DiGard Racing was a championship-winning race team in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

that had its most success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The team won the 1983 Winston Cup championship with

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

at the wheel. The team was started in 1973 based in a racecar garage near the Daytona speedway. In its history, the team fielded cars for

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

in 1973 and 1974 before replacing him with

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...

in August 1975. Waltrip posted the team's first win in October 1975 at

Richmond Fairgrounds 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 ...

. In 1976 the team negotiated with Stokely-Van Camp's and acquired

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

sponsorship, but after a 1976 season where they won just one race and fell out of over ten races, the team opened a shop in Charlotte, NC and closed down the Daytona shop; with closer access to parts suppliers the team became a consistent winner in 1977. But following the 1983 season where

won his and the team's only

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

championship, the team fell from the top echelon of the sport.403 Forbidden
and had its last Winston Cup start in 1987.DiGard Winston Cup Owner Statistics - Racing-Reference.info
/ref> Allison won twice in 1984, but the team struggled in 1985; when DiGard entered a second car at the 1985 Firecracker 400 and won under

Greg Sacks Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka. Sacks has spent most of his career as ...

, Allison quit the team. Robert Yates, who later founded his

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

championship-winning NASCAR team, was an important member of the DiGard team as its primary engine builder from August 1976 to January 1986. Yates abruptly left DiGard in 1986 before the Daytona 500. Robin Pemberton also was part of the team.

Opening history

The team was founded in part by Mike DiProspero and Bill Gardner, who were brothers-in-law. The team name came from combining their last names: DiProspero and Gardner..

, already established on the circuit, was their first driver. After failing to qualify for the 1973 Daytona 500, the team made its debut at the 1973 Richmond 500, finishing 25th. Allison had an invested stock in the team, and at the 1974 Daytona 500 he led 41 laps but a backmarker’s blown engine with eleven laps to go blew out both front tires; Donnie finished sixth. He won two poles and finished second at Nashville, but failed to finish eleven races; the 88 nonetheless ended 1974 finishing third at Martinsville, fourth after leading forty laps at Charlotte, and sixth at Rockingham. The team held an open house for media at their Daytona shop before the 1975 500 and team president Bill Gardner stated the team had spent one million dollars in the 1973-74 seasons. But the 1975 season began badly with another engine failure, this time in the 500. Donnie Allison managed only four top ten finishes in the first half of 1975 and in July that year Donnie Allison was let go, Jim Gardner - Bill’s brother and the team’s secretary-treasurer) - was given more authority in running the team. Darrell Waltrip was named the new driver.

The No. 88 Gatorade car and Darrell Waltrip

Waltrip drove twelve of the last thirteen races in the 1975 season, posting the team’s first victory, at Richmond. The

brand then signed on board as a sponsor beginning in 1976. For the 1976 season Waltrip won at Martinsville and posted ten other top five finishes but only finished fourteen times. Long time crew chief Mario Rossi and engine men Carroll “Stump” Davis and Keith Harlan were fired that August, and engine builders Marion “Ducky” Newman and Robert Yates were hired. The team moved to a new Charlotte shop before the 1977 season and surged to the fore of NASCAR, winning the

Rebel 500 The Goodyear 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. A race was held in May at the track in 1952, however the event did not become a regular one on the NASCAR schedule until 1957, as a race in th ...

and the Winston 500 in dramatic fashion. Waltrip posted six wins in 1977, four of them on superspeedways. He posted six more wins in 1978, but this time four of his wins came on short tracks. Waltrip became disenchanted with team ownership and publicly stated he would join the

Ranier Racing Ranier Racing with MDM, formerly known as Ranier-Lundy, was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the K&N Pro Series East, and the ARCA Racing Series. The team formerly compete ...

team then driven by

Lennie Pond Lennie Wayne Pond (August 11, 1940 – February 10, 2016) was an American NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier. Pond ...

. Team owner Bill Gardner, however, refused to let Waltrip out of his contract, and driver and ownership met to iron out their differences. To the surprise of the sport's followers, Waltrip signed a four-year contract with DiGard before the 1979 season. Waltrip nearly won the 1979 championship, coming second and losing by 11 points to

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

in the championship. Waltrip and DiGard had led for most of the season that year, leading the championship with a wide lead until the last races. The impact of the loss angered Waltrip and his contract situation with the team became an issue again. Darrell attempted to sign a contract with Penske Enterprises to drive for them, but the deal fell through after Roger Penske was told of Waltrip's agreement with DiGard. Crew chief

Buddy Parrott James Kenneth "Buddy" Parrott is an American NASCAR crew chief. Over 18 years, Parrott won 49 races. Parrott's sons Todd and Brad also served as crew chiefs. Career Parrott's career began in 1968 when he became a tire changer for Huggins Tire, ...

was fired at the end of 1979 but then rehired in 1980. Waltrip and Parrott won four of the 1980 season's first sixteen races but was fired in June; Parrott finished the season with the Ranier team.403 Forbidden
/ref> By the time autumn 1980 had happened, Waltrip had several engine failures that put him out of sight of a championship. He constantly blamed the team in the press for his struggles to progress to a higher level, comparing himself to the Iranian hostages. He also publicly said he would never win a championship as long as he drove for them. The team responded by alleging that Waltrip purposely overdrove some of their engines, costing them their chances at the title, and vowing that if performance did not improve, they would put Waltrip in their secondary car to

