ISM Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Bob Hancher. The team fielded entries in the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

and 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 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, ...

Series.

Indy Racing League

ISM fielded cars in the IRL from 1997 to 1999. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, Jeff Ward finished 6th in IRL driver points and won the pole at

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

in an ISM car and the team fielded three cars in the

1998 Indianapolis 500 The 82nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1998. This was the first Indianapolis 500 fully sanctioned by the Indy Racing League after the IRL relied on USAC to sanction the 1996� ...

. However, the team was only able to run part-time in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and shut down in July of that year. The IRL team used

G-Force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

chassis and

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

engines.

ISM IRL drivers

* Jim Guthrie (1998) *

Steve Knapp Steve Knapp (born April 17, 1964, Minneapolis, Minnesota), is a former driver in IndyCar. He raced in the 1998–2000 seasons with 13 career starts, including 3 at the Indianapolis 500. His best career finish was in his first race, a third pl ...

(1998-1999) * Jeff Ward (1997-1999)

Complete IRL IndyCar Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) # In conjunction with Sinden Racing Services.

NASCAR: Team Tabasco

McIlhenny Company, maker of

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

brand products, sponsored their Winston Cup car. The company announced in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

that it would sponsor the No. 35

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

driven by

Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and current racing a ...

. The car would be owned by Bob Hancher. The team debuted on the weekend of the announcement at

Charlotte 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 ...

, with Bodine finishing 26th. After a rumor that Tabasco had ended its sponsorship, the team failed to qualify for the first three races of the 1998 season. Surprisingly, McIlhenny Company voiced no concerns, despite the high-pressure stakes of NASCAR racing. After a tenth-place finish at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

, Team Tabasco qualified for Darlington and Bristol finishing 27th and 29th, but failed to qualified for three of the next four races, ranking 39th place in the one race in which it did appear. A practice accident took Bodine out of the California 500, where Wally Dallenbach Jr. filled in as driver. Bodine would be back on board for the

Coca-Cola 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

in late May, finishing 28th. June 6 saw Bodine's last ride in the Tabasco Pontiac 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 ...

. In his brief tenure, Team Tabasco only managed to qualify in five of the first thirteen races (including the race during which Dallenbach drove). ISM replaced Bodine with

Loy Allen Jr. Loy Allen Jr. is a former professional NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch, and ARCA series race car driver, turned real estate developer and embry-riddle-trained commercial pilot. On February 12, 1994, he became the youngest and first rookie in NASCAR Wi ...

for the

Pepsi 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...

on a temporary basis; after the race was delayed due to wildfires, Bodine was fully released by the team before the next race at

New Hampshire International Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

Gary Bradberry Gary Arnold Bradberry (born January 27, 1961) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He raced in the NASCAR All-Pro Series, and had top-ten points finishes from 1990–1993. After that, Bradberry made the jump to major NASCAR leagues ...

and

Jimmy Horton James Horton III (born July 3, 1956) is a racecar driver currently racing a dirt modified for the Halmar Racing Team weekly at the Orange County Fair Speedway and other major events across the northeast. He raced in 48 NASCAR Winston Cup races in ...

were scheduled to drive for the team at future races. After running only one of the next three races, however, Hancher sold the operation to

Tim Beverly Timothy J. Beverley (born 1956) is former NASCAR team owner. Beverley was one of the founders of Tyler Jet, L.L.C., an aircraft sales and refurbishing company based in Tyler, Texas. In 1998, he purchased DarWal Inc. and ISM Racing and merged them to ...

and his driver

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 ...

. The

Tyler Jet Motorsports Tyler Jet Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team. History Tyler Jet Motorsports was owned by Tim Beverley, owner of the airplane sales company that shared a name with the race team, and was formed in 1998 after Beverley purchased the a ...

team drove

Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a two-door coupe that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Deriving its name from the city in Monaco, the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car of the Chevr ...

s and intended to continue using the model. In their first race, the

Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...

, Waltrip started dead-last but climbed through the field to finish 13th. But the team's use of Chevrolets sparked outrage at McIlhenny Company because it had invested heavily in Pontiacs as part of its marketing program. Lawsuits ensued between Tabasco and Hancher, and McIlhenny Company forced the team to run Pontiacs. Waltrip's best finish that year was 18th at Richmond; otherwise, the team performed poorly and Tabasco left the sport at the end of the year. In

discussion this affair has become known as the "Tabasco Fiasco".

References

{{Tyler Jet Motorsports American auto racing teams Defunct NASCAR teams IndyCar Series teams McIlhenny family 1997 establishments in the United States 1999 disestablishments in the United States