Wauters Motorsports was 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 competed in the

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 ...

, fielding the No. 5

Toyota Tundra The Toyota Tundra is a pickup truck manufactured in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota since May 1999. The Tundra was the second full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese manufacturer (the first was the Toyota T100), but the ...

part-time. The team also competes in late models. The team is primarily owned by Wauters, with former NASCAR team owners

Billy Ballew Billy Ballew Motorsports was a team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were formed in 1996 by Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia businessman Billy Ballew. Fasscore Motorsports In 2003, Ballew began running a second truck u ...

and

James Finch James Finch (born 1950, Lynn Haven, Florida) is an American businessman. He is the owner of Phoenix Construction, a construction company that specializes in airport construction. He owned Phoenix Racing until late 2013 when he sold the team to ...

also part of the organization as co-owners since 2020.

History

Truck No. 5 history

Tim George Jr Wauters Motorsports Ford Rockingham 2013

In January 2012, veteran NASCAR crew chief Richie Wauters reformed the team after buying the remnants of the

Randy Moss Motorsports Randy Moss Motorsports with HTM (formerly known as Morgan-Dollar Motorsports) was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. It was owned by David Dollar and NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss. Former driver Rob Morgan co-owned the team ...

team and its owner points. Wauters Motorsports debuted in 2011 as the number 51 Ford, in a joint venture with Richie Wauters' longtime team

Billy Ballew Motorsports Billy Ballew Motorsports was a team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were formed in 1996 by Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia businessman Billy Ballew. Fasscore Motorsports In 2003, Ballew began running a second truck u ...

. The truck utilized the paint scheme Ballew ran early in their history, and Wauters served as crew chief.

Colin Braun Colin Braun (; born September 22, 1988) is an American racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier LMP3 for CORE autosport in the IMSA ...

drove the truck in two races with sponsorship from Bullet Liners, scoring a ninth-place finish in the team's debut. The No. 5 truck began racing in 2012 with former

Drive for Diversity The Drive for Diversity (D4D) program is a development system instituted by the American auto racing league NASCAR. The program's purpose is to attract minority and female individuals to the sport, primarily as drivers, but also including ownersh ...

member

Paulie Harraka Paul Peter "Paulie" Harraka (born September 15, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver and entrepreneur. He is a graduate of Duke University and a former representative of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. Personal life H ...

, who intended to contend for Rookie of the Year in the No. 5 Ford. Midway through the season the team chose to skip races at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is ...

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 ...

to regroup; but before the race 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 ...

Harraka was released from the team. Harraka had an average finish of 23.8 in 11 races, with a best finish of 17th at Dover and Kentucky. After the split with Harraka,

Aric Almirola Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. A graduate of Hillsborough High School in T ...

drove the truck at Atlanta, Talladega and Texas II, John King at Kentucky II and Phoenix, Josh Richards at Martinsville II, and

Ryan Reed Ryan A. Reed (born August 12, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and driver coach who previously competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Reed previously competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series w ...

at Las Vegas. Only Almirola would earn a top-5 and top 10 (twice) finish in the year, the best results for the team during the year. In 2013, former

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

development driver

Tim George Jr. Tim George Jr. (born December 21, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. Personal life and early career George was born on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1980 as the son of investment banker Timothy M. George. George Sr. is t ...

announced his addition to the team for the season, bringing sponsorship from

Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads ...

. In May after four races, the team switched manufacturers from

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 ...

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 ...

, with engines coming from

ECR Engines Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard Ch ...

Jason Bowles Jason Bowles (born November 24, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship in 2009. Racing career Early career He made his NASCAR West Series debut in the No. 22 Sunrise Ford/Tur ...

drove a single race at Eldora with

Valvoline Valvoline Inc. is an American manufacturer and distributor of Valvoline-brand automotive oil, additives, and lubricants. It also owns the Valvoline Instant Oil Change and Valvoline Express Care chains of car repair centers. , it is the second la ...

sponsorship, and after 11 races the team shut down. In 2014, the team signed

John Wes Townley John Wesley Townley (December 31, 1989 – October 2, 2021) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR's Xfinity and Truck Series from 2008 to 2016, winning a race in the latter in 2015. Townley's father Tony is a ...

, who brought longtime sponsor

Zaxby's Zaxby's is an American chain of fast casual restaurants offering chicken wings, chicken fingers, sandwiches, and salads. The chain operates primarily in the Southern United States and has more than 900 locations. Most Zaxby's restaurants are owned ...

from

Red Horse Racing Red Horse Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina. It was co-owned by former Mobil 1 marketing executive Tom DeLoach a ...

. The team also switched to

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 ...

, with engines from

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His s ...

. Prior to the Iowa race, Townley moved to Athenian Motorsports owned by his father. Wauter's team shut down for the remainder of the season. For 2015, the team planned to return to competition with driver

Germán Quiroga Germán Quiroga Jr. (born May 29, 1980) is a Mexican professional stock car racing driver. In 2011, he became the first three-time NASCAR Corona Series champion. Racing career Beginnings Quiroga began his career in Reto Neon in 1996. Corona ...

at Kansas in May, with funding coming from a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign. The campaign, however, failed to raise the desired amount of money.

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 ...

driver

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 ...

, who also runs

late models 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 ...

for Wauters, made his Truck Series debut with the team in 2015 at Bristol in August. Sargeant did well in his races, including a 9th-place finish at Bristol. After being absent for most of 2016, the team returned for the round of Talladega in October with

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 ...

driving. On February 22, 2017, Wauters announced a deal with Forrister to drive the full 2017 season. After crashing in the first two races of the season, Forrister and Wauters split and Wauters focused on his

Super 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 ...

program with

Mason Mingus Mason Mingus (born November 28, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 11 for Fast Track Racing, as well as part-time in the ARCA/CRA Super Series, driving ...

, Trevor Noles, and Spencer Wauters for the remainder of 2017. The arrangement with Mingus continued into 2018 with only him driving it in select events. The team returned to the Truck Series in 2020 with

Erik Jones Erik Benjamin Jones (born May 30, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS. His nicknames are EJ, his initials, and That J ...

at Charlotte. They did not qualify.

Truck No. 18 history

Noah Gragson Noah Quinn Gragson (born July 15, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS Motorsports. He previously drove full-time in the NA ...

was scheduled to drive the No. 18 truck from

Kyle Busch Motorsports Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. They formerly competed in the CARS Tour, ARCA/CRA Super Series, Southern Super Series, and the ARCA Mena ...

, but since KBM wanted to focus their assets on William Byron and Christopher Bell in their 2016 championship bids, Wauters fielded the No. 18 truck for Gragson in the final two races of the season finishing 16th and 15th respectively.

Truck No. 18 results

Recent wins

*1.

Snowball Derby The Snowball Derby presented by Bayou Fox Hooters is a 300-lap super late model stock car race held annually at the Five Flags Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Pensacola, Florida, United States. The race has been contested every year s ...

won by Steven Wallace in Circa. December 2004 *2.

All American 400 The All American 400 is a 400-lap Super Late Model stock car race held annually at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The race has been contested every year since 1981 except f ...

won by

on November 3, 2019

References

External links

* * {{Billy Ballew Motorsports 1999 establishments in North Carolina American auto racing teams NASCAR teams Auto racing teams established in 1999