Robert Santos III (born October 3, 1985) is an American professional racing driver from Franklin, Massachusetts. He graduated in 2004 from Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School. Santos, nicknamed "Bobby New England", is the grandson of Bobby Santos, a former modified racer. His sister, Erica Santos, is also a racecar driver. He is the cousin of former

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

quarterback Ricky Santos.

Early career

Before stock cars, Santos was a successful midget racer. He raced in the Northeastern Midget Association, USAC, PRA Big Car, and ISMA. He had the most wins of any driver in the USAC National Midget Tour in 2006, collecting five wins, including a win at

O'Reilly Raceway Park Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. I ...

on the

Night Before the 500 The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club dirt track car race held near Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over its his ...

. He was signed to

Bill Davis Racing Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009. The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in the Camping World Truck Series (Toyota Tundra) since 2004 and Sprint Cup Series ( T ...

ARCA career

In 2006, Santos made his stock car debut at

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretc ...

for Bill Davis Racing in the #02 Dodge. He started 10th and finished 6th. Bobby returned to ARCA in 2007 for Bill Davis, now in a

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

. He won Toyota's first stock car pole at

USA International Speedway The USA International Speedway was an oval located near Lakeland, Florida, United States, that opened in 1995. The track was a .75-mile-long concrete paved oval with 14° banked turns. USA International Speedway was closed with the final race on A ...

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

. While leading the race, he was involved in an incident with a lapped car and did not finish. He returned at

Nashville Superspeedway Nashville Superspeedway is a motor racing complex located in Gladeville, Tennessee, United States (though the track has a Lebanon postal address), about southeast of Nashville. The track was built in 2001 and is currently hosting the Ally 400, ...

, but had a mid-pack run. At

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in the Village West area near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also held races at the venue until 20 ...

, Bobby started second, but a blown engine relegated him to another DNF. Santos broke his dry spell at Kentucky Speedway when he started fourth and finished third, behind

Erik Darnell Erik Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the grandson of former USAC and NASCAR driver Bay Darnell, who also started three NASCAR races (including one for Holman Moody). Darnell formerly dr ...

and Erin Crocker. Santos placed third in the next race at Kentucky, as well. The third-generation racer won a pole at Pocono Raceway in early August and qualified fifth at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

, but was unable to back up either with a strong finish.

NASCAR career

In 2007, Santos made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at

Richmond International Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...

for the new Riley D'Hondt Motorsports team. He qualified seventh in his #91 Toyota but faded back to a thirtieth-place finish after running in the top 10 at the beginning of the race. He also qualified fourth for the Camping World 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and was running in the top 10 before being hit by a lapped car. He ran two additional races for RDHM but did not finish better than 30th. Santos has also participated in the

Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

, collecting his first two wins at Thompson International Speedway in October 2007, and the Ice Breaker, also at Thompson International Speedway, in April 2010. He parlayed his season-opening Icebreaker win into the 2010

championship, collecting a total of four wins and four poles on the season. Santos ran the 2011 Nationwide Series opener for

Jimmy Means James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing. He compe ...

in what was a back-up JR Motorsports car after wrecking the 52 in practice; the Earnhardt family has a long friendship with the independent owner and former driver. Santos finished 17th after vowing to run the race in its entirety.

Current career

After his stint in stock car racing, Santos returned to his roots, racing the full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for Bob Garbarino's Mystic Missile Racing team and a limited schedule in all three USAC divisions. Santos also made select appearances in the NEMA ranks in 2009. Santos' post-NASCAR career has been highlighted by wins in many of the nation's largest midget races, including the

Turkey Night Grand Prix The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving nig ...

and Copper World Classic. He also won the 2020 Little 500 USAC Sprint car race at

Anderson Speedway Anderson Speedway is a quarter mile (400 m) high-banked paved oval racetrack in Anderson, Indiana, United States. The track hosts the annual Little 500 sprint car race and the Redbud 400 stock car race. Weekly racing features several stock ca ...

. He will drive part-time in the NASCAR

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

in 2012 for

Tommy Baldwin Racing Tommy Baldwin Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the modified ranks. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, and is owned by former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., son of the late modified ...

and will continue to compete on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour behind the wheel of the Tinio Corporation No. 44. Santos registered back-to-back

Musket 250 The Musket 250 is a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Whelen Modified Series has been racing since September 2, 1990. This race was originally 125 laps, but in 1997 was reduced to 100 laps. This race was held d ...

wins in 2019 and 2020.

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.)

Nationwide Series

Camping World Truck Series

Ineligible for series points

Whelen Modified Tour

ARCA Re/Max Series

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

Superstar Racing Experience

( key) * – Most laps led. ¹ – Heat 1 winner. ² – Heat 2 winner. Season still in progress

References

External links

*
Bobby Santos
at USAC Racing {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Bobby III Living people 1985 births People from Franklin, Massachusetts Racing drivers from Massachusetts NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers