASCAR Race Hub before the Watkins Glen race that the No. 71 team would continue to race full-time in 2011. Lally announced he would run for Rookie of the Year honors. On March 23, 2011, Buckler announced that the team is switching manufacturers to Ford, beginning at Texas. They also went into a support program with Roush Fenway Racing. [3] Late in 2011, TRG ran a second car, a No. 77. Lally drove the car at Charlotte (with Hermie Sadler in the 71) to a 42nd-place finish. T. J. Bell attempted Talladega in the car, with the late Dan Wheldon's name adorning the namerail, [4] but did not qualify. [5] The No. 71 entry struggled at the end of the season and finished 36th in owner's points, not guaranteeing the team a start for the first five races of 2012. TRG suspended its NASCAR team for 2012. Lally left NASCAR and returned to the Rolex Sports Car Series.
| NASCAR Sprint 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 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | Owners | Pts | |||
| 2009 | Mike Wallace | 71 | Chevy | DAY DNQ | 37th | 2215 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| David Gilliland | CAL 33 | LVS 14 | ATL 24 | BRI 36 | MAR 36 | TEX 29 | PHO 33 | TAL 40 | RCH 39 | DAR 43 | CLT 27 | DOV 43 | POC 42 | MCH 32 | SON 32 | NHA 40 | DAY 40 | CHI 42 | IND 30 | POC 41 | MCH 40 | BRI 39 | DOV 39 | CAL 42 | MAR 39 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Andy Lally | GLN 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bobby Labonte | ATL 18 | NHA 22 | KAN 43 | TAL 10 | TEX 31 | PHO 39 | HOM 31 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bliss | RCH 42 | CLT 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Bobby Labonte | DAY 21 | CAL 27 | LVS 38 | ATL 22 | BRI 21 | MAR 29 | PHO 27 | TEX 23 | TAL 23 | RCH 33 | DAR 34 | DOV 39 | CLT 31 | POC 38 | MCH 41 | SON 23 | POC 28 | MCH 33 | ATL 31 | 35th | 2549 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Andy Lally | NHA 37 | GLN 18 | NHA 37 | CAL 36 | CLT 34 | TEX 34 | HOM 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bliss | DAY 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Landon Cassill | CHI 39 | IND 39 | BRI 37 | RCH 33 | DOV 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tony Raines | KAN 39 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hermie Sadler | MAR 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chad McCumbee | TAL 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brendan Gaughan | PHO 43 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Andy Lally | DAY 33 | PHO 31 | LVS 32 | BRI 32 | CAL 32 | 36th | 466 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ford | TEX 32 | TAL 19 | RCH 26 | DAR DNQ | DOV 33 | CLT DNQ | KAN 31 | POC 32 | MCH 36 | SON 35 | DAY 27 | KEN 32 | NHA 28 | IND 26 | POC 29 | GLN 24 | MCH 29 | BRI 25 | ATL 30 | RCH 32 | CHI 28 | NHA 34 | DOV 33 | KAN 37 | TAL 39 | TEX 29 | PHO DNQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Hermie Sadler | Chevy | MAR 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ford | CLT 33 | MAR 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bliss | HOM 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NASCAR Sprint 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 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | Owners | Pts | |||
| 2009 | David Gilliland | 70 | Chevy | DAY | CAL | LVS | ATL | BRI | MAR | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | NHA | DAY | CHI | IND | POC | GLN DNQ | MCH | BRI | ATL | RCH | NHA | DOV | KAN | CAL | CLT | MAR | TAL | 56th | 112 | ||||||
| Mike Skinner | TEX 43 | HOM DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kevin Conway | PHO DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Andy Lally | 77 | Ford | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | MAR | TEX | TAL | RCH | DAR | DOV | CLT | KAN | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | KEN | NHA | IND | POC | GLN | MCH | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | NHA | DOV | KAN | CLT 43 | 58th | 0 | ||||||||
| T. J. Bell | TAL DNQ | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Allen Labonte is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for NASCAR on Fox. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. Labonte is the 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He and his older brother, Terry Labonte, are one of only two pairs of brothers to have both won the Cup championships. He is also the uncle of former Xfinity Series race winner Justin Labonte.
