Empire Racing Group (often just called Empire Racing) is an American professional
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
team that currently competes in the
ARCA Menards Series
The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...
, fielding the No. 8
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
and
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
s for driver
Sean Corr
Sean Corr (born February 21, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. He currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet SS for Empire Racing. Corr is also the president of Education ...
and in
late model
A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.)
The precise definition ...
s with the No. 44 of Lexi Gay, the No. 46 of
Thad Moffitt
Thaddeus D. Moffitt (born September 12, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Silverado for Reaume Brothers Racing and the No. 2 ...
, and the No. 9 of Harrison Moffitt. The team has an alliance with
Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises, with ...
. They have also competed in the
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...
in the past.
History
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
The team fielded the No. 82
Ford F-150
The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. ...
part-time in the Truck Series starting in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
. They made their debut at Pocono with Sean Corr driving, finishing 25th. The team attempted one more race at
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
, but they failed to qualify.
Sean Corr made his first Truck starts at Daytona (which was a DNQ) and Talladega in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
as well as Pocono for the second straight year.
The team had other drivers in addition to Corr in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, with
Jake Crum
Christopher Jake Crum (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver.
Racing career
Through 2006, Crum captured multiple National Championships through the WKA, IKF, and INEX organizations. In 2007, Crum became th ...
racing at
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
and dirt driver
Cody Erickson
Cody E. Erickson (born September 22, 1988) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Silverado for Cram Racing Enterprises.
Career
A dir ...
attempting to qualify for
Eldora. After he failed to qualify to the race after just coming short in the last-chance qualifier, the team invited him back for a pavement start at
Martinsville that October, which he did qualify for.
Empire fielded K&N Series driver
Austin Hill
Austin Edward Hill (born April 21, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver and former team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
for four races in 2015 at Daytona,
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, Talladega, and Martinsville. Corr made his first start at Eldora that year in the No. 82, with Erickson driving a second truck for the team, the No. 35, where the team leased owner points from
Win-Tron Racing
Win-Tron Racing (formerly known as Country Joe Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series. The team merged into Truck Series team AM Racing b ...
instead of fielding a separate truck of their own so Erickson could have a better chance of qualifying (which he successfully did). They did the same thing at Martinsville with Jim Weiler since Austin Hill was already in the No. 82, but Weiler did not qualify for what would have been his debut race in the Truck Series.
With the team allying with
Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises, with ...
starting in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, they switched to run the famous Petty No. 43 for their primary truck. Austin Hill returned to Empire at Daytona, where he did not qualify for the race, which had a large entry list of 43 trucks for just 32 spots. Hill was set to leave after that to form his team, the No. 20, so he did not run any more races for the team after that.
The team picked up
Korbin Forrister
Robert Korbin Forrister (born November 16, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving the Nos. 7 and 17 Toyota Tundras for All Out Motorsports. In ...
to drive the No. 43 at Eldora, who was making his first Truck attempt after his team, the No. 59 for
Lira Motorsports
Lira Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East. Owned by Carlos and Amanda Lira, the team made its debut in the ARCA Menards Series in 2015, fielding multi ...
, closed down after just two races. The team entered a second truck for that race again this year, with the team bringing back their old number, the No. 82, for Sean Corr. Both Empire trucks failed to qualify for that race.
The team has not attempted any more Truck Series races since then, as they have focused on expanding their ARCA team back up to three cars.
ARCA Menards Series
2009–2016
The first series the team raced in was the ARCA Racing Series. Beginning in
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, the team fielded the No. 82 Ford for Sean Corr part-time. In 2009, Corr attempted
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, both races at
Pocono (his home track) and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
For
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, the team switched numbers for unknown reasons to the No. 83 at
Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it.
Daytona may also refer to:
Locations
* Daytona Beach Shores, Florida
* South Daytona, Florida
* The Daytona Beach metropolitan area
* Halifax area, also known as Da ...
, but they used the No. 82 again for the rest of their attempts, which were at
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
,
Talladega,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, and both Pocono races again with Corr and
New Jersey Motorsports Park
New Jersey Motorsports Park is a road course "Motorsports Entertainment Complex" located in Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It has hosted races since opening in 2008 and currently hosts a schedule including MotoAmerica P ...
with
road course ringer
In NASCAR, a road course ringer, also known as road course specialist, road course expert, or a road runner, is a non-NASCAR driver who is hired by a NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series team to race specifically on road courses.
, current ...
Robert Mitten.
In
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, Corr ran for rookie of the year in ARCA and the No. 82 team ran full-time for the first time. Corr finished ninth in points and scored two top-tens at
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
and
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
. Former driver
Richard Johns
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edward Johns, (born 28 July 1939) is a retired senior Royal Air Force commander. He was a fighter pilot in the 1960s, commanding officer of a squadron during the 1970s and a station commander in the 1980s. Johns ...
was announced to serve as the team's crew chief that year.
Corr started the 2012 season with a bang by winning the pole for the season opener at Daytona after
Bobby Gerhart
Robert Gerhart Jr. (born July 21, 1958) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the ARCA Menards Series, driving Chevrolet SS for Gerhart Racing and the No. 63 Chevy Silverado for his own team in a joint e ...
