King Racing was a racing team which fielded cars in theNASCARWinston Cup Series as well as inCART and theIndianapolis 500. The team was owned byNHRA drag racing driverKenny Bernstein.

For its entire run in NASCAR’s top series, King Racing fielded a car numbered 26 and carrying sponsorship fromQuaker State Motor Oil. Bernstein fieldedBuick Regals untilGeneral Motors pulled the brand from NASCAR following the 1991 season; after that, the team competed withFord Thunderbirds.

King’s first season was 1986 with the 26 being driven byJoe Ruttman withLarry McReynolds, who had begun working in the sport nearly ten years earlier, as crew chief. In 1987 Ruttman was replaced withMorgan Shepherd, and for 1988Ricky Rudd joined the team.

The team won its first Cup Series race in1988 with Rudd atThe Budweiser at the Glen. Rudd also won theBanquet Frozen Foods 300 atSears Point Raceway in1989 on his way to an eighth place points finish.

Rudd left King Racing to take over forGeoff Bodine atHendrick Motorsports following the 1989 season, and for1990 Geoff’s brotherBrett Bodine took over the 26. He won theFirst Union 400 atNorth Wilkesboro, which proved to be the team’s final victory.

Partway through the 1991 season,Robert Yates Racing signed McReynolds away from the 26 to replaceJake Elder as the crew chief toDavey Allison. Bodine, meanwhile, recorded six top tens, including two top five finishes at Martinsville, on his way to a 19th-place finish in the points.

Bodine would stay on with King for three more seasons, competing in a total of 158 races for the team. 1992 saw him finish 15th in the standings with thirteen top ten finishes and two top fives. He recorded nine top tens and three top fives, finishing 20th despite missing the fall race at Dover due to injury. Then, in 1994, Bodine managed a second-place finish in the inauguralBrickyard 400, scoring his last career top five finish. He followed this up with two more top tens, the last at Charlotte in the fall, and finished 19th in points.

In 1995, Bodine left to joinJunior Johnson & Associates as the replacement forBill Elliott following Elliott's decision to become an owner-driver (something Bodine would do a year later), andSteve Kinser was signed away from theWorld of Outlaws sprint car series to take over. The multiple time world champion had trouble adjusting to the world of stock car racing, and after he finished 40th or worse three times in five starts and failed to qualify for two other races, Kinser was released from the team.Hut Stricklin was brought in to finish the season and recorded two top five finishes and five total top tens.

After a 34th-place finish in points, Bernstein sold his team toRudd Performance Motorsports at the end of 1995 and returned to focusing strictly on drag racing.

King Racing made their debut during the1988 season, fielding the No. 15 and 17Mac ToolsLola T8700-Buick V6 at theIndianapolis 500 withJim Crawford in No. 15 andJohnny Rutherford in No. 17. Both qualified mid-pack. Crawford led for eight laps (the only laps not led by aTeam Penske driver). Crawford was running in second place late in the race. Crawford then ran too low on the track, getting into the grass, and dropped to 6th place during a pit stop to change the damaged tire.

For the1989 season, the team fielded Crawford again in the No. 15Mac Tools Lola T8700-Buick V6 at theIndianapolis 500 and qualified in 4th place. Crawford suffered a practice crash. The car was repaired in time to race. Crawford retired with mechanical problems. King Racing did not compete in1990. They made a return during the1991 season with Crawford driving the No. 26Quaker StateLola T9100-Buick V6 and would qualify in 8th place. Crawford would retire with mechanical problems.

For1992 season King Racing would compete in their first race besides the Indianapolis 500 whenRoberto Guerrero drove the No. 36Quaker State Lola T9100-Buick V6 at theToyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on thestreets of Long Beach; he was however off the pace due toCART ruling not giving V6 engines as much boost. However at theIndianapolis 500 King Racing ran a pair ofQuaker StateLola T9200-Buick V6 with Guerrero in No. 36 and Crawford in No. 26. TheUSAC (who sanctioned the Indianapolis 500) regulations for V6 engines gave them more boost. As a result, Guerrero would qualify on the pole position setting new one-lap and 4-lap records with a 4-lap average of 232 mph and one lap at 233 mph. Crawford was also fast but had mechanical problems on pole day and recovered to qualify. Guerrero would spin out during the parade lap and would fail to start as a result. Crawford was running in the top 10 when he spun into the wall, collectingRick Mears. Mears' teammateEmerson Fittipaldi also spun and crashed on the same lap.

For1993 King Racing would expand to a full-time team with Guerrero driving the No. 40Budweiser KingLola T9300-Ilmor-Chevrolet Indy V8. Jim Crawford would drive No. 80 andAl Unser Sr. in No. 60. At theIndianapolis 500, Guerrero was involved in a crash withJeff Andretti. Unser led early on but dropped to 13th. Crawford would spin out early on and would not recover. Guerrero would get a best finish of 4th at theNew England 200 atNew Hampshire Motor Speedway but was replaced byEddie Cheever for the last few races of the season. Guerrero would finish 14th in points.

For1994Scott Goodyear would drive the No. 40Budweiser KingLola T9400-Ford-Cosworth XB. At theIndianapolis 500 the team hiredDavy Jones to drive a spare car numbered 40T (it would be changed to 60 on race day). Goodyear would fail to qualify while Jones would qualify. So Goodyear would replace Jones on race day but retired with mechanical problems early on. Goodyear gave King Racing their only CART win when he drove to victory at theMarlboro 500 atMichigan International Speedway. Goodyear finished 12th in points (King Racing's highest CART position in points).

The 1994 season was the last in CART for King Racing, as Bernstein opted to shut the team down.

• Jim Crawford (1988–1989, 1991–1993)
• Johnny Rutherford (1988)
• Geoff Brabham (1991)
• Roberto Guerrero (1991–1993)
• Willy T. Ribbs (1991)
• Eddie Cheever (1993)
• Al Unser (1993)
• Scott Goodyear (1994)
• Andrea Montermini (1994)

• Joe Ruttman (1986)
• Morgan Shepherd (1987)
• Ricky Rudd (1988–1989)
• Brett Bodine (1990–1994)
• Dick Trickle (1993; injury replacement at Dover)
• Steve Kinser (1995, replaced after North Wilkesboro)
• Hut Stricklin (1995)

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
1988					PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA
	Lola T87/00	Buick3300V6t	Jim Crawford	15			6
			Johnny Rutherford	17			22
1989					PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T87/00	Buick3300V6t	Jim Crawford	15			19
1991					SFR	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T91/00	Buick3300V6t	Jim Crawford	26				26
			Roberto Guerrero							15						19					18
1992					SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MCH	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T92/00	Buick3300V6t	Jim Crawford	26				25
	Lola T91/00		Roberto Guerrero				13
	Lola T92/00			36				33
1993					SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T93/00	Chevrolet265CV8t	Roberto Guerrero	40	19	15	5	28	7	26	24	29	10	7	4	23	11
			Eddie Cheever															28	10	14
			Jim Crawford	60				24
			Al Unser	80				12
1994					SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T94/00	FordXBV8t	Scott Goodyear	40	10	11	19	30	22	11	28	14	10	1	22	11	4	7	8	27
			Andrea Montermini	60								16	7

#	Season	Date	Sanction	Track / Race	No.	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Grid	Laps Led
1	1994	July 31	CART	Michigan 500(O)	40	Scott Goodyear	Lola T94/00	FordXBV8t	Goodyear	12	26

• Kenny Bernstein Website
• NASCAR Stats for Kenny Bernstein at everythingstockcar.com

• 1986 establishments in the United States
• 1995 disestablishments in the United States
• Defunct NASCAR teams
• American auto racing teams
• Champ Car teams
• Auto racing teams established in 1986
• Auto racing teams disestablished in 1995

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using infobox NASCAR team with unknown parameters