Curb Racing is a former NASCAR team competing mainly in the Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series from 1984 to 2011. The team was owned by Mike Curb, CEO of Curb Records and 45th Lieutenant Governor of California. Curb also had numerous business partners affiliated with his NASCAR operations, including Gary Baker, Cary Agajanian, John Andretti, and Donald Laird. The team fielded cars for several notable NASCAR drivers, including Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, and Greg Biffle.
The team was active in the Cup Series from 1984 to 1988, in the Busch/Nationwide Series from 1996 to 2011, and fielded entries in the Truck Series in 2004.
Cup Series
Car No. 42 history In 1985, Curb fielded a second car at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Tom Sneva drove an unsponsored No. 42 Pontiac, finishing 32nd after an engine failure. It was the only time Curb would field two cars in a Cup Series race.
Car No. 42 results Year Driver 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 Pts 1985 Tom Sneva 42 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD N/A 0
Car No. 43 history The team was founded as Curb Racing in 1984, running Pontiacs in NASCAR's premier series, the Winston Cup Series. Seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty drove the car, with Petty bringing his STP sponsorship and the No. 43 with him from Petty Enterprises. Buddy Parrott was the crew chief. In his first season with Curb, Petty scored two wins, including the Firecracker 400 for his 200th and final career win. Petty finished tenth in the final championship standings.
Petty returned in 1985, with new crew chief Mike Beam. Petty posted 13 top-10 finishes, but had only one top-5 and posted 12 DNFs.
In 1986, Petty and STP left Curb to rejoin Petty Enterprises. Petty took the No. 43 with him, thus Curb switched to No. 98.
Car No. 43 results Year Driver 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 Pts 1984 Richard Petty 43 Pontiac DAY31 RCH15 CAR4 ATL4 BRI8 NWS12 DAR7 MAR12 TAL6 NSV7 DOV1 CLT34 RSD23 POC13 MCH34 DAY1 NSV25 POC27 TAL23 MCH9 BRI17 DAR29 RCH5 DOV37 MAR8 CLT9 NWS18 CAR15 ATL8 RSD14 10th 3643 1985 DAY34 RCH26 CAR8 ATL13 BRI8 DAR33 NWS21 MAR7 TAL27 DOV7 CLT26 RSD7 POC33 MCH30 DAY29 POC27 TAL6 MCH37 BRI8 DAR12 RCH3 DOV9 MAR22 NWS8 CLT10 CAR33 ATL10 RSD8 14th 3140
Car No. 98 history In 1986, the No. 43 Pontiac switched to No. 98 and reduced to part-time, and Ron Bouchard became Curb's new driver. Valvoline replaced STP as the sponsor, and Beam remained crew chief. The No. 98 ran 18 races, Bouchard ran 17 and had top-ten finishes at the Daytona 500 and Winston 500, but struggled with engine problems during the second half of the season. Bouchard also ran a Buick at Rockingham Speedway. Dale Jarrett drove the No. 98 at Bristol Motor Speedway, bringing Busch sponsorship, starting 28th and finishing 29th.
In 1987, the team lost Valvoline as a sponsor and Bouchard left the team. The team switched to Buick, and Ed Pimm entered four races; missing the Daytona 500 in an unsponsored ride, but making the three remaining attempts: at Talladega in an unsponsored entry, Daytona in July with sponsor CP-1 Oil Boosters, and the season finale at Atlanta with Sunoco, which also signed on to be the car's sponsor the following year. Pimm did not finish any of those races, and only managed a best finish of 27th. Brad Noffsinger attempted the fall race at Riverside, but failed to qualify.
In 1988, the No. 98 Buick returned to full time as Sunoco became the team's new sponsor. Pimm qualified for two out of the first three races of the season but was replaced by rookie Brad Noffsinger. Noffsinger finished 14th at his series debut in Atlanta in the spring, however, it would be his best finish of the season. Noffsinger failed to qualify for 8 races, while the No. 98 failed to finish 7 additional times. The team did not enter the road course race at Riverside. Noffsinger finished 38th in points, Sunoco left the team, and the team shut down.
