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Rick Carelli | |||||||
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![]() Carelli in 1997 | |||||||
Born | Richard Dean Carelli (1954-11-09)November 9, 1954 (age 70) Arvada, Colorado, U.S. | ||||||
Achievements | 1993 NASCARWinston West Series Champion 1991 NASCARFeatherlite Southwest Tour Champion | ||||||
Awards | West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame (2009) | ||||||
NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
9 races run over 3 years | |||||||
Best finish | 49th (1994) | ||||||
First race | 1992Save Mart Supermarkets 300 (Sears Point) | ||||||
Last race | 1994Slick 50 300 (Phoenix) | ||||||
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NASCARXfinity Series career | |||||||
2 races run over 2 years | |||||||
Best finish | 119th (2003) | ||||||
First race | 1998Lycos.com 250 (Pikes Peak) | ||||||
Last race | 2003TrimSpa Dream Body 250 (Pikes Peak) | ||||||
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NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
134 races run over 8 years | |||||||
Best finish | 6th (1995) | ||||||
First race | 1995Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic (Phoenix) | ||||||
Last race | 2002Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona) | ||||||
First win | 1996Coca-Cola 200 (Bristol) | ||||||
Last win | 2000Kroger 200 (Richmond) | ||||||
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Richard Dean Carelli (born November 9, 1954) is an American former race car driver fromArvada, Colorado.[1] He was nicknamed the "High Plains Drifter".[2] He won multiple times in the No. 6NASCARCraftsman Truck Series truck. He is the spotter forErik Jones in theNASCAR Cup Series.
Carelli won the NASCAR Southwest Tour championship in 1991 and won 21 times in the series during his career.[2] He joined theNASCAR Winston West Series in 1992,[1] and he was named the series Rookie of the Year. He returned to the series in 1993, capturing the series championship and Most Popular Driver award.[1][2] He has won nine times in that series.[2]
He was one of the original drivers in the Craftsman Truck Series, starting at the series' first race at Phoenix in 1995. Carelli raced every series race until he suffered near-fatal injuries when his truck hit the wall during a race atMemphis Motorsports Park in 1999. He suffered a basilar skull fracture, damaged his carotid artery and sinus.[3] He recovered and returned to race the entire 2000 season.[3] He won another race atRichmond International Raceway in 2000 with an underfunded team that he was thecrew chief for. He also made 9Winston Cup starts from 1992 to 1994. He stopped driving in 2004 and moved into the administrative side of motorsport.[3]
After retiring from driving, he later became the team manager forKevin Harvick Incorporated – a position that he held whenRon Hornaday won the 2007 championship.[2] He later worked withNTS Motorsports as the team general manager.[4] Carelli was also thespotter for theStewart-Haas Racing No. 41, driven byKurt Busch after first working with him atFurniture Row Racing;[5] FRR's general manager Joe Garone was Carelli's crew chief from 1989 to 1994.[6] He later becameErik Jones' spotter at FRR before following him toJoe Gibbs Racing andRichard Petty Motorsports.[5][7]
Carelli was inducted in theWest Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2009 along with Wayne Spears, Doug George, andChuck Bown.[8][9]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
NASCARWinston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | 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 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | |||||||
1991 | Chesrown Racing | 37 | Chevy | DAY | RCH | CAR | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | CLT | DOV | SON | POC | MCH | DAY | POC | TAL | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | PHO DNQ | ATL | NA | - | [10] | |||||||||
