Ultra Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series racing team. Jim Smith helped start the team and the Craftsman Truck Series. It ran full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 1995 to 2005, earning 31 series wins and a championship in 2005 with Ted Musgrave. Early in 2006, Ultra announced that they would close up shop after a fallout with Ford.
Winston Cup Ultra Motorsports began running Winston Cup in 1994, when P. J. Jones drove the No. 06 Ford Thunderbird at Phoenix, finishing 29th, nine laps down. The next season, Butch Gilliland ran the No. 38 Ford at Sonoma, but finished 42nd after an early engine failure. Ultra returned to Cup in 1999 with the No. 32. Mike Wallace qualified at Richmond, finishing 24th.
Midway through 2000, Mattei Motorsports sold a partial interest in the team to Ultra and Smith, who bought out Mattei one month later. The team inherited the No. 7 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and its driver Michael Waltrip, and kept the team's sponsorship with construction equipment rental service NationsRent. Waltrip left the team after a 29th-place points finish.
In 2001, Ultra went back to fielding Fords and signed Mike Wallace to replace Waltrip. Wallace struggled and with the season entering its first road race at Sonoma, Ultra decided to go with a more experienced road course driver and hired Robby Gordon, who had been hired to replace Bobby Hamilton in the No. 4 Kodak car for Morgan-McClure Motorsports but was himself fired and replaced by Kevin Lepage early in the season, to drive the No. 7 on the road course. Gordon contended for the win most of the day, finally placing second and giving Ultra its best-ever finish. Wallace returned to the car afterward, but left the team to replace the fired Jeremy Mayfield at Penske Racing in October, and Lepage replaced him after leaving the No. 4 team.
For the 2002 season, Ultra underwent three significant changes. As the previous season was drawing to a close, Evernham Motorsports announced it had signed Jeremy Mayfield to drive for the team. Since Evernham's team, one of the charter teams in Dodge's return to NASCAR, already had two drivers under contract, this required some maneuvering to be done. Ultra and Evernham, therefore, struck an agreement. Mayfield would join Bill Elliott on Evernham's team and take over the No. 19 Dodge-sponsored car. The No. 19's incumbent driver, Casey Atwood, would then move over to Ultra and take over the No. 7. In return, Evernham and Ultra would enter into a partnership where Ultra would switch from Ford to Dodge and the team would become known as Ultra-Evernham Motorsports, with Sirius Satellite Radio coming on to sponsor the No. 7 and the team adopting Evernham's car numbering style.
The arrangement did not last the entire season. Atwood, who had finished third in the Rookie of the Year standings in 2001, struggled mightily in the No. 7, and Smith elected to release him with two races left in the season and promote Truck Series driver Jason Leffler to finish the season. Evernham responded by pulling their support from Ultra, and thus the team went back to simply being known as Ultra Motorsports.
Despite the troubles, Ultra remained with Dodge and Sirius for 2003. Leffler returned to the Truck Series and Smith hired Jimmy Spencer to pilot the No. 7. This was Spencer's third team in as many seasons; he had left the No. 26 Kmart-sponsored Ford Haas-Carter Motorsports to take over for Leffler at Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of 2001, only to be replaced by Casey Mears as driver of the No. 41 Target-sponsored Dodge after 2002. Despite being suspended for one race after an altercation with Kurt Busch, Spencer managed to improve the team's final positioning and finished 29th with four top ten finishes. Ultra even expanded to field a second car for Ted Musgrave in selected races, carrying Sirius sponsorship and No. 07. The team ran only two races in 2004 after struggling to find a sponsor.
In 2005, Robby Gordon purchased the team and named it Robby Gordon Motorsports.
Car No. 7 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 1994 P. J. Jones 06 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO29 ATL 1995 Mike Bliss 08 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHODNQ ATL 1997 Mike Bliss 02 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEXDNQ BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCHDNQ NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL 62nd 47 1999 Mike Wallace 32 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH24 NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHODNQ HOM ATL 55th 129 2000 Michael Waltrip 7 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH22 POC43 SON12 DAY42 NHA35 POC17 IND20 GLN17 MCH21 BRI19 DAR40 RCH43 NHA20 DOV24 MAR24 CLT22 TAL34 CAR35 PHO32 HOM34 ATL39 30th 2797 2001 Mike Wallace Ford DAY6 CAR40 LVS32 ATL40 DAR32 BRI37 TEX24 MAR31 TAL9 CAL16 RCH25 CLTDNQ DOV28 MCHDNQ DAY10 NHA10 POC25 INDDNQ GLNDNQ MCH35 BRI31 DAR12 RCH42 DOV23 KAN19 32nd 3059 Ted Musgrave POC29 Robby Gordon SON2 CHI35 Kevin Lepage CLT13 MAR21 TAL10 PHO32 CAR16 HOM29 ATL19 NHA35 2002 Casey Atwood Dodge DAY35 CAR39 LVS41 ATL32 DAR26 BRI18 TEX35 MAR38 TAL26 CAL28 RCH22 CLT17 DOV14 POC11 MCH39 SON21 DAY20 CHI28 NHA36 POC28 IND38 GLN27 MCH42 BRI18 DAR28 RCH24 NHA34 DOV32 KAN42 TAL34 CLT30 MAR21 ATL38 CAR29 38th 2697 Jason Leffler PHO31 HOM35 2003 Jimmy Spencer DAY40 CAR28 LVS17 ATL7 DAR21 BRI12 TEX33 TAL38 MAR19 CAL33 RCH42 CLT4 DOV29 POC39 MCH29 SON36 DAY12 CHI23 NHA15 POC22 IND8 GLN23 MCH26 DAR22 RCH36 NHA23 DOV15 TAL42 KAN15 CLT26 MAR38 ATL9 PHO40 CAR14 HOM25 28th 3217 Ted Musgrave BRI31 2004 Jimmy Spencer DAY24 CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL 62nd 165 Dave Blaney RCH40 Steve Park CLTDNQ DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM
Car No. 07 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 2002 Ted Musgrave 07 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND21 GLN MCH BRI DAR27 RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR29 ATL CAR PHODNQ HOM16 46th 404 2003 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO CAR HOM 73rd 22
Craftsman Truck Series
Truck No. 1 history The No. 1 truck made its CTS debut at the 2001 Florida Dodge Dealers 200. Ted Musgrave drove the Mopar-sponsored Dodge to a 22nd-place finish after suffering water pump failure. Musgrave was able to recover and won seven races that season. Musgrave won two races over the next two years, and almost won the championship in 2003, but lost it after jumping a restart at the season finale. During the course of the season, he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. After another near miss at the title in 2004, Musgrave took only one win in 2005 but finally won the championship, the first in Ultra's history. Dodge announced during the season that they would stop supporting Ultra's team. Ultra spent the offseason trying to work out a deal with Ford, but talks fell off, and Ultra was forced to shut down. Smith would later say, in a 2011 interview, that while he had enough sponsorship to keep the team going (even without manufacturer support), the team would not be as competitive as he liked, and that, combined with missing his family while racing, led to his decision to close the doors. The equipment and owner's points were sold to R3 Racing.
