 | |
| Owner(s) | Briggs Cunningham III Kerry Scherer |
|---|---|
| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | ARCA Racing Series |
| Manufacturer | Dodge,Ford |
| Opened | 1997 |
| Closed | 2017 |
| Career | |
| Debut | ARCA Racing Series: 1997ARCA 200 (Daytona) |
| Latest race | ARCA Racing Series: 2017Kansas ARCA 150 (Kansas) |
| Drivers' Championships | Total: 1 ARCA Racing Series: 1 |
| Race victories | Total: 40 ARCA Racing Series: 40 |
Cunningham Motorsports (operating at various points in its history asCSG Motorsports andCHS Motorsports) was an American professionalstock car racing team that competed primarily in theARCA Racing Series, but also in theNASCAR Camping World Truck Series andBusch Series. At various points, the team haddriver development links toDodge,Ganassi RacingTeam Penske andRoush Fenway Racing, and won the2016 ARCA Racing Series championship with Stewart-Haas Racing driverChase Briscoe. After 2017, the team was sold to crew chief Chad Bryant, which currently fields the Nos. 22 and 77 in ARCA competition.
Cunningham formed in 1997 asCSG Motorsports as a three-way partnership between Briggs Cunningham III, Kerry Scherer andMark Gibson.[1] After driving three years for the team, Gibson split from Cunningham and Scherer in early 2000. The team primarily ran in theARCA Racing Series but dabbled inBusch Series competition. In 2007, Cunningham and Scherer brought on Eddie Hartman to formCHS Motorsports, which competed in theCamping World Truck Series.[2] CHS lasted three years before Hartman broke off and formed a partnership withEddie Sharp. The team then focused exclusively on ARCA competition and signed a developmental contract withTeam Penske in 2008.[3] The team then won several Rookie of the Year awards in the late 2000s and early 2010s before winning the ARCA championship in 2016 withChase Briscoe. Due to the ailing health of owner Cunningham, the team closed at the end of the2017 ARCA Racing Series season.[4] On January 9, 2018, the sale of the team was announced. Longtime crew chief Chad Bryant bought the assets of the team to formChad Bryant Racing.[5] Bryant kept the same numbers and personnel from the old Cunningham team and signedBo LeMastus andJoe Graf Jr. as his first drivers.[6]
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Team driverJustin Labonte ran a race atMichigan in 2003, finishing a lap down.[7]
TheCraftsman Truck Series branch of the organization was namedCHS Motorsports with additional co-owner Eddie Hartman.[2] The team aligned itself withGanassi Racing in late 2007 to giveDario Franchitti his firstNASCAR start, which he did not finish.[8] Under the direction of Hartman the team ran in a part-time capacity for the next two years, starting withTayler Malsam[9] andRyan Mathews[10] in 2008. The teamstart and parked in 2009 with various drivers.[11] In 2010 Hartman and Cunningham parted ways and Hartman formed a partnership withEddie Sharp[12] and ran two full races withSteve Park behind the wheel of theToyota Tundra No. 41 (the team ran withDodge Ram until 2009).
The team was going to attempt a partial schedule in the2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season[13] but the effort fell through.
Marc Brenner drove a partial schedule in the car in 2000 with backing fromOutdoor Channel. He mostly ran in the mid-teens, cracking the top ten atMichigan andKentucky.[14] With Brenner driving the superspeedways,Roger Blackstock ran the short tracks, making the top ten atFlat Rock andWinchester.[15]
Justin Labonte signed a driver development contract to pilot the No. 4 car at select superspeedways in 2001.[16] Labonte attempted five races in 2001, finding success mostly atNashville, leading fifty-two laps before problems mired him to finish in the mid-teens.[17] He scaled back his schedule with the team in 2002, finishing only the season-opening race.[18]
Besides Labonte, the early years of the team were tumultuous times, with a wide range of drivers who oftenstart and parked. The team still ran a bit under half of the schedule as a full-distance team in 2001, with drivers such as Blackstock,Ronnie Hornaday,[19]Kevin Belmont (brother of longtime ARCA racerAndy Belmont),[20] and others. The team's lone top ten finish of the year came withAustin Cameron, an eighth atKansas.[21] The team delved farther into start and parking in 2002, running only three full races: one with Labonte, one withJeff Caudell and one with rising sixteen year oldJustin Allgaier in an association with his family team.[22]
The next three years saw the team run a limited schedule of races as a start and park team asNASCAR teamMorgan–McClure Motorsports was using the number four for among other driversEric McClure.
