 | |
| Owner(s) | Travis Carter,Carl Haas Sam Belnavis (2003 only) Mari Hulman George,Mike Lanigan (2007 only) |
|---|---|
| Base | Statesville, North Carolina |
| Series | Winston Cup,Busch Series |
| Race drivers | Darrell Waltrip,Geoffrey Bodine,Jimmy Spencer,Todd Bodine,Joe Nemechek |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet,Ford |
| Opened | 1990 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Career | |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0 |
Travis Carter Enterprises (later known asHaas-Carter Motorsports,K Mart Racing,BelCar Motorsports andRichardson-Haas Motorsports) was aNASCAR andUSAR Pro Cup team. It was mostly owned by former crew chiefTravis Carter andCarl Haas. The team previously fielded entries in theWinston Cup Series before closing. It returned in 2007 to field a full-time entry for rookieKyle Krisiloff.
After purchasingMach 1 Racing fromHal Needham following the 1989 season, Travis Carter Enterprises debuted at the1990Daytona 500, as the No. 98Chevrolet sponsored byWinn-Dixie.Butch Miller was the driver, who finished 22nd. Miller drove the car in 23 races that year, posting one top-ten finish before he was replaced byRick Mast, who finished out the year and garnered an additional top ten. In1991,Jimmy Spencer took over asBanquet Foods was the sponsor, and finished 25th in points. Spencer ran just seven races with the car in1992, before the team suspended operations temporarily.
Travis Carter Enterprises returned in1994 as the No. 23Camel Cigarettes-sponsoredFord Thunderbird driven byHut Stricklin. After posting one top ten finish that year, Stricklin was removed as Spencer returned to the team again. Spencer ran in the car for several years, the big change coming whenWinston became the sponsor in1998.[1] That year, Spencer looked poised for a top-ten finish in points, but injuries kept him from doing that as he was replaced byTed Musgrave andFrank Kimmel while he nursed his wounds. At the end of the year, Carter announced he would expand his team to a multi-car operation, with three-time championDarrell Waltrip driving the No. 66Kmart Ford and Haas coming on board as a partner.[2] The new team had previously been the No. 27 owned byDavid Blair Motorsports. Waltrip amassed the largest number of DNQ's he had ever had during his career. In2000, he retired from the Winston Cup, his lone highlight being an outside-pole qualifying effort at theBrickyard 400. Kmart also sponsored Spencer's car beginning in 2000, after the team's previous sponsorship agreement withR.J. Reynolds expired, with the team switching to No. 26 after acquiring the number fromRoush Racing. Waltrip's replacement wasTodd Bodine (who drove a third car in Waltrip’s final race, the No. 46) who won three pole positions and finished 29th in points. After2001, Spencer departed, andJoe Nemechek signed on to replace him. Unfortunately, during the offseason,Kmart went intobankruptcy, and the team's status was in danger. Nemechek ran a mere handful races that year before his team was folded,[3] and after subbing in several races afterward he signed withHendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 25 car. Bodine attempted the first few races in the No. 66 and qualified on the pole for the Las Vegas race, but he eventually was parked for several weeks while the team looked for a sponsorship.[3] Frank Kimmel returned for six races in the No. 26 with hisNational Pork Board sponsorship from the ARCA series. Bodine eventually returned to race the No. 26 after Haas-Carter found full-time sponsorship fromDiscover Card and split time in the ride with his older brotherGeoffrey. The 66 car returned part-time later in the year, with Japanese racerHideo Fukuyama running a handful of races.
In2003, HCM merged with minority ownerSam Belnavis to formBelCar Motorsports. The No. 26 team switched to No. 54 with theU.S. National Guard as the sponsor.[4] Bodine struggled, posting one-top ten finish and finishing 31st in points.[4] Fukuyama, meanwhile, made an attempt atRookie of the year honors in the No. 66, but that was soon aborted due to a lack of funding. At the end of the season, theArmy/National Guard and Belnavis left forRoush Racing.[4] Still, the team looked like it might come back. Carter teamed up with aBritish-based motorsports group calledTorqueSpeed. The team was to be known asTorqueSpeed Carter and run a limited Cup schedule in2004 withJohn Mickel as the driver. However, this new alliance never saw the track.
In 2004, Carter left NASCAR's top division to focus on mentoring his sonMatt Carter who was working his way up the stock car ranks in theUSAR Hooters Pro Cup Series. For two years, Carter drove for other teams while under his father's guidance.[5]
In 2007, Travis Carter announced his return to NASCAR with the help ofNewman/Haas Racing co-ownerCarl Haas,Indianapolis Motor Speedway chairmanMari Hulman George, andMi-Jack Products founderMichael Lanigan. The team ran in theBusch Series under theCarl A. Haas Motorsports banner. Their driver wasKyle Krisiloff, and they carried the No. 14 withppc Racing's No. 22's owner points from 2006. Sponsorship was originally limited toClabber Girl, owned byHulman & Company. Later in the seasonWalgreens andEli Lilly and Company signed on to sponsor the car. At one point in the 2007 campaign, the team was to be merged withYates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing as a part of a deal between team owner Carl Haas and Nextel Cup ownerRobert Yates. The team was to be the second Busch team for YNHL until Robert Yates announced his retirement following the 2007 season and ended the partnership withNewman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Krisiloff was released at the end of the season, and the team lost its sponsors as well. The team began the 2008 season under the banner ofRichardson-Haas Motorsports, and the team ran at Daytona in 2008 withDavid Gilliland sponsored byMusic City Illinois but crashed out. The team was to run at Auto Club Speedway withEric Norris but withdrew.
Other teams owned by Carl Haas: