Justin Marks (born March 25, 1981) is an American racing driver, entrepreneur, and current owner of

Trackhouse Racing Team Trackhouse Racing is a professional stock car auto racing organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is owned by Trackhouse Entertainment Group, a venture of Justin Marks and Grammy Award-winning rapper Armando Christ ...

in the NASCAR Cup Series. He last competed in the

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

, driving the No. 93 for

Meyer Shank Racing Meyer Shank Racing (formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American auto racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship. History Atlantic Championship Michael Shank as an owner of Michael Shank Racing, ...

with Curb-Agajanian in the GT Daytona class. Marks has competed in

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

and

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 ...

, competing in the

ARCA Racing 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 nationa ...

and

NASCAR Camping World 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 th ...

. He also served 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 ...

in 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 ...

and Cup Series.

Early years

Marks was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. During his youth, he went with his grandfather (who lived in

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 ...

), to see local Midwest racers such as

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 ...

Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...

, and the Wallace brothers battle on dirt tracks. His family moved to

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; ...

when Marks was eight. Marks attended race school while in high school and in 1998 competed in his first race, in the street stock division at Altamont Raceway Park in Tracy, California. At the same time as his racing career was beginning, he was attending

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

with the intention of obtaining a degree in

sports marketing Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades, however, a generally accepted definition does not exist. Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...

. Marks withdrew from college 14 credits shy of completing his degree to focus on racing.

Racing career

Sports car racing

At 18, Marks entered the SCCA Regional Racing Series, and later the

Speed World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club ...

Series. With success in the SCCA, Marks moved to the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

GT Class in 2004 where he met good friend

Joey Hand Joseph F. Hand (born February 10, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona drivi ...

. Switching between the GT class and the World Challenge, Marks raced up four wins, eight podiums, and thirteen top tens between the two series. In 2005 Marks again raced in the Rolex Sports Car Series where he won 3 races with teammate Joey Hand. At the same time, Marks teamed with

Bill Auberlen Bill Auberlen (born October 12, 1968) is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport in ...

in the

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cu ...

for

Turner Motorsport Turner Motorsport (Also known as TMS Racing or Turner racing ) is a professional sports car racing team located in Newton, NH, and is the second most prolific BMW privateer racing team in the world, second only to Schnitzer Motorsport, who sto ...

, finishing 3rd in points with 5 poles and 5 wins in 9 starts.

NASCAR

In 2006, Marks left road racing to pursue a career in

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 ...

. In 2006, Marks raced for

RAB Racing RAB Racing with Brack Maggard was an American professional stock car racing team that attempted NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Racing Series. The team was co-owned by Robert A. Benton Sr. and hi ...

in the

ARCA RE/MAX 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 ...

, driving their No. 65. Although he did not pick up any wins in his two years there, Marks turned many heads with his driving ability. In 2007 he was picked up by

Germain Racing Germain Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was owned by Bob Germain, whose family owns many car dealerships across the United States as Germain Motor Company. The team last fi ...

of the

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 th ...

to drive their No. 03 truck. Marks again impressed many with an eighth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This cemented his future as the driver of the No. 9

Crocs Crocs, Inc. (stylized in all lowercase) is an American footwear company based in Broomfield, Colorado, that manufactures and markets the Crocs brand of foam clogs. History Crocs was founded by Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, and George Boedecker Jr. to ...

Construct Corps Construct, Constructs or constructs may refer to: * Construct (information technology), a collection of logic components forming an interactive agent or environment ** Language construct * ''Construct'' (album), a 2013 album by Dark Tranquillit ...

Toyota for 2008, running for Rookie of the Year. In 2008, Marks raced in the Truck Series, the

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 ...

, and the

for a number of teams. He won the pole position for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

as well as the ARCA RE/MAX Series 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 ...

. Marks returned to the Camping World Truck Series for 2011, driving for

Turn One Racing Turn One Racing (formerly Wyler Racing) was an American NASCAR motor racing team that competed in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was owned by Ohio car dealer Jeff Wyler until 2009 when dri ...

in the No. 66 Chevrolet. Justin Marks Sonoma 2013

In 2013, Marks made his

Sprint 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 ...

debut at

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southe ...

in the 2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350, driving the No. 7 of

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 ...

, substituting for

Dave Blaney David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is a semi-retired American professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Ser ...

. Marks had little experience in the Generation 6 cars, having run the cars only once in a road course test at

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Dan ...

31 Justin Marks pan passenger side NASCAR Nationwide 2014 Gardner Denver 200 at Road America

The following year, Marks was signed by

Turner Scott Motorsports Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), formerly Turner Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Nationwide Series, ...

to run the No. 31 in the Nationwide Series at

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. On February 10, Marks announced he would return to the Cup Series in 2015, driving the No. 29 for

in the Daytona 500, while also running the No. 29 in the Xfinity Series and the No. 35 with

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 ...

in the other Daytona races. However, Marks failed to qualify for the 500, and crashed out of both the Xfinity and Truck races, finishing last in the latter. In June, he joined

Front Row Motorsports Front Row Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partners ...

for the

Toyota/Save Mart 350 The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a stock car racing event in the NASCAR Cup Series that has been held annually at Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California since 1989. The race has been known as the Toyota/Save Mart 350 since 2007. The r ...