1992 | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | CLT | DOV | SON 37 | POC | MCH | DAY | POC | TAL | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | PHO 42 | ATL | 74th | 89 | [11] | ||||||||||||
1993 | 61 | DAY | CAR | RCH DNQ | ATL DNQ | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | PHO 21 | ATL 35 | 49th | 258 | [12] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | SON 21 | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | DAY | NHA | POC | TAL | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
1994 | 61 | DAY DNQ | CAR DNQ | RCH DNQ | ATL DNQ | DAR DNQ | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | SON 41 | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH DNQ | DAY | NHA | POC | TAL | IND DNQ | GLN | MCH 27 | BRI | DAR DNQ | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR 22 | PHO 33 | ATL DNQ | 49th | 283 | [13] |
NASCARWinston West Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | NWWSC | Pts | Ref |
1991 | Chesrown Racing | 37 | Chevy | EVG | MMR | SON | SGS | POR | EVG 27 | SSS | MMR 2 | PHO DNQ | 24th | 391 | [26] | ||||||
1992 | MMR 1* | SGS 1* | SON 37 | SHA 4* | POR 10 | EVG 4 | SSS 1 | CAJ 14 | TWS 6 | MMR 2 | PHO 42 | 3rd | 1765 | [27] | |||||||
1993 | TWS 8 | MMR 4 | SGS 1* | SON 21 | TUS 9 | SHA 1* | EVG 1* | POR 2* | CBS 1* | SSS 4 | CAJ 1 | TCR 8 | 1st | 2390 | [28] | ||||||
61 | MMR 3 | PHO 21 | |||||||||||||||||||
1994 | MMR | TUS | SON 41 | SGS | YAK | MMR | POR 1 | IND DNQ | CAJ | TCR | LVS | MMR 10 | PHO 33 | TUS | 19th | 804 | [29] | ||||
1995 | TUS | MMR | SON | CNS 6 | MMR | POR | SGS | TUS | AMP | MAD | POR | LVS | SON | MMR | PHO | 46th | 150 | [30] | |||
1996 | TUS 5 | AMP | MMR | SON | MAD | POR | TUS | EVG | CNS 15 | MAD | MMR | SON | MMR | PHO | LVS | 34th | 273 | [31] | |||
1999 | Chesrown Racing | 57 | Chevy | TUS 4 | LVS 16 | PHO | CAL 3 | PPR | MMR | IRW | EVG | POR | IRW | RMR | LVS | MMR | MOT | 32nd | 445 | [32] | |
2001 | Team Re/MAX Racing | 05 | Chevy | PHO | LVS | TUS | MMR | CAL 9 | IRW | LAG | KAN | EVG | CNS | IRW | RMR | LVS | IRW | 47th | 143 | [33] |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Re/Max Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | 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 | ARSC | Pts | Ref |
1992 | Chesrown Racing | 37 | Chevy | DAY | FIF | TWS | TAL | TOL | KIL | POC | MCH | FRS | KIL | NSH | DEL | POC | HPT | FRS | ISF | TOL | DSF | TWS 6 | SLM | ATL | N/A | – | [34] | ||||
1993 | DAY | FIF | TWS 8 | TAL | KIL | CMS | FRS | TOL | POC | MCH | FRS | POC | KIL | ISF | DSF | TOL | SLM | WIN | ATL | N/A | – | [35] | |||||||||
2001 | Team Re/MAX Racing | 05 | Chevy | DAY | NSH 4 | WIN | SLM | GTY 5 | KEN | CLT | KAN | MCH 8 | POC | MEM 2 | GLN | KEN | MCH 4 | POC | NSH | ISF | CHI | DSF | SLM | TOL | BLN | CLT 40 | TAL 3 | ATL | 31st | 1285 | [36] |
2002 | DAY 2 | ATL | NSH | SLM | KEN | CLT | KAN 38 | POC 3 | MCH 36 | TOL | SBO | KEN | BLN | POC | NSH | ISF | WIN | DSF | CHI 2 | SLM | TAL 4 | CLT | 30th | 975 | [37] | ||||||
2003 | DAY 6 | ATL | NSH 10 | SLM | TOL | KEN | CLT | BLN | KAN 5 | MCH 27 | LER | POC | POC | NSH | ISF | WIN | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL | CLT | SBO | 39th | 700 | [38] |
(key)
24 Hours of Daytona results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Class | No | Team | Car | Co-drivers | Laps | Position | Class Pos. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2002 | AGT | 90 | ![]() | Chevy Corvette | ![]() ![]() ![]() | 123 | 69DNF | 8DNF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2003 | GTS | 05 | ![]() | Chevy Corvette | ![]() ![]() ![]() | 378 | 27DNF | 8DNF |
Achievements | ||
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Preceded by | NASCAR Winston West Series champion 1993 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour champion 1991 | Succeeded by |