FDNY Racing, formerly named Jim Rosenblum Racing, Jocko's Racing, Linro Motorsports, and Golden Annie 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 competes in the
NASCAR Craftsman 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 ...
, fielding the No. 28
Chevrolet Silverado
The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from th ...
part-time for
Bryan Dauzat
Bryan Keith Dauzat (pronounced "dough-zuh"; born November 30, 1959) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet Silverado for FDNY Racing. He has ...
.
FDNY Racing consists of volunteers from the
New York City Fire and
Police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
Departments,
with all winnings earned being donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Widow's and Children's Fund.
Team history
Jim Rosenblum
Jim Rosenblum (born January 9th, 1940), a native of
Mamaroneck, New York
Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States.
The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of Ma ...
, was a street
drag racer
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...
in his youth. After being inspired by friend and
1960 Indianapolis 500
The 44th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Monday, May 30, 1960. The event was part of the 1960 USAC National Championship Trail and was also race 3 of 10 in the 1960 World Cha ...
winner
Jim Rathmann
Jim Rathmann (July 16, 1928 – November 23, 2011), born Royal Richard Rathmann, was an American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960.
He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series in the 1949–1950 and 1952–1963 seaso ...
, he began competing in the
Trans-Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
in the 1960s, later winning a championship.
He began owning stock car teams in 1968.
Rosenblum operates FDNY Racing with his own money. To continue running the team, in 2005, he cashed in his
life insurance policy
Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...
. His brother Norman, the former mayor of Mamaroneck, also works on the team.
In 2004, New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
awarded Rosenblum the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
''s
Liberty Medal Award. Four years later, he was named an Honorary Battalion Chief by the FDNY.
Winston Cup Series
During the 1980s, Rosenblum formed Linro Motorsports, which began fielding cars in the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
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, ...
for friend
Jocko Maggiacomo
Chauncey T. Maggiacomo Jr. (born November 30, 1947) known as "Jocko" or, in high school, as "Chant," is a racing car driver from Poughkeepsie, New York. He is infamous for T-boning Bobby Allison, all but ending both careers.
His father Chauncey T ...
in 1983.
He drove for the team until he was involved in a serious wreck at
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
in 1988. In his place, Rosenblum hired sports car veteran
Oma Kimbrough as a
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 ...
for the
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
races, which he ran in the No. 13 from 1989 to 1991.
Linro later established the Golden Annie Racing banner, which
Randy LaJoie
Randall Joesph LaJoie (born August 28, 1961) is a former NASCAR Busch Series race car driver (now the Xfinity Series), where he won the championship in 1996 and 1997. He is the father of racers Casey and Corey LaJoie.
Early racing career
LaJo ...
raced under at the turn of the decade. Other Cup drivers for Rosenblum included
Eddie Bierschwale
Eddie Bierschwale (born June 29, 1959) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver from San Antonio, Texas. He made his Cup debut in 1983 in a car owned by his father Don. In 1985 he got a full-season ride with D.K. Ulrich and stayed with the team unti ...
,
Gary Balough
Gary Balough (born September 16, 1947) is a retired stock car racing driver who competed from 1979 to 1992.
Career
Throughout the 1970s, Balough expanded his racing across the entire East Coast. He moved from Late Models in the Southeast to Dirt ...
,
Jeff McClure
Jeffrey McClure (born January 22, 1967) is an American former stock car racing driver who raced for multiple years in all three major NASCAR series as well as what is now the ARCA Menards Series. Since the conclusion of his driving career, McClur ...
,
Bob Schacht
Robert Earl Schacht (born January 24, 1950) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he is a native of Lombard, Illinois. He competed in 26 NASCAR events between 1981 and 1997 in the Winston Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Ser ...
and
Kerry Teague
Kerry Wayne Teague (January 12, 1961 – September 11, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR competition in the Winston Cup Series and SuperTruck Series.
Career
Teague competed in the short-lived Sportsman Series in ...
until 1993 with No. 13, 27 and 29. Rosenblum's team had a best finish of 24th, accomplished twice by Maggiacomo and Kimbrough at Pocono and Watkins Glen, respectively.
After the creation of the Truck Series, Rosenblum fielded Cup and Truck teams until he shut down the former due to rising costs.
