 | |
| Owner | Phil Parsons |
|---|---|
| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | Sprint Cup Series Nationwide Series |
| Race drivers | Phil Parsons Johnny Chapman Terry Cook Dave Blaney Danny O'Quinn, Jr. Michael McDowell Josh Wise |
| Manufacturer | Toyota(2009–2011, 2015) Ford(2012–2015) Chevrolet(2014–2015) |
| Opened | 1991 |
| Closed | 2015 |
| Career | |
| Debut | Sprint Cup Series: 2009 Daytona 500 (Daytona) |
| Latest race | Sprint Cup Series: 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead-Miami Speedway) |
| Races competed | 178 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
Phil Parsons Racing, formerly namedMSRP Motorsports,Prism Motorsports, and laterHP Racing, was aNASCAR team that competed in theSprint Cup Series andNationwide Series. It was owned by former NASCAR driverPhil Parsons, and most recently fielded the No. 98 Ford forJosh Wise.
The team was formerly owned by Phil's wife Marcia as well as Randy and Stacey Humphrey (hence the original name MSRP: Marcia, Stacey, Randy, Phil). For the first few years of itsNationwide Series and Sprint Cup operations, the team was infamous for being astart and park organization, meaning that the team qualified a car for races, but eventually parked it after just a few laps to avoid the costs of running a full race, even though the car was perfectly able to continue on.[1] The bad publicity generated by the practice led to Phil Parsons`s refusal to answer questions about MSRP in 2008,[1] but subsequently Parsons justified the practice by saying that "we furnished a living for some families, so there was some good that came out of it."[2] In 2009, MSRP continued with two Nationwide Series teams and finally finished a race, while it also added a Sprint Cup team under the Prism Motorsports name that qualified for 30 races but only finished two. After the season, the entire team became known as Prism Motorsports.
In 2010, the team had two Sprint Cup teams, No. 55 and No. 66, led by driversMichael McDowell andDave Blaney, which fieldedToyota Camrys under a technical alliance withMWR. Three drivers rotated among the two Nationwide Series cars (90 and 91) in 2010:Danny O'Quinn Jr.,David Gilliland, andChase Miller.
Car No. 55 crew chief Zach McGowan tweeted on November 18 that the team would be shutting down after the 2010 season-ending race at Homestead,[3] But this was denied by team owner Randy Humphrey.[4] No information was available regarding PRISM's Nationwide teams. The team returned in 2011 asHP Racing with McDowell behind the wheel of the No. 66 Toyota with Gene Nead as crew chief. Unlike 2009, the team intended to run a limited schedule, running only a few full races but ended up running the full schedule. The team ran with Ford for 2012 and 2013 before switching to Chevrolet for the 2014 season.
The team and driver Josh Wise gained popularity in 2014 after an internet campaign withDogecoin andReddit, leading the No. 98 to be voted into the2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
For 2010, Prism Motorsports added a second car provided byMichael Waltrip Racing, the No. 55, driven by former team driverMichael McDowell. The car number had previously been used byMichael Waltrip from 2007 to 2009. Randy Humphrey was listed as the car's official owner. At the start of the season, Prism had no sponsorship for this car.[5] McDowell succeeded in qualifying the No. 55 into the starting field for the2010 Daytona 500. After qualifying, McDowell said that this was the "biggest race of the season" for Prism, as the guaranteed winnings would enable the team to stay on the track for several weeks.[6] McDowell qualified 29th, picked up sponsorship from South Carolina-based Firefly Vodka, and finished 33rd after a drive shaft issue. McDowell and teammateDave Blaney swapped rides at Phoenix and Texas in an effort to get the team higher in owner points.
Michael Waltrip drove the No. 55 atTalladega withAaron's sponsorship to a poor finish after getting caught up in a wreck, but was running up front and was at one point leading the race.[7]Mike Bliss drove the car after McDowell left the team. WhenTerry Labonte's car failed to qualify at Richmond, he took over as the driver of the No. 55, taking sponsorGander Mountain with him.Terry Cook later attempted to qualify the car at Martinsville, but failed to do so. Waltrip would later return, along with sponsorAaron's to the No. 55 at the fallTalladega race.
The No. 55 car did not enter the fall Texas race, possibly because of the large number of entries attempting to qualify. It was also absent on the entry list for Homestead.