's time was disqualified. However, they finished last because of engine issues. Due to sponsorship, the team announced they had to cut back to part-time after four races, and they only ran the first race at Pocono for the remainder of that year. After just that race, they decided to focus their attention on the Truck Series.
The team returned to ARCA at Daytona, Talladega, and Pocono in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
. Corr got the team's first top-5 finish at Daytona. Empire did not attempt any more races until the second Pocono race, where rookie
Mason Mitchell
Mason Mitchell (born June 25, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competed in the ARCA Racing Series as an owner/driver, driving the No. 98 for Mason Mitchell Motorsports. He is the 2014 ARCA Racing Seri ...
drove the No. 82 after he was released from Roulo Brothers Racing. The team would run the rest of the races with Mitchell in his quest for rookie of the year.
In 2014, the team fielded two cars at Daytona with Canadian Cole Powell driving the No. 8 (switching numbers from the No. 82) and Sean Corr in the No. 48 for the team in a partnership with
James Hylton Motorsports
Brad Smith Motorsports (formerly known as Hylton Engineering and James Hylton Motorsports) is a former NASCAR and current ARCA race team. It was one of the oldest professional race teams in the United States, running from 1964 to 1994; 1997–9 ...
. The only other ARCA race Empire ran in 2014 was at
Salem
Salem may refer to: Places
Canada
Ontario
* Bruce County
** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie
** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce
* Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
in September with Cody Erickson, who drove for the team at the Truck race at
Eldora earlier in the year.
They brought three cars to Daytona in 2015.
Austin Hill
Austin Edward Hill (born April 21, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver and former team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
and
Patrick Staropoli
Patrick Staropoli (born November 10, 1989) is an American ophthalmologist and professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 07 for Young's Motorsports in a partnership w ...
each made their ARCA debuts in the No. 8 and 82 cars, respectfully, and Corr returned to the No. 48 with the alliance with
Hylton's team.
For the third year in a row, Corr drove at Daytona in the No. 48. Empire Racing entered one other car, the No. 82, for
Dylan Lupton
Dylan Jarin Lupton (born December 7, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports. He has also competed ...
, who was without a ride at the start of the season after driving in the Xfinity Series part-time the year before. For the rest of the year, the team teamed with James Hylton Motorsports for additional races at
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
,
IRP, and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
with Dylan Martin as well as Sean Corr running Talladega and the first Pocono race for the first time in three years.
2017–present
![Thad Moffitt Pocono 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Thad_Moffitt_Pocono_2018.jpg)
The team's main car in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
was the No. 46, which Corr drove at Daytona.
Thad Moffitt
Thaddeus D. Moffitt (born September 12, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Silverado for Reaume Brothers Racing and the No. 2 ...
,
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 ...
's great-grandson, made his ARCA debut in the car for three races at Nashville,
Toledo, and IRP. John Ferrier, who is from
Middletown, New York (not far from
Goshen, where the Corr family is from), joined the team and merged it with his own. He drove the No. 46 at both Pocono races.
Ferrier returned to the No. 46 for Daytona in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
. Kaden Honeycutt made his first two series starts for Empire at Salem and IRP driving the No. 43, a second car to the No. 46. Corr also drove the No. 43 at his usual starts at Daytona and Pocono. He ran Talladega in the No. 46.
Towards the end of the 2018 season, the team purchased Chevrolet's from the closed Mason Mitchell Motorsports team. They had been trying to switch over their fleet of cars to Chevrolets since
Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises, with ...
had already switched from Ford to Chevrolet for their Cup team. In some races, such as Pocono in June, the team had to run their Fords unbadged (in other words, with the Ford logo covered up) due to RPM's manufacturer change.
The team expanded back to three cars for Daytona for the first time since 2015, with the team entering the No. 43 for Corr, the No. 44 (another Petty number) for Ferrier, and the No. 46 for Moffitt, who turned 18 and was now eligible to run Daytona. The team's late model driver, Lexi Gay, attempted Nashville in the No. 44. Moffitt and the No. 46 team attempted six more races that year (plus withdrawing from three others).
ThePitLane.com reported in November 2019 that there were rumors Empire may be leaving ARCA for the
NASCAR Xfinity 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 ...
starting in 2020. An image of Gay's No. 44 car from the Nashville race in 2019 is for sale on RacingJunk.com, which ThePitLane claims has been on there for months.
Thad Moffitt was announced to be driving a car for
DGR-Crosley
TRICON Garage, formally known as David Gilliland Racing and Team DGR, is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East, the ARCA Menards S ...
at Daytona in February instead of with Empire. The team filed an entry for Daytona with Corr driving a No. 8 car (one of the team's old numbers before they partnered with Petty). Also, as per the Daytona entry list, John Ferrier appears to have restarted his team this season instead of driving with Empire.
References
External links
*
*
{{Chevrolet in NASCAR
NASCAR teams
ARCA Menards Series teams