Jasper Motorsports was a NASCAR Cup Series team. It was owned by a variety of owners including D.K. Ulrich and Doug Bawel.
1970s–1980s The car started in 1971 at what turned out to be the only Winston Cup race at Smoky Mountain Raceway as the No. 41 Ford owned and driven by Ulrich, who finished 29th out of 30 cars for heating problems on the 4th lap. Ulrich ran full-time for a couple of years, but normally he stepped aside and let other drivers race for him. During his tenure as an owner, he employed many younger drivers. Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, Morgan Shepherd, and Mark Martin all went on to successful careers after piloting Ulrich's car.
In 1987, Ulrich noticed a young short track driver from California named Ernie Irvan, who qualified 20th in a Dale Earnhardt-sponsored car for a race that Ulrich didn't make. Ulrich put the aggressive young Irvan in his car for three races that year, with Irvan's partner Marc Reno as crew chief. When Ulrich was able to get Kroger as a full-time sponsor for the team, he fielded the car full-time in 1988 with Irvan competing for NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year in the No. 2 Chevrolet/Pontiac, finishing 59 points behind Ken Bouchard for Rookie of the Year. In 1989, Irvan posted 4-top ten finishes and ending the season 22nd in points, three better than the previous year. Unfortunately, Kroger decided not to renew its contract, and Irvan had no choice but to leave the team. Ulrich was able to get several different sponsorships together for 1990, and the team ran most of the races.
1990s
The car returned full-time for 1991 as the No. 55 Pontiac sponsored by Jasper Engines, based in Jasper, Indiana. The team's original plan was a Winston Cup rookie campaign for popular USAC veteran and Indianapolis 500 starter Rich Vogler, but he perished while leading a USAC event at the Salem Speedway in Indiana in July 1990. Their next choice was Wisconsin's Ted Musgrave, who narrowly missed Rookie of the Year honors to Bobby Hamilton. During the 1992 and 1993 NASCAR seasons, Ulrich formed a partnership with Ray DeWitt to form RaDiUs Motorsports which continued with Musgrave behind the wheel. During the 1992 season, the team ran various makes from General Motors before switching to Ford halfway through the year. In 1994 Musgrave left for Roush Racing and Ulrich and DeWitt ended their partnership. DeWitt formed a new team with the RaDiUS name and No. 55 while Ulrich retained the Jasper sponsorship on the newly renumbered No. 77, with Doug Bawel, an executive from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, became a business partner with Ulrich, the team being renamed Jasper Motorsports with veteran journeyman Greg Sacks handling the driving chores as well as a major co-sponsorship from USAir. Jasper Engines & Transmissions co-sponsored the team for the 1995 season, with the car originally piloted by rookie Davy Jones and later Bobby Hillin Jr. After the season, Bawel bought the entire team from Ulrich and started a partnership with Jasper salesmen Mark Wallace and Mark Harrah. Hillin continued to drive the car for 1996, and the first part of 1997, before being replaced by Robert Pressley and Morgan Shepherd.
Pressley was full-time for 1998, during which he had a then-career-best finish of 3rd at Texas. 1999 was a tumultuous year for the team, struggling with qualifying and finishing 39th in points. For the 2000 season, the team began using Penske engines and hired Ryan Pemberton as crew chief. Change made a huge difference as Pressley finished 25th in points the next two years, finishing 2nd at the 2001 Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
2000s Pressley, although picking up a few top-tens during his tenure with Jasper, struggled with consistency, even with his successful pairing with Pemberton. Therefore, Pressley and Jasper parted ways after the season, and former sprint car champion Dave Blaney was tabbed to replace him. But Blaney, while competitive in some races also struggled with consistency and was gone at the end of 2003.
Boris Said drove a No. 67 car on road courses and as a teammate to Blaney in 2002, finishing a best of 8th at Watkins Glen. The car is featured in the widely popular video game NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.
At the end of the year, Wallace sold his share of the team, and Roger Penske, who was already providing engines and support to the Jasper team, took his place. The team got a new sponsor in Kodak, as well as a new driver in rookie Brendan Gaughan and a new manufacturer in Dodge (the team had run Dodge instead of the usual Ford for the 2003 EA Sports 500, causing Ford to pull their factory support). Despite grabbing 4 top-10 finishes, Gaughan was replaced to the shock of fans by another rookie, Travis Kvapil. In his first year in the Cup circuit, he finished 32nd in points with two top-10 finishes. When the season came to a close, it was announced the No. 77 car would not run the 2006 season, as Penske would go back to fielding two cars in his own team.
Not long after the announcement, the team announced for 2006 an ownership partnership with Michael Waltrip and change to car No. 55 for Michael Waltrip to create Waltrip-Jasper Racing with Bill Davis Racing supplying the team's cars and at the track personnel. After 2006, Waltrip bought the 55 team outright and Michael Waltrip Racing became a full-time Cup team, thus ending Jasper Racing's team presence in NASCAR.