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.
John Andrew Andretti was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. A member of the Andretti racing family, he was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, and first cousin to IndyCar champion Michael and Jeff Andretti.
Scott Donald Pruett is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors. Pruett started racing go karts at the age of 8 and went on to win 10 professional karting championships. In the 1980s, he established himself as a top American sports car racer, eventually winning two IMSA GTO championships and three Trans-Am Series championships.
Jan Heylen is a championship-winning Belgian racing driver, based out of Tampa, Florida.
Richard Westbrook is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup international championship and the Porsche Carrera Cup in his native Britain (2004). At the end of the 2007 season, Richard signed a factory contract deal with the German marque Porsche, and the British ace proceeded to take on the world's best on the other side of the Atlantic. The next year (2009), Westbrook won the highly coveted FIA GT2 Championship, taking four victories in the process, establishing himself firmly on the World motor sport stage and in the upper echelons of elite sports car drivers.
Colin Braun is an American racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 for Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the No. 04 CrowdStrike Mercedes AMG-GT3 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Series. Driving the ARX-06, he was part of the winning team of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Andrew J. Lally is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the Audi R8 for Magnus Racing and previously part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 78 Ford Mustang for Live Fast Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing.
Justin Marks is an American racing driver, entrepreneur, and current owner of Trackhouse Racing Team in the NASCAR Cup Series. He last competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 93 for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian in the GT Daytona class.
Jeremy Dale is a Canadian racing driver. His career in motorsports has spanned more than 30 years as a racer, television commentator, race series director, race team president, and race team owner.
Kevin Buckler is an American race car driver and entrepreneur. He founded Adobe Road Winery and currently owns The Racer's Group, a professional sports car racing team; TRG Motorsports, formerly a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team; and TRG-AMR. In 2019, Kevin launched a $56 racing-themed wine aptly named SHIFT. It comes from Adobe Road, a boutique winery in Sonoma County California.
Darren Law is a Canadian-born American racing driver.
Dane Cameron is an American racing driver from Glen Ellen, California. He won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship overall in 2016 and 2019, and also in the GTD class in 2014.
Lucas Luhr is a German BMW factory racing driver, currently competing for BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the GTLM category of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
Mike Rockenfeller, nicknamed "Rocky", is a German professional racing driver and was an Audi factory driver competing in the DTM and the FIA World Endurance Championship. He won his first DTM title in 2013, driving for Audi Sport Team Phoenix. He also won the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Dion von Moltke is an American-born race car driver who has participated under a South African racing license for the majority of his career. Von Moltke currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship GTD class with Paul Miller Racing in the #48 Audi R8 LMS with co-driver Christopher Haase. His early career involved an upbringing in karts and the Skip Barber National Championship.
The 2014 IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship (TUSC) was the inaugural season of the International Motor Sports Association's new series created out of a merger of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series and the first to be held under the name as the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. It began with the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first time since the 1997 IMSA GT Championship season that IMSA sanctioned an event at Daytona International Speedway on 25 January and ended on 4 October at Petit Le Mans. It was the 44th overall season of IMSA GT championship racing tracing its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship.
The 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was the 47th season of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship that traces its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. It was the fourth season of the United SportsCar Championship and second under the name as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It began on 28 January with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on 7 October with the Petit Le Mans.
Action Express Racing (AXR) is a sports car racing team that currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team is owned by NASCAR CEO Jim France and run by Bob Johnson and former NASCAR champion crew chief Gary Nelson. Based in Denver, North Carolina, the team currently fields the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh for Jack Aitken, Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims.
Zacharie Robichon is a Canadian sportscar racer, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wright Motorsports.
