MB2 Motorsports was a NASCAR Cup Series team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, near the sport's hub in Charlotte. The team was founded by Read Morton, Tom Beard, and Nelson Bowers, from which the original team name derived. Bowers was the longest tenured of the original owners, and the listed owner of the teams' entries when resort and real-estate developer Bobby Ginn bought out the team (with his family having 80% ownership; longtime team director Jay Frye owned the remaining 20% of the rebranded team) in 2007, renaming it to Ginn Racing for that season only. The Valvoline corporation co-owned the No. 10 (later the No. 14) car with the principal owners from 2001 to 2005 as MBV Motorsports, while the No. 36 entry (later the No. 13) was co-owned by Centrix Financial, LLC owner Robert Sutton as MB Sutton Motorsports in 2005.
Throughout the existence of the team in both MB2 Motorsports and Ginn Racing iterations, the organization ran General Motors brands.
NASCAR Cup Series
Car No. 01 history Derrike Cope (1997)
The No. 01 car started out as the No. 36 Pontiac in 1997 with sponsorship from M&M-Mars through its Skittles candy brand, and driver Derrike Cope. Cope finished 27th in the final point standings.
Ernie Irvan (1998–1999) Veteran driver Ernie Irvan took over from Cope in 1998. The season was highlighted by Irvan's pole win at the Brickyard 400. M&M's replaced Skittles as the team's sponsor in 1999. Irvan retired from racing in September following a crash at Michigan International Speedway. Dick Trickle temporarily replaced Irvan before the driving chores were permanently turned over to journeyman Jerry Nadeau.
Ken Schrader (2000–2002) Nadeau left MB2 due to a prior commitment to drive for Hendrick Motorsports, and MB2 signed four-time winner Ken Schrader to fill the seat. Schrader drove the No. 36 for three seasons before leaving for BAM Racing.
Jerry Nadeau (2003) In 2003, the United States Army replaced M&M's as the team's sponsor. The car number was switched from 36 to 01 to support the Army's slogan, "An Army of One." Nadeau returned to MB2 as the driver of the No. 01 car, and in his first 10 races with the team he had only two top-20 finishes, with a fourth-place finish at Texas.
On May 2, 2003, during practice at Richmond International Raceway, Nadeau lost control of the No. 01 while trying to avoid another car in turn one, spun and slammed driver-side first into the concrete wall. He suffered fractures to his skull and several ribs along with a collapsed lung and temporary paralysis on his left side, and the cumulative effects forced him into retirement at age 33. Busch Series veteran Jason Keller replaced Nadeau at the Richmond race and finished 32nd. The team went through several substitutes for the rest of the year. Mike Wallace ran the next four races, then four more races afterwards (skipping Sonoma) with a best finish of 19th at Dover. Mike Skinner, released from Morgan McClure Motorsports, made eleven starts in the #01, earning a pole at Richmond. Boris Said ran both road course races, with both a pole and sixth-place finish at Sonoma.
Said and Skinner earned spots in the 2004 Budweiser Shootout for their respective pole runs, with Said in the #01 finishing 10th, and Skinner finishing 15th in the #10 Valvoline car.
Joe Nemechek (2003–2006)
Joe Nemechek, who had been released from Hendrick Motorsports' No. 25 car (where he had replaced Nadeau), was signed by MB2 as the new permanent driver of the No. 01 car starting with the last four races of 2003, and earned a Top 10 finish at Atlanta. Nemechek finished 19th in points in 2004, but won two consecutive poles with the second leading to victory at the 2004 Banquet 400, in which he led the final 37 laps to win his fourth and final career Nextel Cup race and giving him a weekend sweep at Kansas Speedway, after having won the Mr. Goodcents 300 Busch Series race the day before. Nemechek finished with three Top 5 finishes and nine Top 10s, and signed a contract extension that kept him with MB2 through 2005.