Driver history Notable drivers (Winston Cup Champions, Rookies of the Year, and Cup race winners) are highlighted in bold. D. K. Ulrich (1971–1975, 1978–1987, 1990) Roy Mayne (1971) Dick May (1971, 1980–1982) Frank Warren (1973) Harry Schilling (1974) Ed Negre (1974) Tony Bettenhausen Jr. (1974) Randy Bethea (1975) Al Elmore (1979, 1983) Bill Whittington (1980) Joe Booher (1980–1982, 1986) Ricky Rudd (1980) Dick Skillen (1980) Mike Alexander (1980) J. D. McDuffie (1980) Tommy Gale (1980, 1981, 1983) Lennie Pond (1980) Sterling Marlin (1980, 1981) Tim Richmond (1980–1981) Harry Dinwiddie (1980) Stan Barrett (1980, 1982) Chuck Bown (1981) Rick Baldwin (1981) Kevin Housby (1981) Al Loquasto (1981, 1982) Terry Herman (1981, 1982) Rick Knoop (1981, 1986, 1987) Cecil Gordon (1981) Elliott Forbes-Robinson (1981) Slick Johnson (1981–1982) Bob McElee (1981) Ronnie Thomas (1981) Don Hume (1981) Tommy Houston (1982) Jimmy Hensley (1982) Ferrel Harris (1982) Randy Becker (1982) Bob Jarvis (1982) Jim Sauter (1983, 1984, 1990) Mark Martin (1983) Connie Saylor (1983, 1984, 1987) Morgan Shepherd (1984, 1997) Jimmy Ingalls (1984) Clark Dwyer (1984) Doug Heveron (1984) Eddie Bierschwale (1985, 1990) Trevor Boys (1986–1987) Richard Petty (one race in 1986) Bobby Baker (1987) Ron Esau (1987) Ernie Irvan (1987–1989) Rick Mast (1990) Jim Bown (1990) Troy Beebe (1990) Charlie Glotzbach (1990) Rick Ware (1990) Jerry O'Neil (1990) Ted Musgrave (1990–1993, 1998) Greg Sacks (1994) P. J. Jones (1994) Davy Jones (1995) Bobby Hillin Jr. (1995–1997) Robert Pressley (1997–2001) Hut Stricklin (1998) Boris Said (2001–2002; road races only) Dave Blaney (2002–2003) Brendan Gaughan (2004) Travis Kvapil (2005)
Complete NASCAR Cup Series results (Key)
Car No. 77 results YearDriverNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536OwnersPts 1988 Ernie Irvan2 Chevy DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI MAR TAL CLT DOV RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL DAR DOV CLT 29th 2319 Pontiac NWS GLN MCH BRI RCH MAR NWS CAR PHO ATL 1989 DAY CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL 23rd 2919 1990 Eddie Bierschwale Olds DAY 36th 1906 Rick Mast Pontiac RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI MAR TAL CLT DOV Chevy NWS Jim Bown Pontiac SON Troy Beebe POC37 MCH31 POCDNQ TAL Charlie Glotzbach DAY DAR Jerry O'Neil GLN MCH BRI D.K. Ulrich RCH33 Jim Sauter DOV34 Ron Esau MAR NWS CLT CAR Ted Musgrave Chevy PHO22 Pontiac ATL26 199155 DAY30 RCH19 CAR25 ATL37 DAR21 BRI12 NWS17 MAR24 TAL16 CLT17 DOV18 SON37 POC27 MCH21 DAY37 POC13 TAL26 GLN26 MCH17 BRI16 DAR20 RCH22 DOV14 MAR20 NWS22 CLT14 CAR21 PHO18 ATL30 23rd 2841 1992 Chevy DAY8 ATL19 TAL21 DAY16 TAL12 18th 3315 Olds CAR17 RCH25 BRI14 NWS19 MAR20 SON22 Pontiac DAR15 Ford CLT8 DOV16 POC33 MCH8 POC5 GLN11 MCH25 BRI22 DAR30 RCH10 DOV8 MAR12 NWS14 CLT11 CAR29 PHO24 ATL9 1993 DAY15 CAR7 RCH17 ATL19 DAR30 BRI15 NWS24 MAR28 TAL28 