 | |
| Owner(s) | Bob Leavine Sharon Leavine |
|---|---|
| Base | Tyler, Texas Concord, North Carolina |
| Series | NASCAR Cup Series |
| Manufacturer | Toyota |
| Opened | 2011 |
| Closed | 2020 |
| Career | |
| Debut | NASCAR Cup Series: 2011Samsung Mobile 500 (Texas) Xfinity Series: 2013Dollar General 300 (Charlotte) ARCA Racing Series: 2011Prairie Meadows 200 (Iowa) |
| Latest race | NASCAR Cup Series: 2020Season Finale 500 (Phoenix) Xfinity Series: 2013Dollar General 300 (Charlotte) ARCA Racing Series: 2012Kansas Lottery 98.9 (Kansas) |
| Races competed | Total: 267 NASCAR Cup Series: 256 Xfinity Series: 1 ARCA Racing Series: 10 |
| Drivers' Championships | Total: 0 NASCAR Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 ARCA Racing Series: 0 |
| Race victories | Total: 0 NASCAR Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 ARCA Racing Series: 0 |
| Pole positions | Total: 0 NASCAR Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 0 ARCA Racing Series: 0 |
Leavine Family Racing (formerlyCircle Sport – Leavine Family Racing and originallyLeavine Fenton Racing) was an American professionalstock car racing team that last competed in theNASCAR Cup Series. Owned by Sharon and Bob Leavine, the team was headquartered inTyler, Texas, but operated its racing team from a shop inConcord, North Carolina. In 2016, longtime NASCAR team ownerJoe Falk became part of the ownership group, merging hisCircle Sport operation with Leavine Family Racing, however as the 2016 season came to an end, Falk left the team securing his charter, and causing Leavine Family Racing to purchase a charter fromTommy Baldwin Racing.
Leavine Family Racing had a technical alliance withJoe Gibbs Racing, withChristopher Bell driving the No. 95Toyota Camry.[1] The team previously fieldedFords with a technical alliance withTeam Penske from 2011 to 2015, andChevrolets with a technical alliance withRichard Childress Racing from 2016 to 2018.
On July 23, 2020, it was reported that Bob Leavine solicited bids for the team due to the financial fallout of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2] On August 4, Leavine confirmed that his team had been sold and would cease operations at the end of the 2020 season, with its fleet of Toyota cars to be returned to Joe Gibbs Racing.[3] One week later, the team's assets were purchased bySpire Motorsports.[4]
In 2016, Circle Sport - Leavine Family Racing, as part of the Circle Sport merger, agreed to haveTy Dillon drive the No. 95 for the2016 Daytona 500.Michael McDowell would attempt the race in a second entry, the No. 59 Thrivent Financial / K-Love Chevy. McDowell qualified the 500 by finishing 14th in his Can-Am Duel race. McDowell had a commendable finish in the car during the Daytona 500, finishing 15th. This was the only start in 2016 for the No. 59 other than the season finale at Homestead. Before the weekend, the team acquired a charter from the No. 7 team ofTommy Baldwin Racing, which guaranteed the No. 59 a spot in the race. The car finished 10th in the race, after avoiding a big crash that took out the teammate's No. 95 car with just a few laps left in the race.
| Year | Driver | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | Owners | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Michael McDowell | 59 | Chevy | DAY 15 | ATL | LVS | PHO | CAL | MAR | TEX | BRI | RCH | TAL | KAN | DOV | CLT | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | KEN | NHA | IND | POC | GLN | BRI | MCH | DAR | RCH | CHI | NHA | DOV | CLT | KAN | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM 10 | 32nd1 | 4941 |
Founded as Leavine Fenton Racing by Bob Leavine andLance Fenton in early 2011, the team planned to compete on a limited basis in the Sprint Cup Series andCamping World Truck Series, withDavid Starr competing in the former for six events and Fenton driving in the latter for three.[5] Based in Tyler, Texas but with its race shop in Concord, North Carolina,[6]Lightning McQueen from theCars movies was the inspiration for the team to use no. 95. the team made its debut in the Cup Series atTexas Motor Speedway in April of that year;[7] Starr qualified for the race, his first in Sprint Cup competition, and finished 38th following an accident.[8]
Following competing in theSprint Showdown andCoca-Cola 600 atCharlotte Motor Speedway,[9] the team announced that Fenton's share in the team had been acquired by Leavine and his wife, Sharon; the team was renamed as Leavine Family Racing. Fenton had not attempted any Truck Series events before leaving the team.[10] After failing to qualify atKentucky Speedway, the team next raced atBristol Motor Speedway in August, scoring its best finish and Starr's career-best in the series, 27th; Leavine Family Racing and Starr would fail to qualify for events atChicagoland Speedway,Kansas Speedway and in the fall at Texas Motor Speedway over the remainder of the year, only making one further race, atAtlanta Motor Speedway where they posted a 29th-place finish.[11]
Starr left Leavine Family Racing following the 2011 season; for 2012, Leavine hired Scott Speed to drive the team's No. 95 Fords in the Sprint Cup Series, with Wally Rogers ascrew chief;[12] a 15-race schedule in NASCAR's premier series was planned for the season.[13] The team qualified for races with Speed atRichmond International Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway with Speed,starting and parking, before finishing 25th atSonoma Raceway.[14] The team also posted a 14th-place finish in the Sprint Showdown, a non-points event.[12] At the2012 Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen, Speed finished 17th.
