Red Bull Racing Team, also known as Team Red Bull, was a
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 ...
team owned by
Red Bull founders
Dietrich Mateschitz
Dietrich Mateschitz (; 20 May 1944 – 22 October 2022) was an Austrian billionaire businessman. He was the co-founder and 49% owner of Red Bull GmbH. In April 2022, Mateschitz's net worth was estimated at US$27.4 billion.
Mateschitz worked in ...
and
Chaleo Yoovidhya
Chaleo Yoovidhya (; th, เฉลียว อยู่วิทยา, , ; 17 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was a Thai businessman and investor. He was the originator of Krating Daeng () and co-creator of the Red Bull brand of energy drink ...
. The team was based in
Mooresville,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and was managed by Jay Frye. The team suspended operations on December 8, 2011 and their cars were sold to
BK Racing
BK Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that fielded entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series from 2012 to 2018. It most recently fielded the No. 23 Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion for J. J. Yeley, Gray Gaulding, and ...
.
History
Origins
After moving to a newer location,
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
decided to sell his old facility. Then, on January 26, 2006, the newly formed team said that they would purchase the facility, and would hire 75 workers. However, the team was not allowed to race in the
2006 season because their manufacturer,
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, was not cleared to race, so the team decided that they would drive
Dodges during the season.
The team didn't have any materials to make their race cars, so they purchased multiple cars from
Bill Davis Racing
Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009.
The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in the Camping World Truck Series (Toyota Tundra) since 2004 and Sprint Cup Series ( T ...
.
2006 season
The team was officially started in January, but they would not choose a driver until June 25, 2006, when
Brian Vickers
Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the injured ...
announced his decision to drive for the team on ''
Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
''WindTunnel with Dave Despain'' was a live viewer call-in show exclusively for auto racing fans that debuted on Speed Channel on February 22, 2003 and ended on August 11, 2013. During the course of the show, host Dave Despain fielded telephone cal ...
''. A couple months later, the team made their first NASCAR appearance with
Bill Elliott as the driver, 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 ...
in the No. 83
Victory Junction Gang
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...
Dodge, but they failed to qualify for the race. On October 24, 2006, the team chose former
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
driver
A. J. Allmendinger
Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing.
Allmendinger's professi ...
as the second driver. They also made two other appearances at
Atlanta Motor Speedway and
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 ...
, which like their first, they failed to qualify for both races. Then, announced on December 6, 2006, former Cup Series champion crew chief
Doug Richert
Douglas T. Richert (born June 14, 1960) is an American stock car racing crew chief, who is currently a crew chief for Hattori Racing Enterprises in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Career
Richert is best known for winning the Cup championship with Dal ...
would serve as the crew chief for Vickers.
2007 season
![Brian Vickers2007Texas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Brian_Vickers2007Texas.jpg)
During the 2007 season, the team moved to Toyota as the manufacturer. Both Vickers and Allmendinger failed to qualify for the
2007 Daytona 500
The 2007 Daytona 500, the 49th running of the event, was the first race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, taking place on February 18, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Kevin Harvick won the race by ...
. Allmendinger, in the first duel race, crashed with fellow competitor
Robby Gordon
Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...
on lap 24, causing heavy damage to both their race cars. Vickers blew a right rear tire on lap 51 in the second duel race, ending his chances of making the Daytona 500. One week later, Vickers qualified for the
2007 Auto Club 500, which resulted in the team receiving their first top-ten. After failing to qualify for four consecutive races, Allmendinger qualified for the
2007 Food City 500 held 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 ...
. During the
2007 Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, Vickers was able to finish in the top-five. On October 5, 2007, the team's development driver,
Scott Speed finished seventh in an ARCA race 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 ...
.
Allmendinger's team had a forty-third-place finish in the final owners' standings and had 19 DNQ's.
Despite Vickers ending the season with five top-ten finishes with one being a top-five in the Coca-Cola 600, where he led seventy-six laps and finished 5th, Vickers still failed to qualify for 13 races.
Vickers' team ended the season with a 38th owners' standings position.
2008 season
![A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/A.J._Allmendinger_2008_Red_Bull_Toyota_Camry.jpg)
In 2008,
Kevin Hamlin became the crew chief for Vickers. Hamlin's past crew chief roles include stints with
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 ...
's No. 22 Toyota, preceded by nine years of crew chief duties with
Richard Childress Racing drivers including
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
,
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champion, ...
, and
Dale Earnhardt. Hamlin has amassed nine previous Cup wins; five of those with Earnhardt Sr. Said Sawyer of hiring Hamlin: "Finding the right crew chief for the 83 team was a pivotal decision in an effort to restructure the foundation on that team. We need a crew chief with not only the right experience and background to work effectively with our driver and crew, but someone who also shares the same vision for success. We found that package with Kevin Hamlin. Our focus between now and Daytona is not only getting our cars up to speed for the season opener, but also getting Kevin up to speed working with Red Bull, Brian (Vickers) and the 83 team."