Truck No. 1 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 Pts Ref 2001 Ted Musgrave 1 Dodge DAY22 HOM1* MMR1* MAR22 GTY1* DAR31 PPR4 DOV4 TEX14 MEM6 MLW1 KAN2 KEN24* NHA5 IRP23 NSH2 CIC7 NZH8 RCH4 SBO1* TEX10 LVS1 PHO6 CAL1* 2nd 3597 2002 DAY2 DAR1* MAR24* GTY12 PPR16 DOV1* TEX5 MEM3 MLW5 KAN5 KEN9 NHA4 MCH32 IRP16 NSH3* RCH7 TEX6 SBO14* LVS9 CAL1* PHO2 HOM2* 3rd 3308 2003 DAY29 DAR2* MMR5 MAR2 CLT1 DOV21 TEX13 MEM1* MLW4 KAN15 KEN2 GTW7 MCH2 IRP6 NSH2 BRI15 RCH3* NHA12 CAL1 LVS8 SBO3 TEX3 MAR10 PHO2 HOM13 3rd 3819 2004 DAY26 ATL8 MAR15 MFD13 CLT31 DOV12 TEX2* MEM3* MLW1* KAN30 KEN7 GTW3 MCH2 IRP25 NSH3 BRI27 RCH1* NHA7 LVS8 CAL2* TEX6 MAR5* PHO19* DAR3 HOM2 3rd 3554 2005 DAY5 CAL5 ATL6 MAR7 GTY1* MFD12 CLT3 DOV17 TEX14 MCH28 MLW3 KAN14 KEN5 MEM26 IRP14 NSH2 BRI6 RCH4 NHA3 LVS2 MAR4 ATL14 TEX14 PHO6 HOM19 1st 3535
Truck No. 2 history
Ultra Motorsports made its official Truck debut in the series' first race, the Copper World Classic at Phoenix. The team was the No. 08 Ford F-150 driven by Mike Bliss, and sponsored by Smith's company, Ultra Custom Wheels. Finishing 14th in that race, Bliss ran with the team for the entire year, when it switched to No. 2 at Bristol. Bliss won once at North Wilkesboro and finished eighth in points that season. His crew chief Barry Dodson won 1989 Winston Cup championship with Rusty Wallace
In 1996, Team ASE Racing came on board as sponsor, and Bliss picked up two more wins and moved into fifth in points. After another top-five finish in 1997, Bliss slipped to tenth in the standings, and left for Roush Racing. Smith replaced him with Mike Wallace, who won in the first race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Another win at the NAPA 300K propelled Wallace to a sixth-place finish in points. After winning twice more in 2000, Wallace moved up to Ultra's Winston Cup program.
In addition to switching to Dodge Rams in 2001, Smith hired Scott Riggs to drive the No. 2. Riggs picked up five wins as well as three straight pole positions, and finished fifth in points. However, he moved up to ppc Racing in the Busch Series in the No. 10 Nestle Nesquik Ford, and Smith hired Jason Leffler to take his place. Although he did not win a race in 2002, Leffler had eight pole positions and fifteen top-ten finishes. Leffler returned to Ultra in 2003, and picked up a victory at the MBNA Armed Forces Family 200, but was fired for what was called a violation of his contract; Winston Cup owner Gene Haas had hired Leffler to temporarily take over the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac for Haas CNC Racing after regular driver Jack Sprague was fired and Smith dismissed him shortly thereafter. Jimmy Spencer and Andy Houston took over with Spencer picking up a win at Loudon. Houston returned for 2004, but he and the team struggled and he was released. P. J. Jones, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne shared driving duties for the season, with McMurray and Kahne winning during their relief duties.
In 2005, Jimmy Spencer returned to the No. 2. Although he was unable to visit victory lane again, he put together nine top-ten finishes and a twelfth-place finish in points. It had already been decided not to run the No. 2 when Ultra announced it was closing its doors. The equipment and owner's points for this team were sold to Evernham Motorsports' ride for Erin Crocker.
Other teams Smith fielded additional trucks in the Truck Series. In 1995, Butch Gilliland drove the No. 06 in five races for Ultra, and had one top-ten finish. Late in the season, Ultra fielded the No. 08 for John Borneman at Phoenix, who finished 29th. Eric Norris was selected as the driver of the No. 02 Wolverine Vinyl Siding Ford for five races, his best finish being 13th at Watkins Glen International.