Truck Series
Truck No. 28 history
Rosenblum started a team in the Truck Series'
inaugural 1995 season for Teague as the No. 51; Teague's best finish with the team was 13th, achieved at
Tucson Raceway Park
Tucson Speedway is a paved oval racetrack located at the Pima County Fairgrounds, off Interstate 10 just south of Tucson, Arizona. It is one of only three paved ovals in the state of Arizona (the others are Phoenix Raceway and Havasu 95 Speed ...
and
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...
. In 1996, Rosenblum fielded one-off runs for
T. J. Clark,
Ritchie Petty, and
Perry Tripp
Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also made ...
before shutting the team down due to monetary problems. They did one last attempt in 1997 with Terry McCarthy, but did not qualify.
Two years later, he revived the operation and fielded trucks for
Ronnie Hoover (1999) and
Kenny Allen and
Conrad Burr
Conrad Burr (born November 23, 1968) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 2000 to 2003. Burr also drove numerous races in the NASCAR Southeast Series, particularly in the mid and ...
(2000). In 1999, they also changed the number to 28. Kenny Allen would then fail to qualify at Daytona in 2001.
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in 2001, Rosenblum associated with retired firefighter Lt. Mike Bolnik, who suggested rebranding the team to support those affected. Partnering with
RahMoc Enterprises
Rahmoc Enterprises is a former NASCAR Winston Cup team that operated from 1978 to 1993. The team was owned by long-time engine builder Bob Rahilly and Butch Mock. Butch Mock and Bob Rahilly split in 1992, with the race team becoming Butch Mock ...
owner
Bob Rahilly, Rosenblum would rename the team FDNY Racing in 2002.
Burr returned to the team in 2002, qualifying for all but one race in six attempts.
Joe Ruttman
Joe Ruttman (born October 28, 1944) is a retired American stock car racing driver who competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. With 13 career wins in the Truck Series he is currently tied for 13th ...
also ran a race for the team at
Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...
. Kenny Allen attempted Daytona in 2002 but didn't qualify. L. W. Miller would attempt Martinsville in 2002 but did not qualify. In 2003,
L. W. Miller
Wayne L. W. Miller III (born July 20, 1973) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a member of the Earnhardt family, as the husband of Kelley Earnhardt Miller. Miller is the 2008 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion a ...
ran the first five races of the season.
A year later,
Buddy Davis
Walter Francis "Buddy" Davis (January 5, 1931 – November 17, 2020) was an American athlete. After winning a gold medal in the high jump at the 1952 Olympics he became a professional basketball player.[Indianapolis 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, do ...]
. Also in 2004, L. W. Miller attempted Daytona but did not qualify.
In 2005, for the season opener at
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
, the truck ran with a decal stating "Always remember... never forget" and the names of firefighters Lt. Curtis Meyran, John Bellew, and Richard Sclafani; the three had died on
Black Sunday in fires earlier in the year. The team attempted two races with
David Ragan
David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox ...
in 2005, including another run at Lowe's, but failed to qualify for both. The team made a return to a race in 2006 with
Carl Long
James Carlyle "Carl" Long (born September 20, 1967) is an American professional stock car racing driver, mechanic, and team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 66 Toyota Supra for MBM Motorsports. In th ...
at
Lowe's Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...
. Long also made 2 other attempts, but he only made Charlotte. In 2007,
Brandon Knupp
Brandon Knupp (born February 2, 1986) is an American former stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Racing career
Knupp competed in 27 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races between 2007 and 2012. H ...
did 2 races, and
Shane Sieg
Rodney Shane Sieg (August 23, 1982 – August 19, 2017) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He last drove the No. 93 S&W Services Chevrolet for RSS Racing. He was the older brother of Xfinity Series driver Ryan Sieg.
Racing car ...
attempted Martinsville. Sieg did not qualify. In 2008,
Wayne Edwards attempted 4 races but made 2. In 2009,
Andy Lally
Andrew J. Lally (born February 11, 1975) 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, dr ...
attempted 2 races but made one of them. Edwards returned at Charlotte, only to DNQ there. In 2010, L. W. Miller, Wayne Edwards, Andy Lally, and
Chad McCumbee
Chad McCumbee (born October 15, 1984) is an American stock car racing driver. He currently drives in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and has run four full seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He is also known for his portray ...
attempted races for the team. Lally and McCumbee made their races, while Miller and Edwards did not.