Don Whittington Reginald Donald Whittington (born January 23, 1946) is an American former racing driver from Lubbock, Texas, who won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans together with his brother Bill Whittington and Klaus Ludwig in a Porsche 935, although Ludwig, a mult ...

until his 5-year contract ran out. During the 1980 season, several key team members made an exodus from the team, tired of the constant drama between driver and ownership. Gatorade was not too pleased with the controversies surrounding the team, putting DiGard in a win-or-die situation. Looking to get out, Waltrip set up his own contract buyout out of his own pocket to leave DiGard, landing at Junior Johnson Racing. Waltrip would later say in a 2020 podcast with Jayski.com that the team was a championship-caliber team and the employees were great people. However, he "wasn't happy" working for them and that "it wasn't anybody's fault. We just weren't meant for each other." Gardner, in an interview with the same podcast, would say in response that the team was willing to let Waltrip move on, but he was trying to leave the team in a way that was unfair for the team's sponsor, and the contract he signed required a financial settlement if he was going to move on; once that happened, "we let him go."

No. 88 car post-Darrell Waltrip

The No. 88 Gatorade car was driven by

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was named ...

for

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, garnering three pole positions that season. Rudd posted fourteen top five finishes but failed to win.Ricky Rudd 1981 Winston Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info
/ref>

, who had been recruited by the team years before, joined the team in 1982. He exploded to eight victories in 1982 and finished second to Darrell Waltrip in the points championship. During this season, Allison encountered the same money problems in the team that Waltrip had witnessed; he signed a new contract with DiGard in large part thinking it would get him back payments the team had withheld during the season. In spite of his differences with leadership, Allison would win the 1983 Winston Cup championship after barely having a slightly better season than former driver, Waltrip. It was both DiGard and Allison's first championship in NASCAR competition. For 1983 the Gatorade colors adorned a new Chevrolet Monte Carlo, but just before the season

Miller High Life The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...

beer sponsorship joined the team and the car number was changed to No. 22. Gatorade and the number 88 then switched to Cliff Stewart's Pontiac and driver

Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florida ...

The No. 22 Miller car and Bobby Allison

Allison raced with the team, driving the Miller High Life car, and won the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup championship. He began driving Chevrolets in the first three races; in March, the team was denied access to nose pieces for their Monte Carlos as the

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

team was given primary access to parts. The team switched to Buicks it had run the previous season. In all, the No. 22 won six races in the 1983 season. But the team's finances continued to deteriorate. Allison won twice in 1984, but the team was inconsistent; it was involved supplying engines to the

Curb Racing Curb Racing is a former NASCAR team competing mainly in the Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series from 1984–2011. The team was owned by Mike Curb, CEO of Curb Records and 45th Lieutenant Governor of California. Curb also had numerous business p ...

team driven by

and the two teams were at loggerheads over provision of engines and payments; the team's deal with Curb ended after the

1984 Firecracker 400 The 1984 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 4, 1984, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Richard Petty, driving the #43 Pontiac for Curb Racing, won the race. The victo ...

. The team entered a second car, for

, for the 1985 Firecracker 400. In what was a huge upset for the sport, Sacks won the race, but the entry of two cars violated Allison's contract with the team. The win resulted in Allison's departure, and was the beginning of the end for the team's time in Winston Cup competition.

1985 Firecracker 400 win

In 1985, DiGard had Allison battling for the championship in the No. 22 Miller High Life car. For the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, DiGard set up and raced what is called a

Research & Development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

car (a

one-off In the field of vehicles authorized to drive, a one-off vehicle is a vehicle that was manufactured only once. The production of unique vehicles is reduced to one unit in each case. The easiest cases to analyze are those of cars and motorcycles. Un ...

unsponsored car numbered 10 entered to a race primarily for team improvement) with

at the helm. Instead of simply doing its intended purpose — running a small number of laps and collecting data about the track that DiGard could use for Allison's car — Sacks drove the car to an unexpected victory. It was later alleged that the car snuck through inspection with an oversized engine, and thus the team cheated. NASCAR did not find anything wrong with the No. 10 in post-race inspection, however, and Sacks' win stood. The impact of the R&D car's victory was significant. Reportedly angered that the team was focusing its attention elsewhere, Allison, who had won the 1983 championship driving for the team, quit and Sacks was hired to race for the rest of the year, but did not capture another Top-5 finish in 1985.Greg Sacks 1985 Winston Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info
/ref> Allison went on to drive for

Stavola Brothers Racing Stavola Brothers Racing was a NASCAR racing team, owned by Bill and Mickey Stavola, and operating NASCAR Winston Cup team from 1984 through 1998. The team won the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison behind the wheel of the No. 12 Miller High Lif ...

and took the Miller sponsorship with him following the season.

