StarCom Racing (SCR) was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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. ...

. Based in

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropoli ...

, the team last fielded the No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE full-time for

Quin Houff Quin Walton Houff (born September 15, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Early years Houff started to race when he was eight, driving go-karts. A year later, he upgraded to Mini-Cup cars and by age thirteen, ...

in a technical alliance with

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 Richar ...

. Veteran NASCAR driver

Derrike Cope Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is known for his win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for ...

served as the team's manager. The team folded in 2021 and its assets were bought by

23XI Racing 23XI Racing (pronounced twenty-three eleven) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. It is owned and operated by Hall of Fame basketball player Michael Jordan, with current Joe Gibbs Racing dri ...

the year later.

NASCAR Cup Series

''StarCom Fiber'' on September 25, 2017; announced their intentions to field a car in the

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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. ...

. The team selected veteran driver

to drive the No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, whom they had previously sponsored throughout the 2017 season at

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 ...

. Almost a month later, ESPN reported SCR would be making its Cup Series debut at

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in the Village West area near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also held races at the venue until 2011 ...

for the 2017 Hollywood Casino 400. On September 1, 2021, Catchfence.com reported that StarCom sold its charter. On September 15, shop foreman and mechanical director Charlie Langenstein confirmed that StarCom Racing would shut down operations at the end of the 2021 season. On November 16, it was revealed that StarCom's charter was sold to

. Following the team's closure, Woehlemann and the Kohler brothers would join The Money Team Racing, owned by boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Car No. 00 history

Part Time (2017)

On September 25, 2017, StarCom Fiber, who had sponsored Derrike Cope throughout the season at

, announced their intentions to field a car in the MENCS, selecting driver

to drive No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet. On October 17, 2017, it was reported StarCom Racing would make its MENCS debut at

for the 2017 Hollywood Casino 400. Before their first planned attempt at Dover, the No. 00 withdrew from the race due to not having sufficient staff for the team to successfully operate. On October 22, The team would go on to successfully debut at Kansas, starting 40th and finishing in 40th after numerous problems plagued the team. On October 29, Cope would later announce the team would attempt two more NASCAR premier series races next month at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and Phoenix. That same day, SCR announced the team had decided that they would no longer attempt to race in Texas, instead focusing all of their effort on Phoenix. Phoenix once again got off to a rough start for the team, as they had to cut the first practice short with engine issues. When the problem was not fixed by qualifying, Cope and the team decided to skip qualifying and take the last position on the grid. The race, however, went much better for the team. After starting last, the team quickly moved out of the last position. After a series of problems for other teams, the No. 00 car managed a 32nd-place run, completing the race.

Full Time (2018)

On January 24, 2018, StarCom announced that they had secured a charter and will run the full schedule, with Cope planning to drive the majority of the races. The charter was leased from

, which had closed down the No. 27 team. However,

Jeffrey Earnhardt Jeffrey Lynn Earnhardt (born June 22, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, g ...

was later announced as the driver for the

2018 Daytona 500 The 2018 Daytona 500, the 60th running of the event, was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 18, 2018, contested over 207 laps—extended from 200 laps due to an overtime finish—on the asphalt superspeedway. It was the fi ...

. Earnhardt piloted the car for the first five races of the season with sponsorship from VRX Simulators. He earned a best finish of 21st at Daytona. On March 18, 2018, Earnhardt and StarCom Racing had agreed to part ways. Earnhardt was replaced by

Landon Cassill Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Early career Cassill was born in Cedar Rap ...

, who brought two races of sponsorship from USFRA.org. On April 10, 2018, the team announced that TW Cable, LLC and

Superior Essex Superior Essex is the parent brand of Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire, Superior Essex Communications, and Essex Brownell. It has over 3,000 employees in 11 countries. Essex is among the leading global manufacturers of magnet wire. It is active in the ...

would sponsor Cassill at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

. On April 17, 2018, it was announced that

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 ...

driver

Joey Gase Joseph Robert Gase (born February 8, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 35 and 53 Ford Mustang and Toyota Supra for Emerling-Gase Motor ...

would drive the car at Talladega with sponsorship from Gase's Xfinity Series sponsor, Sparks Energy. Cassill returned to the car at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

with sponsorship from RNH Electric.

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 ...

Tomy Drissi was hired to drive the #00 at Sonoma. At the fall Las Vegas race, Cassill finished 18th place, the best finish by the team so far, and the feat was achieved again at the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 with Joey Gase behind the wheel.

Landon Cassill (2019)

After the 2018 season, StarCom Racing announced that Cassill had signed full-time with the team for the 2019 season. In addition, the team purchased the charter they were leasing from RCR. He finished the season 33rd in points.

Quin Houff (2020-2021)

On November 25, 2019, crew chief Joe Williams announced that he had left the No. 00 team. StarCom Racing announced his replacement for 2020 was George Church. The next day, it was announced that Quin Houff would pilot the 00 full time in 2020 and 2021. StarCom had a disappointing 2020 campaign, earning just one top 15 finish the entire year, at Talladega. During the

2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 The 2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was originally scheduled to be held on March 29, 2020, and was rescheduled to July 19, 2020, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mil ...

at Texas, Houff made an ill-timed maneuver towards pit road, causing damage to the cars of Christopher Bell and Matt DiBenedetto before colliding with the outside wall. He was heavily criticized by DiBenedetto and

Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...

for his actions. The team's average finish decreased from 29.3 in 2019, (with Cassill at the helm), to 31.3 in 2020, with rookie Houff. The team's run in 2021 fared worse, with just one top-20 finish at Talladega. The No. 00 finished the season 38th in points; three places lower than the previous season. The team closed its doors and sold its charter after NASCAR threatened to seize the charter. It would have been the first time that NASCAR exercised their Charter seizure policy.

Car No. 00 results

Car No. 99 history

Team manager

was originally intended to pilot the No. 00 for the majority of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, however, after the hiring of Jeffrey Earnhardt to drive full-time, StarCom announced that they intended to field a second car, the No. 99, part-time for Cope and possibly other drivers. Cope announced that they were hoping to field the No. 99 beginning 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 2 ...

, with Cope planning to drive unless another driver with sponsorship was found. However, the team didn't race at Texas, instead delaying the #99 car debut until the

AAA 400 Drive for Autism The DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware in the spring. History The 2020 race was postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and beca ...

Dover International Speedway Dover Motor Speedway (formerly Dover Downs International Speedway and later Dover International Speedway) is a race track in Dover, Delaware. The track has hosted at least one NASCAR Cup Series race each year since 1969, including two per year ...

. An early wreck relegated Cope to 37th in his first race in the 99. The 99 car returned at Pocono with Cope, finishing 34th.

Garrett Smithley Garrett K. Smithley (born April 27, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro for B. J. McLeod Motorsports. He has also competed in the ARCA ...

made his debut in the 99 at Michigan. The race did not last long, as Smithley stripped the gears in the transmission on lap 1.

Kyle Weatherman Kyle Jay Weatherman (born August 28, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. He has previously competed in th ...

would take over the 99 for Chicagoland, finishing 33rd. Landon Cassill would pilot the 99 at Daytona while Joey Gase was in the 00. Smithley and Weatherman would run the next 3 races, with Smithley finishing 36th at Kentucky, while Weatherman would finish 31st at both New Hampshire and Pocono.

Gray Gaulding Dwayne Gray Gaulding Jr. (born February 10, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro for Mike Harmon Racing and the No. 6 for JD Motorsp ...

would pilot the car for two races, finishing 33rd and 40th. Cope would return at Darlington to participate in the annual throwback weekend, with Bojangles sponsoring the car, paying homage to Cope's time with

Cale Yarborough Motorsports Cale Yarborough Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team that ran from 1987 to 2000. Ownership In 1986, The Race Hill Farms owner Jack Beebe sold his No. 47 Team to Cale Yarborough who wanted to drive part-time. He bought the team and sw ...

. The 99 would finish second in Darlington's paint scheme contest while finishing 33rd in the race. Kyle Weatherman and Landon Cassill would split time between the 99 for the remainder of the season, with Weatherman's best finish coming at Las Vegas, a 26th, and Cassill's best finish coming at Talladega, a 22nd. After a 36th-place finish at Homestead with Weatherman, StarCom closed their No. 99 team for

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, and they have not run a second car since.

Car No. 99 results

References

External links

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StarCom Racing owner statistics on Racing Reference
{{StarCom Racing NASCAR teams American auto racing teams American companies established in 2017 Auto racing teams established in 2017 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2021