Wes Burton raced for the team in 2011. Also in 2011,
Grant Enfinger
Grant McArthur Enfinger (born January 22, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. Before moving up to the Truck S ...
attempted Daytona but did not qualify. In 2012,
Wes Burton returned to make 5 attempts but only made 1 of them. In 2013,
Blake Koch
Blake Koch (born August 7, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. He is also the founder of FilterTime, a res ...
and
Dominick Casola
Dominick Casola (born August 17, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver who most recently competed in what is now the ARCA Menards Series in 2013. He drove in ARCA for a total of four seasons full or part-time. He also ran two r ...
contested a race each.
Also in 2013,
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (WSMT) was a stock car racing series owned by NASCAR and operated in the Southeastern United States as part of its Modified Division. The series began in 1989 as the Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams (S. ...
driver
Andy Seuss
Andrew T. Seuss (born March 15, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He won two consecutive championships in 2014 and 2015 in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. Seuss has also competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR ...
attempted to make his series debut at
Rockingham Speedway
Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...
, but missed the race.
In 2014,
Grand-Am
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...
driver
Ryan Ellis
Ryan James Ellis (born January 3, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ellis was drafted eleventh overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft ...
tested with the team at Daytona's Preseason Thunder session and led the speed charts with a speed of .
On January 22, he joined the team on a part-time basis starting with Daytona's
NextEra Energy Resources 250
The NextEra Energy 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season at Daytona International Speedway and as of 2004 has been held under the lights. It is the Truck Series event of Speedweeks – the series of races leading u ...
.
During the race at Charlotte, Ellis was involved in a crash 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 ...
, which destroyed FDNY's truck. After receiving some funding from a
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
campaign and Ellis'
Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...
college fraternity, the team returned at Pocono. During the year,
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 ...
driver
Bryan Dauzat
Bryan Keith Dauzat (pronounced "dough-zuh"; born November 30, 1959) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet Silverado for FDNY Racing. He has ...
made his Truck Series debut in the No. 28 at
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...
, where he finished last after completing just four laps due to suspension problems. 2015 marked the FDNY's 150th Anniversary, during which FDNY and Ellis attempted three races, qualifying at Daytona and Bristol, where he finished 16th and 20th, respectively. Andy Seuss also tried to make Talladega that year as well, but missed the race.
Seuss returned to the team in 2016, finally making his Truck debut at Charlotte; qualifying was rained out and the team was in position to miss the race due to a lack of race attempts that year, prompting Rosenblum to make an agreement with
MAKE Motorsports
Beaver Motorsports (formerly MAKE Motorsports) is an American drag racing team. The team currently fields a Chevrolet Pro Stock entry in the NHRA. Beaver Motorsports formerly competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck ...
to take over MAKE's No. 1 truck for the race. He would finish last after crashing on lap 20.
They would attempt Martinsville with Kyle Soper, but failed to qualify. In 2017 they attempted Daytona in February, failing to qualify with Dauzat. They returned with Dauzat at Pocono in July.
In February 2018, the team announced on their
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
that the season-opening Truck race at Daytona would be their last with Rosenblum retiring.
Dauzat drove the No. 28 to an 18th-place finish despite being caught up in a crash with
Clay Greenfield
Clayton Michael Greenfield (born June 3, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Tundra for Cook Racing Technologies.
Racing career
A gradua ...
and
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 ...
. Despite the initial announcement, FDNY Racing returned for that year's Talladega event, where Dauzat finished eighth for his and his team's first top-ten finish.
During the season-opening
2019 NextEra Energy 250
The 2019 NextEra Energy 250 was a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race held on February 15, 2019. Contested over 111 laps due to an overtime finish, on the asphalt superspeedway. It was the first race of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck S ...
, Dauzat accidentally hit his jackman Billy Rock on pit road when his truck experienced braking problems. Rock was rushed to
Halifax Health for his injuries and was diagnosed with a broken shoulder. He was released from the hospital shortly after.
Dauzat returned to FDNY and their No. 28 truck in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. He and the team ran more races than originally scheduled due to the fact that the field size for the Truck Series was expanded from 32 to 40 as a result of the cancellation of qualifying due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On January 29, 2021, it was revealed that Dauzat would return for another part-time schedule in the FDNY No. 28 truck in
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
, beginning at the season-opener at Daytona and would also run Pocono and Talladega. In 2022, they would race at Daytona, Pocono, and Talladega. Dauzat will return in 2023, starting at Daytona once again.
References
External links
*
*
{{New York City Police Department
1983 establishments in North Carolina
American auto racing teams
New York City Fire Department