End in NASCAR

The allegations of cheating — combined with reported money troubles — shook the team, and some say imploded it. Bobby Allison left the team midseason in 1985, engine builder Robert Yates left during the 1986 season, and the team ran a limited schedule and a myriad of drivers during their final seasons. The team's last NASCAR Winston Cup entry was in 1987 with

Rodney Combs Rodney Combs (born March 27, 1950) is an American former stock car racing driver. He has not been in NASCAR since 1997, when he was released from his ride in the Busch Series. Combs entered NASCAR after many years on the open-wheel and short tra ...

. The team's final three starts were with Combs early in the 1987 season, including entries without sponsorship.Rodney Combs 1987 Winston Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info
/ref> During that offseason,

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in, and the County seat, seat of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Keene is ho ...

businessman Bob Whitcomb bought the assets and the points to the team and rechristened it as "Bob Whitcomb Racing". Bill Gardner today is a part of an effort to make a racetrack in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

a success. His brother, Jim Gardner, died. Mike DiProspero died in 2017 following a lengthy illness.

Bob Whitcomb Racing

During the offseason, Whitcomb hired fellow New Englander

Ken Bouchard Ken Bouchard (pronounced BOO-shard, born April 6, 1955) is an American former NASCAR driver and the 1988 Rookie of the Year. His brother Ron Bouchard was the 1981 Rookie of the Year and one-time Winston Cup Series race winner. Modified career ...

to pilot the number 10 Ford and contend for Rookie of the Year, which Bouchard would win. In 1989, Bouchard returned and the team switched from Ford to Pontiac. Five races into the 1989 season, Bouchard was fired in favor of Derrike Cope, who had recently left Jim Testa's 68 car. Cope also brought sponsorship from

Purolator Filters MANN+HUMMEL Purolator Filters LLC, more commonly known as Purolator, is an American manufacturer of oil and air filters, based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Since 2013, it has been a subsidiary of German filter manufacturer Mann+Hummel. Pur ...

to the team. Together, the team garnered four top 10 finishes in 1989, more than the team had scored with Bouchard. For the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, Whitcomb racing would switch from the

Pontiac Grand Prix The Grand Prix is a line of automobiles produced by the Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1962 until 2002 for coupes and 1989–2008 for sedans. First introduced as a full-size performance coupe for the 1962 model year, the model varied ...

to the

Chevrolet Lumina The Chevrolet Lumina is a mid-size car that was produced and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1989 until 2001. __TOC__ Background The first generation of the Lumina replaced the Chevrolet Celebrity and Chevrolet Mon ...

, receiving technical support from

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

. Cope and Purolator would both return to the team. 1990 would be the break out season for both the team and Cope. After a strong Speedweeks, Cope was running in the second position behind

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

in the

1990 Daytona 500 The 1990 Daytona 500, the 32nd running of the event, was held on February 18, 1990 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida over 200 laps on the 2.5 mile (4 km) asphalt tri-oval. The first race of the 1990 ...

. On the final lap, Earnhardt would blow a tire allowing Cope to slide under and score his first career win. Cope would again win later that season at Dover. These would be Cope's only victories in Cup. In 1991 Purolator and Cope returned to the team. Cope posted two top 10 finishes and one top 5. Cope and Purolator again returned for the 1992 season. The team posted three top tens in the 1992 season. The team lost sponsorship from Purolator and this effectively caused Bob Whitcomb to shut the team down, leaving Cope without a ride. Cope was subsequently offered to drive the 98 for

Cale Yarborough Motorsports Cale Yarborough Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team that ran from 1987 to 2000. Ownership In 1986, The Race Hill Farms owner Jack Beebe sold his No. 47 Team to Cale Yarborough who wanted to drive part-time. He bought the team and s ...

, in turn leaving

Jimmy Hensley James Hensley (born October 11, 1945) is a former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th season in the seri ...

without a team for the start of the 1993 season.

DiGard Driver history

(1973–1975) *

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 3 ...

(1975) *

(1975–1980) *

(1980) *

(1981) *

(1982–1985) *

Jimmy Insolo Jimmy Insolo (born February 4, 1943) is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race driver whose career spanned from 1970 to 1983. Career Insolo began his career at Saugus Speedway, where he became one of the top drivers at the track. In addition to his W ...

(1983) *

(1985–1986) *

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

(1985) *

Ken Ragan Kenneth Ragan (born September 12, 1950) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he formerly competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and is the father of driver David Ragan. Career Ragan made 50 Cup starts from 1982 to 1990, mos ...

(1985) *

Willy T. Ribbs William Theodore Ribbs Jr. (born January 3, 1955) is a retired American race car driver, racing owner, and sport shooter known for being the first African-American man to have tested a Formula One car (he did so in 1986) and to compete in the Ind ...

(1986) *

Trevor Boys Trevor Boys (born November 3, 1957) is a Canadian race car driver. He raced in 102 Winston Cup races from 1982 to 1993, posting two top-ten finishes, and ran six races in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2003, his best finish a 22nd at Memphis Motors ...

(1986) * Jeff Swindell (1986) *

(1987)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Digard Motorsports American auto racing teams Defunct NASCAR teams Auto racing teams established in 1973 Sports clubs disestablished in 1987