Nemechek started off 2005 with a strong run at the second race of the season at Auto Club Speedway. Coming off a solid 13th-place finish at Daytona, Joe started 4th and led leading a race-high 63 laps before his Hendrick Motorsports-built engine expired on lap 178. This was one of six Hendrick engine failures, which included that of teammate Scott Riggs. By race 26 at Richmond, the No. 01 team found itself as a longshot of making the Chase, sitting 16th in the standings 135 points out of 10th place as the last mathematical contender for a spot in the 10-race playoff. The team's chase hunt was ultimately foiled when Travis Kvapil collided with Nemechek under caution right after he had gotten back on the lead lap, relegating them to a 26th-place finish. Overall, Nemechek improved on the previous years points performance, ranking 16th with one pole and nine Top 10s but no wins and only two Top 5s.
2006 was a struggle for Nemechek and the No. 01 team, with the team not scoring a Top 10 until finishing 9th at Charlotte in October, the 31st race of the season. Nemechek went winless again, with no pole starts, only two Top 10s, and a dismal 27th-place points finish.
Part-time Mark Martin (2007)
Veteran Mark Martin, coming off his final year with Roush Racing, was signed drive the car for 23 races (21 points races plus the Budweiser Shootout and Nextel All-Star Challenge) in 2007, with Joe Nemechek moving over to the team's new No. 13 team. Regan Smith was pinned to fill the remaining 16 races of the season, while driving in the Busch Series for the team as well. The team also changed its name to Ginn Racing to reflect Bobby Ginn's new majority interest in the team. Martin was leading in the final turn of the season-opening Daytona 500, after lining up on the final restart with former Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth behind him. Coming down the front stretch, and with the field wrecking behind him, Martin looked to have finally come through at Daytona. But the caution was not called, and Kevin Harvick caught Martin on his outside, beating him to the line by two-hundredths of a second. Martin put together more strong finishes, and after the fourth race at Atlanta was leading the points standings in what was supposed to be his first season of semi-retirement. Resisting the chance to capture his first championship, Martin did step out of the car as scheduled, breaking a streak of 621 consecutive starts. In 24 starts for the team, Martin scored five Top 5s and 11 Top 10s, and finished 27th in points despite missing 12 races.
DEI Merger and Beyond (2007)
Rookie Regan Smith meanwhile made his debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, finishing 25th. Smith would run six more races in the car, with a best finish of 24th at Talladega Superspeedway. On July 17, it was announced that Smith would move to the No. 14 car on a full-time basis, replacing veteran Sterling Marlin. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Aric Almirola, who was granted his release from Joe Gibbs Racing after being pulled out of a car he qualified on the pole during a Busch Series race in favor of Denny Hamlin, signed on to be the new co-driver of the No. 01. With the merger of Ginn and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. not long afterwards, Smith was left on the sidelines while Almirola ran five races. Aric's results were not much better than Regan's, with a best finish of 26th at Phoenix. Both drivers would continue with DEI in 2008 running for ROTY, and both would become winners later in their Cup careers.