. In the summer of 2015, Marks ran the road course races at Road America and Mid-Ohio in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

, owned by Harry Scott, Jr. 42 Justin Marks 2016 Road America 180

In 2016, Marks expanded his

schedule in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 42 in several races starting at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Marks led a race-high 43 laps in a race plagued by rain to claim his first NASCAR victory; he dedicated the win to former Ganassi driver

Bryan Clauson Bryan Clauson (June 15, 1989 – August 7, 2016) was an American professional auto racing driver. Best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Bryan was seen more and more co ...

, who had died earlier in the week in an accident. In 2017, Marks returned to the Xfinity Series driving the No. 42 for

at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course finishing 9th and at

finishing 4th. On October 15, Marks joined

's No. 7 for his return to the Cup Series 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 ...

. It was his first non road course start in the Monster Energy series. However he finished last after getting into an incident. In 2018, Marks ran the season opening Daytona 500 in the No. 51 for

Rick Ware Racing Rick Ware Racing (RWR) is an American motorsports team which currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the NTT IndyCar Series. History The organizational roots of RWR date back to Ware & Sons Racing wit ...

with support from

Premium Motorsports Premium Motorsports (formerly Jay Robinson Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team last fielded the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 LE full-time for Brennan Poole, and the No. 27 Ca ...

. He brought the car home 12th, which was by far his best oval track finish in the Cup series. He later partnered with Premium Motorsports to drive the No. 15 at Sonoma and the Charlotte Roval. In 2022, he returned to NASCAR, competing in the #41 Chevrolet for

Niece Motorsports Niece Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Owned by Al Niece, it currently fields No. 40 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Dean Thompson, No. 42 Chevrolet ...

at Mid Ohio.

Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series return

Marks returned to the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series for the 2009 season driving the TRG No. 67 No Fear/Construct Corps Porsche with teammate

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 ...

. The team began the season with an impressive victory in the GT class at the Rolex

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

ARCA Racing Series

On December 17, 2009,

Lakeville, Minnesota Lakeville is an exurb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and the largest city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is approximately south of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul along Interstate Highway 35. Starting as a flouri ...

announced that Marks would drive their No. 32 Toyota in the

2010 ARCA Racing Series The 2010 ARCA Racing Series presented by Re/MAX and Menards was the 58th season of the ARCA Racing Series. The season began on February 6 with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 and ended on October 9 with the American 200 presented by Black's Tire an ...

season.

Entrepreneurial career

Marks' father, Michael, is a partner in the private equity firm Riverwood Capital, board member of GoPro and a minority owner in the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. He also served as an executive at

and the interim CEO of

Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and electric truck, trucks), battery energy storage from ...

. Marks and Michael McDowell operate a karting facility called the GoPro Motorplex, located 30 miles north of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. The facility opened in October 2012, and was inspired by another karting track located in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In 2015,

HScott Motorsports HScott Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, the K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Racing Series. The organization was owned by North Carolina bus ...

owner Harry Scott Jr. took control of TSM's

K&N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and ...

team, and partnered with Marks to field four cars under the banner HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks for

Scott Heckert Scott Heckert (born November 21, 1993) is an American professional racing driver. He previously drove full-time in NASCAR for three years in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East; in the last of those years, 2015, he finished second in the point standing ...

, William Byron, J. J. Haley,

Dalton Sargeant Daniel Dalton Sargeant (born March 25, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. He was the 2016 ARCA Racing ...

, and

Rico Abreu Rico Emanuel Abreu (born January 30, 1992) is an American professional dirt track and sprint car racing driver. Abreu won the 2014 USAC National Midget Series championship, and previously competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2015 scoring one w ...

. Marks also owned a

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

team, Larson Marks Racing, with

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champi ...

before relinquishing his stake to Larson in 2018 to focus on sports car racing. In August 2020, Marks partnered with former NASCAR executive

Ty Norris Ty Norris (born July 19, 1965) is an American motorsports executive. Career Early career Norris started in NASCAR as a sports writer after studying journalism at Delaware State University. After covering several races for the ''Delaware State Ne ...

to create

, a Cup Series team that debuted in 2021. The team operates on a

cause marketing Cause marketing is marketing done by a for-profit business that seeks to both increase profits and to better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility, such as by including activist messages in advertising. A similar phrase, cau ...

strategy that includes a STEM education program for minority populations in the United States. On June 30, 2021, Trackhouse announced their purchase of the

NASCAR operations of Chip Ganassi Racing The NASCAR operation of Chip Ganassi Racing was established in 1989 by Felix Sabates, a Cuban immigrant who was a self-made millionaire distributing products such as Teddy Ruxpin and Sega video game systems. The team was known as SABCO Racing, fo ...

, with its two charters for the No. 1 and the No. 42 teams, therefore announcing the team will be two cars in 2022. A driver, sponsors, and number will be announced later. It was later announced that the 1 car would turn to Trackhouse with

Ross Chastain Ross Lee Chastain (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing Team. He is the older brother of NASCAR Ca ...

driving it. Marks got his first win as a car owner on March 27th, 2022 with Chastain, winning at the

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States G ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

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 ...

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

Monster Energy Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

ARCA Racing Series

(

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

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Superstar Racing Experience

(

) * – Most laps led. ¹ – Heat 1 winner. ² – Heat 2 winner.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Justin Living people 1981 births People from Placer County, California Racing drivers from California 24 Hours of Daytona drivers NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Sportspeople from Greater Sacramento Meyer Shank Racing drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers