Swan Racing

Owner(s)	Brandon Davis Bill Romanowski (minority)
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	Sprint Cup Series
Race drivers	David Stremme Brian Simo Patrick Long Michael Waltrip Cole Whitt Kevin Swindell Parker Kligerman
Manufacturer	Chevrolet Toyota
Opened	2011
Closed	2014
Career
Debut	2011Crown Royal 400 (Richmond)
Latest race	2014Bojangles' Southern 500 (Darlington)
Races competed	99
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0

Swan Racing was astock car racing team that competed in theNASCARSprint Cup Series until the2014 season. The team was founded asInception Motorsports which fielded a single No. 30 team in the Cup Series in 2011 and 2012 before being purchased bySwan Energy CEO Brandon Davis late in 2012. The team was headquartered inMooresville,North Carolina in theUnited States.David Stremme was the team's original driver, before being replaced by rookiesCole Whitt andParker Kligerman at the end of 2013. The team expanded to two teams in 2014 for Whitt and Kilgerman, attempting and qualifying for every event that season until the woes of sponsorship kicked in following theeighth race of the season. The team shut down in April 2014; its owners points, employees, and most of its assets moved toXxxtreme Motorsport andBK Racing, though Parker Kligerman remained under contract through year's end.

The team was established as Inception Motorsports in April 2011 inMooresville, North Carolina by Inception Investment Group CEOTimothy McSweeney^[1] withDavid Stremme as the driver of the No. 30. The following year, Inception Motorsports switched fromChevrolet toToyota.^[2]

Before the 2012 Talladega fall race, McSweeney sold the team to 33-year-old Brandon Davis, a racing enthusiast and CEO of independent petroleum company Swan Energy. Davis vowed to change the team's reputation as astart and park entry, and instead run full races. The team utilized engines fromTriad Racing Technologies, hired former crew chiefSteve Hmiel to be the competition director, and switched names to Swan Racing Company (Swan Racing for short).^[3][4] On January 31, 2013, formerNFLlinebackerBill Romanowski became a minority owner of Swan Racing. His health supplement company, Nutrition53 (Romanowski wore the No. 53 during his 16-year playing career) was a primary sponsor for ten races and an associate sponsor for the remaining 26.^[5]

Prior to the fall race atRichmond in 2013, the team announced that it was releasing driverDavid Stremme following that weekend's event, and planned to run several young drivers in preparation for the 2014 season. The move blindsided Stremme, who had helped found the team out of his own race shop and was integral in Davis' purchase of the organization in 2012. Stremme also held a profit stake in the team, though it had yet to make a profit.^[6][7] On December 3, 2013, the team announced thatCole Whitt andParker Kligerman would compete for Rookie of the Year honors for them in 2014, as the team expanded to two full-time cars with the No. 26 and No. 30.^[8] On January 13, 2014,Anthony Marlowe from Iowa City Capital Partners was announced as a minority owner.^[9] On February 4, 2014, it was announced that rapper50 Cent's headset companySMS Audio will serve as Swan Racing's associate sponsor.^[10]

On April 17, 2014, team officials announced that they would be reviewing the team's future due to lack sponsorship, though co-owner Anthony Marlowe stated he intended to run Whitt for the rest of the season.^[11] On April 23, the team announced it had sold off both entries, with Whitt, Marlowe, and the No. 26 entry moving under theBK Racing banner. The owners points of the No. 30 team were sold toXxxtreme Motorsport, which fielded a No. 30 car atRichmond before switching to their usual No. 44. Swan Racing's shop inStatesville, North Carolina was also sold to Xxxtreme Motorsport.^[12]

On July 10, 2018, former Swan Racing crew chiefSteven Lane formedOn Point Motorsports in theNASCAR Camping World Truck Series running the No. 30 as a reference to Swan, the team currently competes full-time in the truck series with driverTate Fogleman.

On February 13, 2013, NASCAR approved a temporary number change for theDaytona 500 to allow Swan Racing to compete using the number 26, as a charity effort in honor of the 26 who died during theSandy Hook shooting inNewtown, Connecticut. Two-time Daytona 500 winner and fellowToyota team ownerMichael Waltrip drove the car, with regular driver David Stremme recruiting Waltrip to "further [the team's] relationship withToyota." Waltrip was also reunited with formerDale Earnhardt, Inc. crew chiefTony Eury Jr. Waltrip drive the car to a 22nd-place finish.^{[13][14][15][16]} The team ran the No. 30 for the rest of the year.

On January 7, 2014, Swan Racing announced that their new second full-time team would be numbered 26. FormerRed Bull Racing andJR Motorsports driverCole Whitt was hired to drive the 26, after running seven late season races for the team in 2013. New investor Anthony Marlowe was listed as the owner.^[17] The car was sponsored bySpeed Stick GEAR in the2014 Daytona 500, and several other early-season races. Whitt qualified for each of the first eight races, and recorded a single top-20 (atAuto Club Speedway). After Darlington, he No. 26 team was sold to former Swan Racing minority partner Anthony Marlowe, who in turn merged his ownership of the team withBK Racing.^[12]

The No. 30 team made its debut in the2011Crown Royal 400 atRichmond International Raceway withDavid Stremme as the driver, qualifying 16th in their first attempt at competition.^[18]Steve Lane was the crew chief. Throughout the season, the team attempted 18 races,^[19] but failed to qualify for five, including the2011 Brickyard 400.^[20] Inception Motorsports finished 43rd in the 2011 Sprint Cup Series team owners' standings.^[21]

For the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season, the team ran the full 36 race schedule with Stremme driving in all races except the two road course races, whereBrian Simo andPatrick Long drove respectively.^[22] They made the field on qualifying speeds for the2012 Daytona 500, taking the third of three guaranteed starting positions for teams not in the top 35 in owner points.^[23] The team later acquired the 2011 owners' points from the defunctTRG Motorsports No. 71 team, which had finished 36th in the owner standings and shut down at the end of 2012.^[24] The team qualified for each of the first six races of the season, with a best finish of 28th atLas Vegas Motor Speedway,^[25] before failing to qualify for the season's seventh race atTexas Motor Speedway. Having failed to reach the top 35 in owners points, the team began tostart and park due to a lack of sponsorship, eventually parking in 20 out of 28 races.^[26] The team did finish six races and its best 2012 finish was 24th atIndianapolis.

FollowingMichael Waltrip's run in the2013 Daytona 500, Stremme returned to drive for the newly rechristened Swan Racing, withTony Eury Jr. taking over crew chief duties for the team.^[27] The team only recorded four top 20s in the first 26 races. Stremme was released following the September race atRichmond International Raceway, being replaced byCole Whitt for four races.^[7] Whitt finished 39th atChicagoland Speedway. Four-timeChili Bowl Midget Nationals winnerKevin Swindell ran the No. 30 atNew Hampshire Motor Speedway with local sponsorGenny Light,^[28] finishing 38th after an accident. Whitt wound up running seven races for the team, whileParker Kligerman started two races atTexas andHomestead-Miami, with sold finishes of 18th and 25th respectively.^[29][30][31] Overall, the team had five DNF's all season and failed to reach the halfway point of a race only once, when Whitt crashed at Phoenix in November.

On January 7, 2014, Parker Kligerman, a former development driver forTeam Penske andKyle Busch Motorsports, was confirmed as the driver of the No. 30 for 2014.^[17] Unfortunately, Kligerman struggled mightily through eight races, with a best finish of 29th atDaytona, where he crashed out of the race on Lap 193. He also failed to finish at Phoenix (engine), Auto Club (crash), and Texas (radiator), suffered a non-terminalelectronic fuel injection problem at Las Vegas and a first lap wreck at Martinsville. The owners points of the No. 30 were later sold to Xxxtreme Motorsport with driverJ. J. Yeley due to Swan's financial struggles, with the No. 30 crew following. However, Kligerman continued to remain under contract.^[32]

• Official website
• Inception Motorsports owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Swan Racing Company owner statistics at Racing-Reference

• Companies based in North Carolina
• Defunct NASCAR teams
• Auto racing teams established in 2011
• Auto racing teams disestablished in 2014
• 2011 establishments in North Carolina
• Atlantic Championship teams

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• Short description matches Wikidata