Car No. 01 and 36 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 1997 Derrike Cope 36 Pontiac DAY36 CAR31 RCH30 ATLDNQ DAR20 TEX41 BRI16 MAR34 SON18 TAL13 CLT12 DOV20 POC11 MCH8 CAL29 DAY28 NHA20 POC16 IND41 GLN38 MCH16 BRI32 DAR14 RCH16 NHA26 DOV30 MAR36 CLT33 TAL18 CAR20 PHO16 ATL5 27th 2901 1998 Ernie Irvan DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX43 MAR TAL CAL CLT DOV RCH MCH POC SON NHA POC IND GLN MCH6* BRI NHA DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL DAY 16th 3457 Ricky Craven PHO30 CAR37 ATL25 1999 Ernie Irvan DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI43 MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN 35th 2831 Dick Trickle MCH40 Jerry Nadeau BRI20 DAR43 RCH18 NHA32 DOV16 MAR26 CLT34 TAL40 CAR37 PHO37 HOM38 ATL20 2000 Ken Schrader DAY9 CAR13 LVS16 ATL23 DAR22 BRI26 TEX18 MAR13 TAL36 CAL24 RCH12 CLT37 DOV23 MCH16 POC18 SON15 DAY23 NHA23 POC19 IND22 GLN18 MCH19 BRI12 DAR16 RCH17 NHA10 DOV30 MAR16 CLT25 TAL37 CAR18 PHO40 HOM32 ATL26 18th 3398 2001 DAY13 CAR22 LVS25 ATL8 DAR13 BRI35 TEX10 MAR25 TAL40 CAL33 RCH9 CLT21 DOV36 MCH14 POC9 SON37 DAY15 CHI29 NHA22 POC17 IND28 GLN19 MCH20 BRI22 DAR10 RCH23 DOV18 KAN26 CLT14 MAR11 TAL31 PHO18 CAR19 HOM42 ATL31 NHA39 19th 3480 2002 DAY26 CAR35 LVS26 ATL24 DAR35 BRI22 TEX34 MAR36 TAL24 CAL43 RCH15 CLT18 DOV36 POC16 MCH25 SON38 DAY25 CHI40 NHA24 POC20 IND14 GLN28 MCH14 BRI14 DAR26 RCH26 NHA13 DOV22 KAN28 TAL41 CLT31 MAR26 ATL42 CAR22 PHO37 HOM27 30th 2954 2003 Jerry Nadeau 01 DAY28 CAR26 LVS22 ATL31 DAR35 BRI28 TEX4 TAL36 MAR41 CAL14 31st 3032 Jason Keller RCH Mike Wallace CLT31 DOV19 POC31 MCH23 DAY42 CHI37 NHA42 POC23 Boris Said SON GLN Mike Skinner IND35 MCH22 BRI18 DAR29 RCH18 NHA22 DOV41 TAL27 KAN29 CLT39 MAR21 Joe Nemechek ATL10 PHO31 CAR25 HOM17 2004 Chevy DAY6 CAR24 LVS19 ATL15 DAR20 BRI27 TEX14 MAR27 TAL32 CAL28 RCH36 CLT14 DOV38 POC18 MCH35 SON29 DAY10 CHI8 NHA20 POC16 IND17 GLN22 MCH13 BRI42 CAL12 RCH22 NHA6 DOV35 TAL7 KAN1 CLT5 MAR30 ATL4 PHO12 DAR8 HOM27 19th 3878 2005 DAY13 CAL39* LVS19 ATL35 BRI33 MAR10 TEX17 PHO10 TAL31 DAR11 RCH18 CLT18 DOV27 POC3 MCH6 SON23 DAY15 CHI15 NHA18 POC22 IND28 GLN9 MCH8 BRI12 CAL10 RCH26 NHA25 DOV17 TAL9 KAN20 CLT4 MAR23 ATL18 TEX37 PHO17 HOM24 16th 3953 2006 DAY33 CAL27 LVS13 ATL17 BRI28 MAR23 TEX23 PHO35 TAL27 RCH28 DAR16 CLT18 DOV35 POC29 MCH26 SON25 DAY19 CHI33 NHA41 POC17 IND24 GLN42 MCH26 BRI26 CAL25 RCH32 NHA32 DOV26 KAN27 TAL18 CLT9 MAR20 ATL9 TEX18 PHO19 HOM13 27th 32552007 Mark Martin DAY2 CAL5 LVS5 ATL10 TEX3 PHO12 RCH17 DAR14 CLT11 DOV7 POC7 MCH29 DAY17 CHI14 IND POC GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM27th2960 Regan Smith BRI25 MAR26 TAL24 SON30 NHA32
Car No. 13 history Part time No. 36 (2004-2006)
On April 30, 2004, MB2 Motorsports announced a partnership with CENTRIX Financial, LLC, coming on as an associate sponsor for the No. 01 car and No. 10 car. In addition, the team's original number 36 would be resurrected to field a third team part-time for Road course ringer Boris Said, who had driven the No. 01 for two races in 2003 which included a pole at Sonoma. Centrix was scheduled to sponsor two races, debuting with a 6th-place finish at Sonoma. Centrix sponsored Said again at the oval track Auto Club Speedway, where he finished one lap down in 30th. USG Sheetrock (an associate on the No. 01) came on to sponsor two more races for Said, DNQing at Watkins Glen and finishing 28th in the season finale at Homestead after a transmission failure late in the race.