The No. 4 entry returned full-time in 2005 in association with Hantz Group Racing and Mike Guerity Racing.[23]Michael Guerity was the team's primary driver, recording top tens at bothrestrictor plate tracks, bothPocono races and was the runner-up finish of theMichigan race.[24] The team rotated Dodge drivers on most of the short tracks; one of those wasRonnie Hornaday, making his return to racing after two years working as a crew member withUltra Motorsports in theNASCARCamping World Truck Series.[25] He ran two races for the team. He led 14 laps in one and turned in a best finish of eighth atLanier Speedway in the other.[26]Steve Wallace ran two races for the team and scored as many top tens while running a partial Truck schedule.[27] Other drivers rotated in without much success, the exception beingBob Strait who led a lap and finished second at a dirt track race.[28]
After a successful 2005 season Cunningham aligned themselves withEvernham Motorsports andGanassi Racing, both as part of a Dodge development program. The partnership included driversScott Lagasse Jr.,Chase Miller andA. J. Foyt IV.[29] Foyt never made a start for the team, but Lagasse ran ten races alongside aNASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule.[30] He led almost 50 laps atKansas before running out of fuel and breaking the transmission trying to restart the car.[31] He started on the outside pole atKentucky andChicagoland and recorded top ten finishes in each of those races.[32] Miller ran a combination of short-tracks and superspeedways, scoring a pole atGateway and winning atPocono,[33] becoming the youngest ever winner in the ARCA series.[34] Brake issues sidelined him in the Gateway race but he still finished in the top ten in two of his other four races,[35] including another Pocono one where a dropped cylinder in the later stages eliminated Miller.[36]Bob Strait returned to the team to run top-five on both dirt tracks on the schedule.[37] As part of its deal with Ganassi, the team welcomedJuan Pablo Montoya into stock car racing with a test[38] and then two starts, one atTalladega[39] and one atIowa.[40] Montoya logged a top-five at Talladega while playing conservative.[41]Kevin Swindell andRyan Mathews also made starts.[42][43]
In 2007, the team again rotated through a number of drivers while being a Dodge factory team.Tim Andrews won a pole at Pocono and also posted a top-ten at Nashville[44] with his father serving as crew chief.[45]Rob Bunker struggled to find speed and keep the car clean in his races.[46]Bryan Clauson ran a race as part of a part-time ARCA schedule withGanassi Racing.[47] Team partnerMark Gibson ran both of the dirt tracks in the No. 4.[48] Mathews also returned, albeit for one race instead of ten.[49]Ray Mooi rounded out the stable of drivers, piloting the car for three races.[50]
Tayler Malsam ran the No. 4 entry full-time in 2008 after piloting the No. 56 part-time the previous year as part of aDodgedriver development program.[51] During his full-time season, Malsam recorded three top five finishes.[52]
Ken Weaver, a businessman and convicted felon,[53] joined the team in 2009 to try and win the championship.[54] However, Weaver lost interest in racing halfway through the season, leaving the team before the race atPocono.[55] He had finished fifth in the season's first race but had not made the top ten since then.[56]Chase Miller ran the next two races in the 4, turning in a third atMichigan.[57]Hal Martin ran three nonconsecutive races for the team, running in the top ten atKansas andChicagoland.[58] After running withVenturini Motorsports earlier in the season,Dakoda Armstrong signed on to drive Cunningham cars as part of aPenske Racing development deal.[59] He finished in the top ten in two of his five races.[60] Jonathan Eilen ran theBerlin race for the team, running as high as third before a late spin relegated him to 23rd.[61]Mark Gibson returned to run the two dirt races.[62]Patrick Long, in his only ARCA start of all-time, won the race atNew Jersey Motorsports Park from the pole.[63]
The 22 started as a part-time entry in 2009, withDrew Herring andDakoda Armstrong each driving a race.[64] Armstrong took over the entry full-time the following year with the No. 4 entry folding. In 20 races thePenske Racing development driver scored a win atTalladega while still in high school.[65] He was pushed byPatrick Sheltra to the win.[66] Armstrong was also the winner of the race atSalem and scored ten other top tens.[67] He also ran well and led laps at other short tracks.[68] Cunningham's first run at a driver's championship in three years resulted in a seventh-place finish.[69]