Due in large part to the additions of Frye and Hamlin, the No. 83 team has been shown to be the most improved in the series, qualifying for all the current races and secured a Top 35 exemption following the
spring race at Bristol.
Also in 2008, Allmendinger failed to make the first three races of 2008 and was replaced by
Mike Skinner on a temporary basis starting with the
spring Atlanta race. Allmendinger returned at the
Aaron's 499
The GEICO 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of ...
at
Talladega with a new silver paint scheme, and won the
Sprint Showdown two weeks later, making him eligible for the
All-Star Race. Allmendinger also recorded a 10th-place finish at the
Allstate 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 Mo ...
at
the Brickyard. In May, even though Vickers had not won a race for the team prior to
Sprint All-Star Race XXIV, they won the All-Star Pit Crew Competition.
Later in the season, Allmendinger announced that he was going to leave Red Bull to race for
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 ...
in 2009.
2009 season
![Scott Speed Bristol 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Scott_Speed_Bristol_2009.jpg)
2009 ended up being a high-water mark for the team, as Vickers scored the team's first victory, and the second of his career, at
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
in August. This was part of a strong late-summer run that resulted in Vickers taking the last spot in the 2009
Chase for the Sprint Cup
The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. Si ...
at
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
in September, also a first for the Red Bull team. Unfortunately, an underwhelming Chase performance resulted in Vickers finishing 12th in the final points. Meanwhile, the team signed Scott Speed to replace Allmendinger in the renumbered 82 car. However, Speed could manage only a distant second to
Joey Logano
Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Ser ...
in the
Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.
2010 season
For the 2010 season, Speed and Vickers remained with the team, but on May 21, Vickers experienced medical problems, which resulted in him missing the rest of the season. His replacements were
Casey Mears
Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR's three national series including 15 seasons in the Cup Series, SCORE International, and the Stadium Super ...
,
Reed Sorenson
Bradley Reed Sorenson (born February 5, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver and spotter. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Premium Motorsports, the Nos. 74 ...
,
Mattias Ekstrom
Mattias is a masculine given name found most prominently in Northern Europe. It is a cognate of Matthew and Matthias, and may refer to:
Sports
* Mattias Adelstam (born 1982), Swedish footballer
* Mattias Asper (born 1974), Swedish goalkeepe ...
,
Boris Said
Boris Said III (born September 18, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang for MBM Motorsports and in the Trans-Am Series, driving the No. 2 ...
, and
Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
. Scott Speed was let go at the end of the season, and Speed in turn filed a lawsuit against Red Bull.
2011 season
![Kasey Kahne Pocono 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Kasey_Kahne_Pocono_2011.jpg)
For the 2011 season, Kahne became a full-time driver for the team, driving car No. 4 (formerly No. 82), and Vickers returned to drive the No. 83 car. On June 20, 2011, the ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
'' reported that Red Bull was planning to leave NASCAR at the end of the season. The team's on-track struggles, combined with a lackluster outreach to the 18–34 demographic, forced their departure. Despite this, Kahne scored the team's final victory at the
November race at Phoenix, while Vickers struggled for most of the year, resulting in a 25th-place points finish.
Kahne finished the season in 14th.
The team fielded a third car, numbered 84, in the final two races of the season, with development driver
Cole Whitt
Cole Daniel Whitt (born June 22, 1991) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. After advancing his way through Kart racing, Whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for Team Red Bull. After running in the ...
behind the wheel. Whitt finished 25th at Phoenix, but crashed out just past halfway at Homestead, finishing 37th.
The team officially closed on December 8, 2011.
The team's cars, owners points, and equipment were purchased by former
TRG Motorsports
The Racer's Group, or TRG, is a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing team located in Petaluma, California, owned by Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra. TRG has competed professionally in road racing since 1995. The team formerly competed in N ...
executive Ron Devine to form
BK Racing
BK Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that fielded entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series from 2012 to 2018. It most recently fielded the No. 23 Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion for J. J. Yeley, Gray Gaulding, and ...
.
Team results
No. 4/82/84 car
No. 83 car
Nationwide series
See also
*
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
*
Scuderia AlphaTauri
References
External links
Official WebsiteRed Bull Racing team blog
{{Coord, 35.5825, N, 80.8129, W, type:landmark, display=title
Defunct companies based in North Carolina
Defunct NASCAR teams
Red Bull sports teams
Auto racing teams established in 2006
Auto racing teams disestablished in 2011
Red Bull Racing
2006 establishments in North Carolina
2011 disestablishments in North Carolina