Joseph Richard Coulter IV (born June 8, 1990) is an American motorsports driver development coach and racing driver. He is currently the owner of driver development program DriveRefine Performance Management and a racer in the SMART Modified Tour, driving the No. 02 for his family-owned team. Coulter has also previously raced full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series and the ARCA Racing Series.
Born and raised in Miami Springs, Florida, Coulter began racing go-karts in his local state of Florida in 1998. After seven years racing go-karts, Coulter transitioned to oval track racing in 2005, racing in FASTRUCK. After two years in the series, Coulter moved up to the regional Pro Cup Series in 2007. In 2009, Coulter advanced to the nationally touring ARCA Racing Series, winning one race in his two full-time seasons in the series. In 2011, Coulter advanced to the third-tier NASCAR Truck Series. Racing for a variety of teams in the span of four years, Coulter earned one win, Rookie of the Year honors in 2011, and a best driver's standings finish of third in 2012. After his stint in the NASCAR Truck Series, Coulter transitioned to roles in driver development starting in 2015, including creating his own driver development program, while racing in regional racing series.
Early life and family background Coulter was born on June 8, 1990, in Miami Springs, Florida, where he was raised. He is the son of Joe and Susan Coulter. He was educated at Palmer Trinity School, graduating in 2008. While attending Palmer Trinity, Coulter participated in various sports, including baseball and soccer, which he enjoyed but admitted that "I wasn't very good at it because I'm not a particularly good runner".
After high school, Coulter attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), initially majoring in engineering to join the university's motorsports program. Midway through his university studies, he switched majors to business management in supply chain management and logistics, delaying his graduation to 2016. According to Coulter, he switched majors due to various issues in the engineering program, primarily a lack of flexibility in taking courses and exams.
Racing career
Early racing career Coulter was introduced to motorsports by his family, with Coulter often watching races at the now-demolished Hialeah Speedway and the Speedvision Channel (now known as Speed) while at his grandmother's house. He began his racing career in go-karts in 1998 at the age of seven, racing in various locations in his home state of Florida for seven years. In 2005, Coulter moved to the FASTRUCK Racing Series, a pickup truck developmental motorsports series in Florida, racing in the series for two years. In 2007, Coulter moved up to the USAR Pro Cup (now known as the CARS Tour), racing for his family team, Coulter Motorsports. For his stint in Pro Cup, Coulter was coached by racing driver Randy Renfrow. In later interviews, Coulter stated that moving to Pro Cup was akin to "throw[ing] you into the deep end" of motorsports. In his first attempt for a Pro Cup race at USA International Speedway, Coulter failed to qualify for the event; despite this, Pro Cup officials allowed him to run the event. Coulter struggled throughout 2007 and 2008, and later stated that he considered quitting motorsports but opted to continue racing in 2009 with new and eventual longtime crew chief throughout Coulter's career, Harold Holly.
NASCAR career
ARCA Racing Series (2009–2010) In 2009, Coulter committed to a full-time season in the fourth-tier ARCA Racing Series. To prepare for the season, Coulter's family bought equipment from Justin Allgaier, who had won the ARCA Racing Series championship the previous year. He made his debut in the series at the season-opener in Daytona using rented equipment from ARCA Racing Series champion Bobby Gerhart, finishing in 23rd after being involved in a crash. At the tenth round at Iowa Speedway, Coulter earned his first pole in the ARCA Racing Series. Coulter ended the 2009 season fourth in the driver's standings, earning seven top-fives and two poles with an average finish of 10.6. He additionally earned second in the rookie of the year standings, being beat out for the award by Parker Kligerman.
Coulter continued racing full-time in the ARCA Racing Series in 2010. Season-wise, Coulter experienced a slight statistical drop in results, earning six top-fives and an average finish of 11.1. In the first ten races of the season, Coulter did not finish in two races at Texas and Mansfield, both of which were due to accidents. At the 12th race of the season at Berlin Raceway, Coulter won his first and only ARCA Racing Series event, leading 55 laps. Coulter finished the season eighth in the points, earning one pole. Coulter described his stint in the ARCA Racing Series as crucial for his professional development, stating that in ARCA, "I learned about earning respect on the national stage, learned how to talk to a camera, do a radio interview, learning how to tuck your shirt in... I was learning how to do it in the middle of [the media landscape] changing". NASCAR Truck Series (2011–2014) In 2011, Coulter moved up to the third-tier NASCAR Truck Series, signing a full-time contract with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), owned by motorsports businessman Richard Childress. Prior to 2011, Coulter first met Childress during a Pro Cup race, which Coulter later described in an interview as a "one of those light bulb moments in my career." According to Coulter, he originally was planning to race another season in the ARCA Racing Series before Childress offered a Truck Series ride. Coulter made his Truck Series debut at the opener at Daytona, where he finished in 34th after sustaining an incident early in the race due to a flat tire, finishing 38 laps down. Coulter struggled in the first five races of the season, finishing outside of the top-15 four times. At the eighth round of the season at Kansas, Coulter was involved in an after-race incident with driver Kyle Busch, which led to a fight between Busch and Coulter's owner, Richard Childress. In the later races of the season, Coulter improved statistically, earning five top-fives. At season's end, Coulter finished seventh in the driver's standings, winning Rookie of the Year against several drivers, including Nelson Piquet Jr., Cole Whitt, Parker Kligerman, and Miguel Paludo.
For the 2012 season, Coulter remained at RCR for the full-time season. In the season-opener at Daytona, Coulter was involved in a major crash on the final lap of the event, with his truck crashing into the catchfence after going airborne on the track's frontstretch; Coulter was not injured from the crash. After a second-straight poor finish due to damage from an early flat tire at Martinsville, Coulter finished within the top 15 in every race for the rest of the season. At the 11th race of the season at Pocono, Coulter won his first and only career Truck Series race, leading seven laps. At the next race in Michigan, Coulter obtained his first career pole. Coulter earned two more poles during the season at Kentucky and Las Vegas. Coulter ended the season third in the driver's standings, finishing with seven top five finishes. During 2012, Coulter made his debut in the second-tier NASCAR Nationwide Series (now known as the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series), finishing 14th at the 11th race of the Nationwide Series season at Charlotte in a RCR entry.
For 2013, Coulter moved to Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), owned by racing driver Kyle Busch, to drive the organization's No. 18 entry full-time for that year's Truck Series season. According to Coulter, he moved from RCR to KBM due to KBM offering more stabilized and concrete sponsorship opportunities than RCR. As part of the move, Coulter, who was a scouted as a potential prospect for a Nationwide Series ride for RCR in 2013, was replaced by Brian Scott. Coulter described his 2013 season as "dismal", with a noticeable drop in statistical results from Coulter's 2012 season. At the fourth round of the season at Kansas, Coulter had his best finish of the season with a second-place finish, having competed for the victory with Matt Crafton. Coulter ended the season 15th in the driver's standings, with three top-fives and two DNFs due to crashes at Iowa and Las Vegas. Coulter left KBM at the end of the 2013 season; despite leaving the organization, Coulter stated that driving for Busch was "really great" and that if given the chance, "I'd race for [KBM] again in a heartbeat".
Starting in December 2013, Coulter was rumored to move from KBM to Las Vegas-based team GMS Racing, owned by Allegiant Air chairman Maury Gallagher, for the 2014 Truck Series season by NASCAR sportscaster Dave Moody. Coulter's move was officially announced the following month, becoming a full-time driver in the team's first full-time season in the Truck Series. In the season-opener at Daytona, Coulter was involved in a 17-truck crash that led to a DNF result of 32nd. During the season, Coulter earned three top-fives and seven additional top-tens. In the penultimate race of the season at Phoenix, Coulter had his second DNF of the season after his truck blew a tire and crashed into the outside wall early in the event. At the end of the season, Coulter finished seventh in the driver's standings, with an average finish of 13.1. Following the 2014 season, Coulter left driving duties for GMS Racing due to a lack of sponsorship for the 2015 season. He later stated that he additionally lost motivation to race in the Truck Series due to rule changes regarding the engineering of Truck Series vehicles.
Post-NASCAR career In 2014, during his time at GMS Racing, Coulter alongside longtime crew chief Harold Holly created Rum Runner Racing. According to Coulter, the name came from a light-hearted joke that the team's employees were "all a bunch of amateur alcoholics from the Keys". The following year, Coulter made a return to racing in dirt late models. Coulter had previously bought dirt late model cars alongside crate and super late model engines in 2012, making his dirt racing debut within the year and winning his first dirt late model race in his second career start. For the following year, Coulter raced his first full-time season in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Coulter described the beginning of his stint in the series as "really rough", failing to qualify for numerous features. He continued to race in the series for the following year. Beginning in 2019, Coulter only raced dirt late models on a part-time basis, focusing more on ownership of Rum Runner Racing and its dirt late model driver, Brandon Overton.
Sometime in 2020, Coulter was asked by racing driver Randy Renfrow, who coached Coulter since his stint in Pro Cup, to race a paved modified car owned by Renfrow. After a shakedown test at Hickory Motor Speedway, Coulter made his debut in the SMART Modified Tour on October 16, 2020, at Florence Motor Speedway. In his debut attempt, Coulter broke the track record for modifieds and won the feature event. Over the following two years, Coulter made periodical starts in the SMART Modified Tour, including a feature win at Caraway Speedway in 2022. For the 2023 season, Coulter ran a full-time season in SMART Modified Tour. In his first full-time season, Coulter earned six top-fives and fifth in the driver's standings. In December 2025, Coulter was elected as a Hoosier Hero, an award given out by tire company Hoosier Racing Tire for "celebrat[ing] racers who live out Hoosier's spirit of passion, pride and success both on and off the track".
Motorsports driver management ventures