The 22, along with the 77, became part-time in 2011. Armstrong continued with the team as the primary driver, running six races and winning the race atWinchester.[70] He also ran well and led laps at other short tracks.[68]Ryan Lynch andChrissy Wallace also made starts in the 22 car.[71][72]
Alex Bowman ran the 22 car for all 19 events in 2012, winning the races at Salem, Winchester,[73]Iowa andKansas. He also won three poles in the first six races.[74] He won the Rookie of the Year award on a team that was in danger of shutting down midway through the season.[75]
LocalMinnesotashort track racing driver Jonathan Eilen drove for the 22 team atElko Speedway in 2013.[76] Eilen finished third but did not return to the team or series after that race.[77] Eilen was one of a slew of drivers to run the 22 car that year;Michel Disdier ran his first ARCA race in four years with the team atDaytona,[78] and led the final practice session.[79]Anderson Bowen signed as aPenske Racing development driver along with someK&N Pro Series West races at the age of 15.[80] Bowen fell victim to a crash and mechanical failure in two of his three starts.[81] After running a partial schedule withKimmel Racing the year before,Korbin Forrister tested with Cunningham atTalladega[82] and ran the race for the team, finishing just outside of the top ten.[83]Will Kimmel ran both of thePocono races andKentucky when he was not driving for his family team.[84] The short tracks were run byAustin Wayne Self,[85] who also ran a K&N Pro schedule that year.Ryan Blaney, another Penske development driver, ran three races while running a fullCamping World Truck Series schedule.[86][87] He captured two poles and was the fastest car atMichigan but finished third after running out of fuel.[88]Tyler Reddick ran a dirt race not as a development driver but as a local driver.[89] After starting from the back, Reddick finished two laps down.[90]Scott Lagasse Jr. andJustin South also made starts.[91][92]
Trevor Bayne won aPocono Raceway race in 2015 in his first race at the track after taking the lead fromMason Mitchell on the final restart.[93] That was when primary driverKyle Weatherman was not in the car as a part of adriver development program withRoush Fenway Racing.[94] Weatherman finished fifth in his debut with the team and won the race atNew Jersey Motorsports Park.[95] He also claimed three consecutive poles in summer, the first one being atIowa Speedway.[96] Weatherman only finished outside of the top ten twice in fifteen races that season.[97]Blake Jones won the race atTalladega Superspeedway as well that year and also ran other races in the 22.[98] The combined success of the drivers led the 22 to a second-place finish in owners' points.[99]
In 2016,Myatt Snider won hisARCA Racing Series debut atToledo Speedway driving the 22.[100] He also ran in eight more ARCA races in 2016, winning the pole atMichigan but crashed out of that race and two others.[101]Parker Kligerman also recorded a win in the 22 that year, leading both practices and leading all but twelve laps en route to the victory atNew Jersey Motorsports Park to bag Cunningham's 30th ARCA victory.[102]Grant Enfinger drove the car for theDuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack after winning the race the previous two years.[103] Enfinger won the pole but faltered in the race, retiring early due to overheating.[104] Other drivers who drove the 22 in 2016 includedKen Schrader,Frank Kimmel and his nephewWill,Brady Boswell, Kevin Thomas Jr., Clayton Weatherman andBlake Jones.[105] Although the team rotated through a slew of drivers, it still managed a seventh-place finish in owner points that year.[106]
On January 5, 2017, it was announced thatShane Lee would drive the entire season in the 22 after driving a partial schedule in 2016 forWin-Tron Racing.[107] Lee scored a pole and fourteen top fives[108] on his way to a third-place points finish, right behind teammateDalton Sargeant.[109]
Brandon Thompson drove the car for one race in 2008.[110]
Nur Ali joined the team for theDaytona race in 2009.[111] The Pakistani was eliminated in a wreck before the halfway point of the race.[112]
The team's original entry, the No. 59 debuted in 1997 with co-ownerMark Gibson as driver. Gibson ran in the top ten for all but eight races, five of which were DNFs.[113] He scored the team's first win atGateway in the sixteenth race of the first season, beating outTim Steele over the last fifteen laps before the victory.[1] He returned to the car in the next season, winning the race atTexas and leading over 100 laps in the process.[114] In 1999, he failed to reach victory lane for the first time with the team and finished only three times in the top five.[115] After the 1999 season, Gibson split from Cunningham to make Mark Gibson Racing.[1]
Justin South ran the No. 59 entry full-time in 2007, recording a best finish of third atToledo. He also recorded eight other top ten finishes during the season.[116] South left the team after 2007, citing a lack of both funding and chemistry.[117]
The 72 car ran as a part-time entry in 2014, debuting withAustin Wayne Self at Daytona, where the car failed to qualify.[118] Self then transitioned to the 22 entry, andTom Hessert III ran atMobile International Speedway,[119] Madison and Winchester when other drivers were in his normal 77 car.[120] After making two starts in the first half of the season, the 72 made five starts in the second ten races,[121] withShannon McIntosh,[122]Anderson Bowen,[123] andBrandon Gdovic, who brought home a top-ten finish in the season finale.[124]
In an alliance withTeam Penske, Cunningham fielded the 77 entry forParker Kligerman in 2009,[125] who ran two races in the 77 the year before.[126] In 2009, Kligerman won nine of the 21 races on the schedule, including four in a row during summer.[127] However, he lost the championship by a mere five points toJustin Lofton.[128] The season for Kligerman only came together after the race atSalem Speedway; before that event the 77 team planned to run only a partial schedule of eight events.[129]
Tom Hessert III drove the 77 in 2010, winning a race[130] and finishing third in the point standings.[131] After the season, Hessert departed forKen Schrader Racing, where he would spend the next two seasons before returning to Cunningham for 2013.[125]
The 77 car ran in the beginning of the season part-time withJoey Licata starting off the season with a top-ten finish atDaytona. He retired early atTalladega in the only other ARCA start of his career.[132] After a couple ofstart and park races,Frankie Kimmel joined the team for theNew Jersey race and also ran at Salem for the team, scoring another top ten finish.[133] The 77 entry folded as Cunningham focused on a full-time 22 entry withAlex Bowman in 2012.
After driving for Cunningham in 2010,Tom Hessert III returned to the team for the2013 ARCA Racing Series season.[134] TheNew Jersey driver scored one win in 2013, atSalem Speedway.[135] Hessert was fined $5,000 after theAllen Crowe 100 for turning fellow driverSpencer Gallagher after the conclusion of the race.[136] He won the 2014 race atTalladega Superspeedway getting a push fromAustin Wayne Self aroundJustin Boston andBobby Gerhart.[137] Hessert also won at Salem later in the season and recorded a slew of top-five and top-ten finishes in 2014.[138] He drove the 77 to a third-place finish in the2014 ARCA Racing Series point standings.[139]
Chase Briscoe won theARCA Racing Series championship driving this entry in2016. The 2016 season was Briscoe's firststock car racing season in his career.[140] He had six wins during his championship season, including four in a row during summer.[141]Dalton Sargeant was drove the car in 2017 after winning the ARCA Rookie of the Year award in 2016.[142]
Austin Cindric ran the car on a limited schedule starting in2015. He won at Kentucky in2016.Ty Majeski, after testing a 77M car atDaytona International Speedway before the season,[143] drove for five 2017 events.[144] Cindric grabbed the pole atRoad America[145] and ran another partial schedule in 2017.[146]
Cunningham and Scherer signed on withDodge to be adriver development program for the manufacturer in theARCA Racing Series from 2001 to 2007.[147] The team then announced a partnership withTeam Penske (then Penske Racing) in June 2008, which would be effective for competition in theARCA Racing Series (then ARCA ReMax Series),USAC Midgets, and theNASCARCamping World Truck Series (then Craftsman Truck Series).[3] Seven years later, Cunningham announced an ARCA-specificdriver development program withRoush Fenway Racing to putKyle Weatherman in a car.[94] The team maintained both relationships until its closure, with Penske'sAustin Cindric and RFR'sTy Majeski splitting the 99 entry in 2017.