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
| 2010 | Michael McDowell | 55 | Toyota | DAY 33 | CAL 42 | LVS 42 | ATL 42 | MAR 43 | RCH DNQ | DAR 40 | DOV 42 | CLT 42 | POC 39 | NHA 41 | DAY DNQ | CHI DNQ | IND 42 | POC 43 | GLN 42 | MCH 42 | BRI 43 | 43rd | 1281 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Waltrip | BRI 41 | TAL 39 | MCH DNQ | SON DNQ | TAL 28 | TEX | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dave Blaney | PHO 42 | TEX 43 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bliss | ATL 42 | RCH QL | NHA 41 | DOV 40 | KAN DNQ | CAL DNQ | CLT DNQ | PHO 39 | HOM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Labonte | RCH 40 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terry Cook | MAR DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The No. 98 car was aNASCARSprint Cup Series team that debuted in 2009 as the No. 66 under a technical alliance withMWR, which supplied the team'sToyota Camry, engines and technical support.[8]Terry Labonte ran the No. 66 for the2009 Daytona 500, where he finished 24th.Dave Blaney ran the rest of the season, except for theAarons 499 at Talladega as he was away with his family.Michael McDowell attempted to qualify for the event but failed to do so. According to Blaney, Prism had anticipated attempting to run all of the laps in "six or eight" Sprint Cup races in which the team was able to secure full sponsorship, which includedWindow World for theDaytona 500 andAaron's for theCoca-Cola 600. TheDenny Hamlin Foundation was on the car atLowes Motor Speedway, Talladega, and Texas, with Blaney only making the race at Talladega. Ultimately, the team qualified for 31 of the 36 Sprint Cup races in the 2009 season – 30 by Blaney and 1 by Labonte—but only ran two complete races (the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600). For the remainder of 2009, the No. 66 car was a start-and-park team, much like their Nationwide Series counterparts.[9]
Blaney returned to the No. 66 in 2010. Again, Prism struggled with sponsorship, as it was unable to find a sponsor for the team for even the2010 Daytona 500, and Blaney subsequently failed to qualify for it.[5] Blaney made the team's first race of the year in the 2010Auto Club 500, qualifying fifth,[10] leading four laps before finishing 41st. The 66 was later impounded by NASCAR. The team was able to rebound from the impound, and ran the whole entire race, finishing 29th at the Shelby American. Blaney left the team after Watkins Glen, andScott Riggs took over the No. 66 for the next four races, qualifying only once atBristol Motor Speedway, Likewise,Jason Leffler drove the No. 66 for four races, only qualifying atAuto Club Speedway.Johnny Sauter failed to make each of the three races he attempted with the team, andMike Bliss drove the car at Texas and Homestead.
While the 66 team frequentlystart-and-parked, it occasionally showed competitive speed. Blaney qualified 8th, 4th, and 3rd at the2009 Food City 500, the2009 Sharpie 500, and the2010 Food City 500, respectively (all atBristol), as well as a 5th place start spot at the2009 Auto Club 500, though the team finished 41st or worst in all four races.[11][12]
For 2011, McDowell returned to the team, now renamed HP Racing. The team missed the2011 Daytona 500, but started and parked the next three races. HP ran its first full race atMartinsville, where the team finished 32nd after a late wreck.KLOVE sponsored the team at Richmond and Darlington. Todd Bodine drove at both Pocono and Michigan in August, while Josh Wise took over the 66 at Texas while McDowell filled in for Kyle Busch, who was suspended for intentionally wrecking another driver during the Truck Series race.
For 2012, McDowell returned to the team, renamed Phil Parsons Racing. The team also merged with Whitney Motorsports and partnered with entertainment iconMike Curb. The team ran Fords with Roush Yates Engines and used the number 98 to honor the memory ofBenny Parsons. Phil Parsons Racing planned to run the first 5 races in their entirety with the hope of cracking the top 35. The 98 raced their way into the Daytona 500, with sponsorship fromCurb Records and Christian radio stationKLOVE. McDowell finished 30th after starting 11th in the2012 Daytona 500. McDowell ran all but six races during the season, failing to qualify for three of them.
The team opened the 2013 season with a ninth-place finish at theDaytona 500, the first top ten finish for the team and for McDowell.[13] Phil Parsons Racing withdrew from Phoenix after the team could not prepare the Generation 6 cars in time. They would later skip the road courses as well. Johnny Sauter raced 2 races because McDowell was not in the car. Mike Curb is listed as the owner of the 98. McDowell left after the 2013 season andJosh Wise took over as the team switched toChevrolet for all but the superspeedway events, where they used Fords. In March 2014,Reddit users started a fundraiser to raiseDogecoin to sponsor the No. 98 at theAaron's 499. On March 25, Reddit user Reddit_Racing announced that the fundraiser was a success, having met their $50,000 goal by accumulating 67 million Dogecoin.[14] Florida gubernatorial candidate and DemocratCharlie Crist was to sponsor the No. 98 for the July 5Coke Zero 400 at Daytona,[15] the sponsorship provided by former ownerJames Finch, but was withdrawn by Parsons to respect his business partner Mike Curb, a Republican.[16]
Wise returned to PPR for the 2015 season.[17] Finch would once again provide sponsorship to the team in theDaytona 500, this time through his company Phoenix Construction. However, the car suffered a terminal mechanical failure before the green flag flew on theirBudweiser Duel, and PPR ultimately missed the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2011. However, the team has been able to qualify for every race since then. Wise scored a top 10 in the2015 GEICO 500 at Talladega.
Before the 2015 Coca-Cola 600, Parsons and Curb sold the team's assets and Wise's contract toPremium Motorsports and the team shut down.