SON39 CLT26 DOV14 POC5 MCH15 DAY10 NHA24 POC33 TAL33 GLN34 MCH5 BRIDNQ DAR34 RCH22 DOV28 MAR31 NWS29 CLT21 CAR28 PHO15 ATL8 26th 2853 1994 Greg Sacks77 DAY6 CAR28 RCH28 ATL7 DAR30 BRI11 NWS34 MAR29 TAL6 SON24 CLT27 DOV24 POC24 MCH33 DAY37 NHA25 POC36 TAL29 IND18 GLN39 MCH32 BRI27 DAR19 RCH27 DOV38 MAR26 NWS35 CLT35 CAR39 PHO26 ATL39 31st 25931995Davy Jones DAY33 CAR37 RCHDNQ ATL24 DAR20 BRI24 NWSDNQ MARDNQ TAL33 SON36 CLTDNQ36th2120Bobby Hillin Jr. DOV42 POC23 MCH13 DAY28 NHA20 POC12 TAL16 IND39 GLN27 MCH39 BRIDNQ DAR13 RCH36 DOV13 MARDNQ NWS24 CLT24 CAR21 PHO21 ATL91996DAYDNQCAR18RCH26ATL28DAR41BRIDNQNWSDNQMARDNQTALDNQSON43CLT26DOV29POC13MCH14DAY32NHA21POC38TAL35IND26GLN29MCH19BRIDNQDAR18RCH32DOV12MAR24NWS35CLT36CAR33PHO39ATL1637th22381997DAY38CAR42RCH41ATLDNQDAR42TEX42BRIDNQMAR33SON35TAL20CLTDNQDOV43POC3738th2033Morgan ShepherdMCHDNQCAL24DAY32NHA37POC27INDDNQGLNDNQMCH40BRIDNQDARDNQRCHDNQRobert PressleyNHA43DOV39MAR38CLT36TAL27CAR13PHO38ATLDNQ1998 DAY32 CAR40 LVS23 ATL27 DAR20 BRI28 TEX3 MAR23 TAL31 CAL17 CLT16 DOV39 RCH41 MCH32 POC16 SON30 NHA34 POC32 IND29 GLN29 MCH24 BRI40 NHA12 DAR30 RCH43 CLT41 TAL26 DAYDNQ PHO17 CAR38 ATL2833rd2579Hut Stricklin DOV30Ted Musgrave MAR151999Robert Pressley DAY19 CAR14 LVSDNQ ATLDNQ DAR15 TEX20 BRI40 MAR23 TAL22 CAL39 RCH27 CLT35 DOV40 MCH42 POC35 SON40 DAYDNQ NHADNQ POC23 IND17 GLNDNQ MCH42 BRI43 DAR25 RCH39 NHA30 DOV23 MAR35 CLT24 TALDNQ CAR29 PHO38 HOM37 ATL2739th20502000 DAY20 CAR43 LVS21 ATL33 DAR18 BRI17 TEX26 MAR15 TAL23 CAL21 RCH35 CLT26 DOV26 MCH5 POC11 SON37 DAY17 NHA38 POC14 IND27 GLN26 MCH32 BRI37 DAR36 RCH37 NHA18 DOV14 MAR33 CLT35 TAL25 CAR12 PHO31 HOM16 ATL1326th30552001 DAY14 CAR12 LVS16 ATL36 DAR15 BRI28 TEX43 MAR40 TAL24 CAL10 RCH32 CLT38 DOV22 MCH21 POC14 DAY23 CHI2 NHA19 POC9 IND35 MCH14 BRI28 DAR38 RCH15 DOV37 KAN7 CLT25 MAR43 TAL27 PHO42 CAR13 HOM40 ATL21 NHA721st3428Boris Said SON GLN2002Dave Blaney DAY25 CAR22 LVS18 ATL17 DAR30 BRI17 TEX15 MAR17 TAL31 CAL9 RCH29 CLT21 DOV29 POC10 MCH13 SON20 DAY28 CHI17 NHA35 POC22 IND15 GLN18 MCH18 BRI33 DAR29 RCH9 NHA25 DOV11 KAN21 TAL31 CLT10 MAR20 ATL19 CAR17 PHO7 HOM4319th36702003 DAY24 CAR10 LVS34 ATL8 DAR3 BRI38 TEX36 TAL23 MAR31 CAL13 RCH18 CLT14 DOV20 POC26 MCH38 SON32 DAY35 CHI31 NHA13 POC9 IND28 GLN25 MCH25 BRI30 DAR30 RCH33 NHA14 DOV24 KAN43 CLT24 MAR37 ATL37 PHO24 CAR27 HOM2829th3194Dodge TAL172004Brendan Gaughan DAY19 CAR20 LVS22 ATL33 DAR27 BRI20 TEX38 MAR17 TAL13 CAL6 RCH34 CLT33 DOV27 POC39 MCH16 SON26 DAY36 CHI30 NHA22 POC28 IND35 GLN34 MCH33 BRI35 CAL42 RCH27 NHA30 DOV22 TAL4 KAN10 CLT23 MAR34 ATL18 PHO30 DAR27 HOM628th31652005Travis Kvapil DAY19 CAL24 LVS26 ATL42 BRI7 MAR27 TEX30 PHO40 TAL18 DAR35 RCH22 CLT32 DOV17 POC17 MCH26 SON21 DAY23 CHI43 NHA27 POC38 IND37 GLN40 MCH38 BRI19 CAL33 RCH11 NHA41 DOV21 TAL16 KAN22 CLT17 MAR21 ATL26 TEX24 PHO10 HOM3233rd3077
References
External links Doug Bawel Winston Cup/Nextel Cup Owner Statistics D.K. Ulrich Winston Cup Owner Statistics