Following the sale of his Busch/Nationwide Series operation in 2011, Curb partnered with Richard Childress Racing, with Curb sponsoring and being listed as the owner for Austin Dillon's No. 98 RCR-prepared Chevrolet. Curb used the space to promote the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration.
Car No. 98 results Year Driver 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 1986 Ron Bouchard 98 Pontiac DAY6 RCH18 ATL40 BRI25 DAR37 NWS17 MAR TAL9 DOV27 CLT19 RSD POC12 MCH36 DAY41 POC TAL17 GLN MCH DAR30 RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT21 CAR ATL42 RSD N/A N/A Buick CAR13 Dale Jarrett Pontiac BRI29 1987 Ed Pimm BuickDAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL DAR NWS BRI MARTAL27 CLT DOV POC RSD MCHDAY34 POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CARATL42 N/A 185 Brad Noffsinger Chevy RSDDNQ 1988 Ed Pimm BuickDAY24RCHDNQCAR34 N/A 1468 Brad Noffsinger ATL14 DAR36 BRIDNQ NWSDNQ MAR21 TAL25 CLT33 DOV24 RSD POC19 MCH20 DAYDNQ POC19 TAL22 GLN15 MCH26 BRI32 DARDNQ RCHDNQ DOV34 MARDNQ CLTDNQ NWSDNQ CAR37 PHO26 ATL26 2011 Austin Dillon 98 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT KAN POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN26 CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 51st 18
Further involvement In 2012, Curb became listed owner (similar to his role with ThorSport in the Truck Series) and part-time sponsor of Phil Parsons Racing’s No. 98 car, a start-and-park operation in the Cup Series (the team only finishing three races out of the 36 races in 2012). The team would later commit to running full races, but would eventually be sold to Premium Motorsports halfway through the 2015 season.
Busch/Nationwide Series After the Cup Series team shut down in 1988, Curb suspended operations until 1996. The team returned to NASCAR running the Busch Series with the No. 96 car.
Car No. 96 history Curb Racing returned to NASCAR after an 8-year hiatus in 1996 with a NASCAR Busch Series entry for 21 races. Curb partnered with Cary Agajanian, John Andretti and Donald Laird as part of an ownership group known as CAA Performance. The team fielded No. 96 Ford Thunderbirds driven by USAC driver Stevie Reeves with Reeves bringing sponsorship from Clabber Girl Baking Powder. Reeves began with a DNQ at the season opener at Daytona, got his best finish of the season the next week at Rockingham, 15th, but had five more DNQs. Clabber Girl left the team after the season.
For 1997, Reeves returned to the No. 96. Big A Auto Parts signed on for the full 30 race season. The team ran Fords in all but three races, running Chevrolets at Atlanta, Las Vegas and Richmond. Reeves finished 7th at Bristol in August, but had no other top-10s. He also had two DNQs, including missing the season finale at Homestead. Following the season, team co-owners Andretti and Laird left the team to form Andretti-Laird Motorsports, taking the No. 96 and Big A sponsorship with them. Curb Racing switched back to the No. 43 in 1998.
Car No. 43 history In 1998, the No. 96 team switched to No. 43, which Curb had run in Cup with Richard Petty, and became known as the Curb Agajanian Performance Group. The No. 43 began the 1998 season unsponsored with Stevie Reeves driving a mix of Fords and Chevrolets. The team entered 4 of the first 10 races, with Reeves making all four. However the car had two mechanical failures and Reeves did not finish better than 30th. Brad Noffsinger took over at Charlotte. Noffsinger had previously driven for Curb in the Cup series; he entered six races and made five, however the No. 43 suffered three mechanical failures. Noffsinger was replaced by Kevin Grubb at Gateway, however Grubb crashed out of the race and was fired. Future seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson drove the season finale at Homestead. The No. 43 entered 12 races in 1998, all of them without a sponsor, qualifying for 11 and posting a best finish of 27th at the Dover spring race.
In 1999, the team returned to full-time. Shane Hall was hired to drive and Central Tractor signed on to sponsor the full season. The No. 43 began running Chevrolets full-time. Hall had a DNQ at the season opener at Daytona, had a fourth-place finish at Myrtle Beach Speedway, and finished 24th in points, but had 6 additional DNQs. Central Tractor left following the season.
Rookie Jay Sauter replaced Hall in 2000. Sponsorship of the No. 43 Chevrolet was taken over by Quality Farm & Country. Sauter nabbed eight top-tens and finished seventeenth in points, despite missing the spring Las Vegas race. The team's best finish was 4th at the season opener at Daytona. Sauter and Quality Farm returned in 2001. Sauter finished 3rd at Texas, grabbed a pole at Kentucky Speedway, scored seven top-10s, and finished nineteenth in points. However Sauter was fired after Memphis with three races to go in the season, as Morton Salt took over as sponsor and Ron Hornaday finished out the season. Hornaday would grab a top-5 at Phoenix.
In 2002, the team lost both Quality Farm and Morton sponsorship and cut back to a limited schedule, attempting four races late in the season with Hermie Sadler driving. The No. 43 Chevy had sponsorship from TNA for two of the races. Sadler made three of the four races (including both with sponsorship), but the No. 43 did not finish better than 29th.
The team continued to run part-time in 2003. Jay Sauter's brother Johnny ran 17 races in Chevrolets with Channellock sponsorship. Sauter was also running the No. 21 for Richard Childress Racing, combining for a full season. Grubb also returned to the No. 43 at the spring Nashville race, with sponsorship from music artist Jo Dee Messina, and Shelby Howard ran the fall Kansas race with Dr. Pepper. The team ran Dodges in partnership with Carroll Racing for Grubb and Howard. The team picked up their first Busch Series win at the Funai 250 at Richmond in September with Sauter in a Chevrolet.
The team started 2004 with Josh Richeson driving the No. 43 Chevrolet at Daytona with Ollie's Bargain Outlet sponsoring. At the second race of the season at Rockingham, the team switched to running Evernham Dodges and signed Aaron Fike as the driver. Ollie's continued to sponsor the team, which remained part-time. Fike and the No. 43 ran 12 races, his best finish a seventeenth at Dover.
In 2005, the No. 43 returned to full-time running both Dodges and Fords. Channellock and Jo Dee Messina, both returned to the team after a year absence. Kimberly-Clark's Kleenex brand also came on as a sponsor. The team's main drivers were Aaron and A. J. Fike, with Jeff Green running three races. Tracy Hines and Kevin Conway ran one race a piece, while road course ringers Jose Luis Ramirez and Ron Fellows also made a start. Fellows ran a Chevrolet for his race in the No. 43 at Watkins Glen, however the engine overheated early in the event. The team's best finish in 2005 was 14th at Charlotte with Aaron Fike in a Ford.
In 2006, the team returned to running Evernham Dodges. The No. 43 began the season without a full-time sponsor, however the car started the season with Aaron Fike driving full-time with race-to-race sponsorships. Fike sat 29th in points after 12 races when he failed to qualify at Charlotte and was fired. Kertus Davis took over for one race at Dover. The team then downscaled to part-time, with road racing experts P. J. Jones and Chris Cook attempting a four races each, all of them on ovals except for Cook's start at Watkins Glen. Jones made each of the fields he attempted to qualify for, while Cook made three of the four, missing the race at Richmond. Erin Crocker brought General Mills sponsorship and Evernham support at Homestead, finishing 28th. The best finish for the No. 43 in 2006 was at the July Daytona race, with P. J. Jones finishing 13th.