In August 2012 Leavine Family Racing announced that it had re-signed Speed for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season, intending to run 28 events on the 36 race schedule.[15] The team had its best finish at the2013 Aaron's 499 with a ninth-place finish, however, they started and parked most other events. Speed left the team after the Atlanta race, citing his frustration with the team's starting and parking and hinting that the plan had been to run more full races. He was replaced on an interim basis by Blake Koch, Scott Riggs, andReed Sorenson.[16]
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In October 2013, Leavine Family Racing announced thatMichael McDowell would drive the team's No. 95 Ford Fusion Cup Series entry in2014.[17] They ran 20 of the 36 races. On January 28, 2014, Leavine announced thatKLOVE,Thrivent Financial, and several other sponsors would sponsor all 20 scheduled races in the 2014 Sprint Cup season. The sponsorship meant the team would be able to run full races, and enabled it to ally withTeam Penske.
At the2014 Coke Zero 400, McDowell and Leavine Family Racing finished their career-best with a 7th-place finish in the rain-shortened event. The team's performance was much improved with the Penske alliance, and additional sponsorship allowed the team to run seven of the final eight events and 22 in total. The team finished 43rd in owners' points.
McDowell returned in 2015, as did K-LOVE and Thrivent. The team once again planned to run at least 20 races and maintained its Penske alliance. McDowell was able to make theDaytona 500, a race he had failed to qualify for in 2014. The team posted four DNQs in 2015, three of which were due to rainouts and an increase in full-time entries. In early summer, the team made the news in unfortunate fashion after part of their shop burned down. This forced them to take refuge on the Team Penske campus, inside their former sports car shop, until their facility was repaired enough for them to return.[18] The team ultimately slipped slightly to 44th in owner points but did finish ahead of theNo. 62, a team that attempted all 36 races.
In January 2016, longtime NASCAR team ownerJoe Falk became an investor in Leavine Family Racing and the team switched to Chevrolet. Falk brought a charter granted to him, to the No. 95 team, guaranteeing the 95 its first full season of racing. The team formed an alliance withRichard Childress Racing. The No. 95 attempted all 36 races, with McDowell returning to run in at least 26 events with sponsorship from K-Love and Thrivent, andTy Dillon driving in at max 10 races, with sponsorship from General Mills and AstraZeneca. McDowell ran the majority of the events,[19][20][21] and ran theDaytona 500 in a second entry, the No. 59.
On September 19, 2017, Leavine Family Racing announced formerHendrick Motorsports driverKasey Kahne would be replacing McDowell in the No. 95 for the 2018 season.[22] On August 16, 2018, Kahne announced that he will step away from full time competition at the end of the year.[23][24] On September 6, 2018, after heat exhaustion from theSouthern 500, Kahne announced that he would sit out theBrickyard 400, which became the first race he missed since he began his full-time Cup Series career.Regan Smith took the wheel of the No. 95 car in Kahne's absence.[25] On October 9, Kahne announced that he will miss the rest of the season due to lingering medical conditions.[26]
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On October 10, 2018,Matt DiBenedetto signed a two-year contract with Leavine Family Racing to drive the No. 95 starting in 2019. Also, Leavine Family Racing will switch from Chevrolet toToyota while entering a technical alliance withJoe Gibbs Racing.[1] At the2019 Daytona 500, DiBenedetto led an impressive 49 laps beforePaul Menard spun him from behind, triggering "The Big One" that claimed 21 cars and resulting in DiBenedetto finishing 28th. DiBenedetto scored a career-high fourth-place finish atSonoma. DiBenedetto then scored four more top 10s in the summer months including an eighth atDaytona, a fifth atLoudon, a sixth atWatkins Glen, and a career-high second for both DiBenedetto and Leavine Family Racing at theBristol Night Race.[27]
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On September 24, 2019, Leavine Family Racing officially announcedChristopher Bell as the new driver of the No. 95 for the2020 season.[28] Prior to theLas Vegas race, the team was docked 10 driver and owner points for an L1 level penalty during pre-race inspection.[29] In LFR's final season, the No. 95 finished 20th in the points standings.[30]
In October 2013, Leavine Family Racing announced that they would be adding aNationwide Series team to the team's operations, with the No. 95Ford Mustang being driven byReed Sorenson in selected races late in the2013 season, with a full-time driver for the2014 season to be announced.[31] However, plans for 2014 never came to fruition.
| Year | Driver | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | Owners | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Reed Sorenson | 95 | Ford | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | TEX | RCH | TAL | DAR | CLT | DOV | IOW | MCH | ROA | KEN | DAY | NHA | CHI | IND | IOW | GLN | MOH | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | KEN | DOV | KAN | CLT 37 | TEX | PHO | HOM | 65th | 7 |
For the 2012 season, Leavine Family Racing added anARCA Racing Series team to its racing efforts, withMichael Leavine, grandson of the team's owners, racing as adevelopment driver.[32] A six-race schedule was planned for Leavine in the series for 2012;[33] In his first two races of the 2012 season, Leavine crashed in both, with a best finish of 26th atPocono Raceway;[34] he withdrew following practice at his third attempted race atMichigan International Speedway.[35][36]
| Year | Driver | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Owners | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Michael Leavine | 03 | Chevy | DAY | TAL | SLM | TOL | NJ | CHI | POC | MCH | WIN | BLN | IOW 20 | IRP | 33rd | 880 | |||||||
| 95 | POC 28 | ISF | MAD | DSF | SLM | KAN 26 | TOL | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Ford | DAY | MOB 31 | SLM | TAL | TOL | ELK | POC 26 | MCH Wth | WIN | NJE | IOW 15 | CHI 14 | IRP 15 | POC 31 | BLN | ISF | MAD | SLM | KAN 17 | 73rd | 75 | ||