Justin Marks (born March 25, 1981) is an American semi-retired racing driver, entrepreneur, and owner of Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.
Marks has competed in sports car and stock car racing, competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the ARCA Racing Series, sometimes serving as a road course ringer.
Early years Marks was born in St. Louis, Missouri. During his youth, he went with his grandfather (who lived in Iowa), to see local Midwest racers such as Dick Trickle, Ken Schrader, and the Wallace brothers battle on dirt tracks. His family moved to Menlo Park, California, when Marks was eight.Sheets, Jocelyn (July 29, 2016) Passion Pushes Marks as Driver, Owner Newton Daily News. Retrieved August 14, 2016. Marks attended race school while in high school and in 1998 competed in his first race, in the street stock division at Altamont Raceway Park in Tracy, California. At the same time as his racing career was beginning, he was attending California State University with the intention of obtaining a degree in sports marketing. Marks withdrew from college fourteen credits shy of completing his degree to focus on racing.McFadin, Daniel (August 28, 2015) Justin Marks is more than a part-time driver NBCSports.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
Racing career
Sports car racing At the age of eighteen, Marks entered the SCCA Regional Racing Series, and later the Speed World Challenge Series. With success in the SCCA, Marks moved to the Rolex Sports Car Series GT Class in 2004 where he met good friend Joey Hand. Switching between the GT class and the World Challenge, Marks racked up four wins, eight podiums, and thirteen top tens between the two series. In 2005 Marks again raced in the Rolex Sports Car Series where he won three races with teammate Hand. At the same time, Marks teamed with Bill Auberlen in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for Turner Motorsport, finishing third in points with five poles and five wins in nine starts.
NASCAR
In 2006, Marks left road racing to pursue a career in NASCAR. In 2006, Marks raced for RAB Racing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, driving their No. 65. Although he did not pick up any wins in his two years there, Marks turned many heads with his driving ability. In 2007 he was picked up by Germain Racing of the Craftsman Truck Series to drive their No. 03 truck. Marks again impressed many with an eighth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This cemented his future as the driver of the No. 9 Crocs/Construct Corps Toyota for 2008, running for Rookie of the Year.
In 2008, Marks raced in the Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, and the ARCA RE/MAX Series for a number of teams. He won the pole position for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway as well as the ARCA RE/MAX Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Marks returned to the Camping World Truck Series for 2011, driving for Turn One Racing in the No. 66 Chevrolet.
In 2013, Marks made his Sprint Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway in the 2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350, driving the No. 7 of Tommy Baldwin Racing, substituting for Dave Blaney. Marks had little experience in the Generation 6 cars, having run the cars only once in a road course test at Virginia International Raceway.
The following year, Marks was signed by Turner Scott Motorsports to run the No. 31 in the Nationwide Series at Road America and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
On February 10, Marks announced he would return to the Cup Series in 2015, driving the No. 29 for RAB Racing in the Daytona 500, while also running the No. 29 in the Xfinity Series and the No. 35 with Win-Tron Racing in the other Daytona races. However, Marks failed to qualify for the 500, and crashed out of both the Xfinity and Truck races, finishing last in the latter. In June, he joined Front Row Motorsports for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
In the summer of 2015, Marks ran the road course races at Road America and Mid-Ohio in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, owned by Harry Scott, Jr.
In 2016, Marks expanded his Chip Ganassi Racing schedule in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 42 in several races starting at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Marks led a race-high 43 laps in a race plagued by rain to claim his first NASCAR victory; he dedicated the win to former Ganassi driver Bryan Clauson, who had died earlier in the week in an accident.
In 2017, Marks returned to the Xfinity Series driving the No. 42 for Chip Ganassi Racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course finishing ninth and at Road America finishing fourth. On October 15, Marks joined Tommy Baldwin Racing's No. 7 for his return to the Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway. It was his first non road course start in the Monster Energy series. However he finished last after getting into an incident.
In 2018, Marks ran the season opening Daytona 500 in the No. 51 for Rick Ware Racing with support from Premium Motorsports. He brought the car home twelfth, which was by far his best oval track finish in the Cup Series. He later partnered with Premium Motorsports to drive the No. 15 at Sonoma and the Charlotte Roval.
In 2022, Marks returned to NASCAR, competing in the No. 41 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports at Mid Ohio.
On June 20, 2023, Kaulig Racing announced that Marks would drive the No. 10 Chevrolet in the inaugural Xfinity Series race on the Chicago Street Course.
Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series return Marks returned to the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series for the 2009 season driving the TRG No. 67 No Fear/Construct Corps Porsche with teammate Andy Lally. The team began the season with an impressive victory in the GT class at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
ARCA Racing Series On December 17, 2009, Lakeville, Minnesota's Win-Tron Racing announced that Marks would drive their No. 32 Toyota in the 2010 ARCA Racing Series season.
Entrepreneurial career Marks' father, Michael, is a partner in the private equity firm Riverwood Capital, board member of GoPro and a minority owner in the Golden State Warriors. He also served as an executive at Crocs and the interim CEO of Tesla Motors.
Marks and Michael McDowell operate a karting facility called the Trackhouse Motorplex, located 30 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina. The facility opened in October 2012, and was inspired by another karting track located in Parma, Italy.
In 2015, HScott Motorsports owner Harry Scott Jr. took control of TSM's K&N Pro Series East team, and partnered with Marks to field four cars under the banner HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks for Scott Heckert, William Byron, Justin Haley, Dalton Sargeant, and Rico Abreu. Marks also owned a World of Outlaws team, Larson Marks Racing, with Kyle Larson before relinquishing his stake to Larson in 2018 to focus on sports car racing.
In August 2020, Marks partnered with former NASCAR executive Ty Norris to create Trackhouse Racing, a Cup Series team that debuted in 2021. The team operates on a cause marketing strategy that includes a STEM education program for minority populations in the United States.
On June 30, 2021, Trackhouse announced their purchase of the NASCAR operations of Chip Ganassi Racing, with its two charters for the No. 1 and the No. 42 teams, therefore announcing the team will be two cars in 2022. A driver, sponsors, and number would be announced later. It was later announced that the 1 car would turn to Trackhouse with Ross Chastain driving it. Marks got his first win as a car owner on March 27, 2022, with Chastain, winning at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
On January 9, 2023, a consortium consisting of Trackhouse, DEJ Management, Jeff Burton Autosports, Inc., and Kevin Harvick Incorporated purchased the CARS Tour.
Motorsports career results NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Monster Energy Cup Series Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2013 Tommy Baldwin Racing 7 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 46th 14 2015 RAB Racing 29 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH 65th 01 Front Row Motorsports 34 Ford SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT KAN TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 2017 Premium Motorsports 7 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 67th 01 2018 Rick Ware Racing 51 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH 52nd 01 Premium Motorsports 15 Chevy SON CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH ROV DOV TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM
Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2015 RAB Racing Toyota DNQ 2018 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 29 12
Xfinity Series NASCAR Xfinity Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 2008 Braun Racing 10 Toyota DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN 129th 64 Germain Racing 03 Toyota CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 2009 Braun Racing 10 Toyota DAY CAL LVS BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 78th 368 2010 Baker Curb Racing 43 Ford DAY CAL LVS BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM 146th 34 2011 27 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW CLT CHI MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 136th 0 2014 Turner Scott Motorsports 31 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX DAR RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 45th 58 2015 RAB Racing 29 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH CHI DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN 45th 76 HScott Motorsportswith Chip Ganassi 42 Chevy MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 2016 Chip Ganassi Racing DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 23rd 347 2017 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI TAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 42nd 75 2018 DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH ROV DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 41st 99 2023 Kaulig Racing 10 DAY CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH MAR TAL DOV DAR CLT PIR SON NSH CSC38 ATL NHA POC ROA MCH IRC GLN DAY DAR KAN BRI TEX ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 70th 1
Craftsman Truck Series