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This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2019) |
Owner(s) | Greg Pollex |
---|---|
Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
Series | Nextel Cup Series, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series |
Race drivers | Jeff Green, Jason Keller, Kenny Wallace, Terry Cook, John Andretti |
Sponsors | Auto Zone, Nesquik, Albertsons, Excedrin, Miller High Life |
Manufacturer | Ford, Chevrolet |
Opened | 1993 |
Closed | 2007 |
Career | |
Drivers' Championships | 1 (Busch Series) |
Race victories | 34 (Total): 33 (Busch Series) and 1 (Craftsman Truck Series) |
ppc Racing is a former NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team was owned by Greg Pollex. ppc Racing came about from a merger of Pollex's Busch Series team with a car owned by Steve DeSouza and Ted Campbell in 1999. The team won the 2000 Busch Series championship with driver Jeff Green and they finished second in the standings four times.[1] The team shut down during the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season due to a lack of funding. Pollex later joined CJM Racing as a shop foreman before departing late in the season.
Winston Cup Series
ppc made its Winston Cup Series racing debut in 1993 at the Mello Yello 500. Chad Little was the driver of the No. 19 Kleenex Ford, and finished 33rd. They would also run the 1994 Daytona 500 in the No. 97 Ford with sponsorship from Tracy Lawrence, where they finished 29th. In 1995, they had their best finish at Talladega Superspeedway, their second of two races. After making five 1996 races in the Sterling Cowboy Pontiac Grand Prix, ppc moved to the Cup Series full-time with Little in the John Deere car. Despite an eighth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, the team had trouble qualifying for races, and Pollex would sell the operation to Jack Roush in the final weeks of the season. (The team would eventually become Kurt Busch's 2004 Nextel Cup winning team, only to be sold to Latitude 43 Motorsports six years later and then folded.)
In 2005, ppc Racing returned to the Nextel Cup series with John Andretti driving the No. 14 VB Tobacco Products Ford. The team made the first three races at Daytona, Fontana, and Las Vegas. After two DNQ's in a row at Atlanta and Bristol, VB Brand shut down. The team did not make it through the season, as there was no other sponsorship to be found.
Busch Series
Car No. 10 History
ppc debuted at Darlington Speedway in 1993. It was No. 23 Ford sponsored by If Its Paper and driven by Chad Little. At the time, Pollex co-owned the team with NFL quarterback Mark Rypien. Little competed in 12 races with the team that season, posting three top-ten finishes. Going full-time with Bayer Select sponsoring in 1994, Little finished third in the Busch Series points, finishing in the top-ten in half of the races run that season. The next season was even better, as Little collected six victories and a runner-up finish in the points. When Pollex moved Little and the team up to the Cup Series in 1997, the team did not run the Busch Series.
Pollex returned in 1999 with a new operation. This time it was the No. 32 Kleenex Chevy driven by Jeff Green. Despite failing to qualify for the spring Rockingham race, Green won three races and finished second in the points in what was a comeback season for both Green and the team. For 2000, the team underwent some changes, as it bought the No. 57 car driven by Jason Keller, and Green's car was now No. 10 and sponsored by NesQuik. Green won six races and the championship by a then-record 616 points over Keller. After yet another successful 2001 season where Green visited Victory Lane four times and wound up second in the points in the team's new Fords, he departed for Richard Childress Racing's Winston Cup team. His replacement was Scott Riggs, an up-and-coming driver from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Riggs won twice and finished 10th on his way to winning the Busch Series Rookie of the Year standings. After two more wins and a sixth-place finish in points, Riggs left for MB2/MBV Motorsports, and the team disappeared briefly, before coming back in 2005. Rookie driver Michel Jourdain Jr. was tabbed the car's pilot, and he posted one-top ten finish before being replaced by Brent Sherman with sponsor Serta Mattresses midway through the season.
In 2006, Sherman left ppc and went to the Nextel Cup Series with BAM Racing, being replaced by John Andretti. Andretti had limited success in his rookie season and came into the season finale tied with Danny O'Quinn in rookie points. Although Andretti finished 16th and O'Quinn 36th, O'Quinn still edged Andretti by 1 point to win Rookie of the Year.
For the 2007 season, ppc Racing announced an alliance with Biagi Brothers Racing and Braun Racing. The No. 10 would become part of the Braun stable keeping the No. 10's owner points and running equipment from the recently shut down Biagi Brothers team, switching from Ford to Toyota. The sponsorship, number, and driver were to remain the same however Andretti would leave the team following the first race of the 2007 season When funding for the team became questionable. Dave Blaney's No. 32 team for Braun would switch to the number No. 10 that following week at Fontana.