Jasper Motorsports

Jasper Motorsports

Owner(s)	D. K. Ulrich, Doug Bawel, Mark Wallace, Mark Harrah, Bobby Hillin Jr., Roger Penske
Base	Statesville, North Carolina
Series	Winston Cup
Race drivers	Tim Richmond, Ernie Irvan, Dave Blaney, Robert Pressley
Sponsors	Kodak, Jasper Engines & Transmissions, US Air
Manufacturer	Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet
Opened	1971
Closed	2006
Career
Debut	1971 Maryville 200 (Maryville)
Latest race	2005 Ford 400 (Homestead)
Races competed	876
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	2

Jasper Motorsports was a NASCAR Nextel Cup 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

A Jasper Motorsports Ford Thunderbird on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

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 shut down and sold its owner's points to Bill Davis, who fielded car No. 55 for Michael Waltrip for the 2006 season. After 2006, Waltrip bought the 55 team and Michael Waltrip Racing became a full-time Nextel Cup team.

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

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Finished 2nd–5th
Bronze	Finished 6th–10th
Green	Finished 11th–15th
Light Blue	Finished 16th–20th
Blue	Finished 21st or worse
Purple	Did not finish (DNF)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Tan	Withdrew From Race (Wth)
White	Qualified for another driver (QL)
	Qualified but replaced due to injury or incident (INQ)
	Relieved another driver (RL)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)

Car No. 77 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	36F	Owners	Pts
1995	Davy Jones	77	Ford	DAY 33	CAR 37	RCH DNQ	ATL 24	DAR 20	BRI 24	NWS DNQ	MAR DNQ	TAL 33	SON 36	CLT DNQ
	Bobby Hillin Jr.														DOV 42	POC 23	MCH 13	DAY 28	NHA 20	POC 12	TAL 16	IND 39	GLN 27	MCH 39	BRI DNQ	DAR 13	RCH 36	DOV 13	MAR DNQ	NWS 24	CLT 24	CAR 21	PHO 21	ATL 9
1996				DAY DNQ	CAR 18	RCH 26	ATL 28	DAR 41	BRI DNQ	NWS DNQ	MAR DNQ	TAL DNQ	SON 43	CLT 26	DOV 29	POC 13	MCH 14	DAY 32	NHA 21	POC 38	TAL 35	IND 26	GLN 29	MCH 19	BRI DNQ	DAR 18	RCH 32	DOV 12	MAR 24	NWS 35	CLT 36	CAR 33	PHO 39	ATL 16						37th	2238
1997				DAY 38	CAR 42	RCH 41	ATL DNQ	DAR 42	TEX 42	BRI DNQ	MAR 33	SON 35	TAL 20	CLT DNQ	DOV 43	POC 37																								38th	2033
	Morgan Shepherd																MCH DNQ	CAL 24	DAY 32	NHA 37	POC 27	IND DNQ	GLN DNQ	MCH 40	BRI DNQ	DAR DNQ	RCH DNQ
	Robert Pressley																											NHA 43	DOV 39	MAR 38	CLT 36	TAL 27	CAR 13	PHO 38	ATL DNQ
1998				DAY 32	CAR 40	LVS 23	ATL 27	DAR 20	BRI 28	TEX 3	MAR 23	TAL 31	CAL 17	CLT 16	DOV 39	RCH 41	MCH 32	POC 16	SON 30	NHA 34	POC 32	IND 29	GLN 29	MCH 24	BRI 40	NHA 12	DAR 30	RCH 43			CLT 41	TAL 26	DAY DNQ	PHO 17	CAR 38	ATL 28				33rd	2579
	Hut Stricklin																												DOV 30 30
	Ted Musgrave																													MAR 15 15
1999	Robert Pressley			DAY 19	CAR 14	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR 15	TEX 20	BRI 40	MAR 23	TAL 22	CAL 39	RCH 27	CLT 35	DOV 40	MCH 42	POC 35	SON 40	DAY DNQ	NHA DNQ	POC 23	IND 17	GLN DNQ	MCH 42	BRI 43	DAR 25	RCH 39	NHA 30	DOV 23	MAR 35	CLT 24	TAL DNQ	CAR 29	PHO 38	HOM 37	ATL 27			39th	2050
2000				DAY 20	CAR 43	LVS 21	ATL 33	DAR 18	BRI 17	TEX 26	MAR 15	TAL 23	CAL 21	RCH 35	CLT 26	DOV 26	MCH 5	POC 11	SON 37	DAY 17	NHA 38	POC 14	IND 27	GLN 26	MCH 32	BRI 37	DAR 36	RCH 37	NHA 18	DOV 14	MAR 33	CLT 35	TAL 25	CAR 12	PHO 31	HOM 16	ATL 13			26th	3055
2001				DAY 14	CAR 12	LVS 16	ATL 36	DAR 15	BRI 28	TEX 43	MAR 40	TAL 24	CAL 10	RCH 32	CLT 38	DOV 22	MCH 21	POC 14		DAY 23	CHI 2	NHA 19	POC 9	IND 35		MCH 14	BRI 28	DAR 38	RCH 15	DOV 37	KAN 7	CLT 25	MAR 43	TAL 27	PHO 42	CAR 13	HOM 40	ATL 21	NHA 7	21st	3428
	Boris Said																		SON 11						GLN 8
2002	Dave Blaney			DAY 25	CAR 22	LVS 18	ATL 17	DAR 30	BRI 17	TEX 15	MAR 17	TAL 31	CAL 9	RCH 29	CLT 21	DOV 29	POC 10	MCH 13	SON 20	DAY 28	CHI 17	NHA 35	POC 22	IND 15	GLN 18	MCH 18	BRI 33	DAR 29	RCH 9	NHA 25	DOV 11	KAN 21	TAL 31	CLT 10	MAR 20	ATL 19	CAR 17	PHO 7	HOM 43	19th	3670
2003				DAY 24	CAR 10	LVS 34	ATL 8	DAR 3	BRI 38	TEX 36	TAL 23	MAR 31	CAL 13	RCH 18	CLT 14	DOV 20	POC 26	MCH 38	SON 32	DAY 35	CHI 31	NHA 13	POC 9	IND 28	GLN 25	MCH 25	BRI 30	DAR 30	RCH 33	NHA 14	DOV 24		KAN 43	CLT 24	MAR 37	ATL 37	PHO 24	CAR 27	HOM 28	29th	3194
			Dodge																													TAL 17
2004	Brendan Gaughan			DAY 19	CAR 20	LVS 22	ATL 33	DAR 27	BRI 20	TEX 38	MAR 17	TAL 13	CAL 6	RCH 34	CLT 33	DOV 27	POC 39	MCH 16	SON 26	DAY 36	CHI 30	NHA 22	POC 28	IND 35	GLN 34	MCH 33	BRI 35	CAL 42	RCH 27	NHA 30	DOV 22	TAL 4	KAN 10	CLT 23	MAR 34	ATL 18	PHO 30	DAR 27	HOM 6	28th	3165
2005	Travis Kvapil			DAY 19	CAL 24	LVS 26	ATL 42	BRI 7	MAR 27	TEX 30	PHO 40	TAL 18	DAR 35	RCH 22	CLT 32	DOV 17	POC 17	MCH 26	SON 21	DAY 23	CHI 43	NHA 27	POC 38	IND 37	GLN 40	MCH 38	BRI 19	CAL 33	RCH 11	NHA 41	DOV 21	TAL 16	KAN 22	CLT 17	MAR 21	ATL 26	TEX 24	PHO 10	HOM 32	33rd	3077
2006	Michael Waltrip	55		DAY 18	CAL 36	LVS 35	ATL 20	BRI 32	MAR 29	TEX 26	PHO 42	TAL 25	RCH 31	DAR 35	CLT DNQ	DOV 32	POC 28	MCH 25	SON 23	DAY 38	CHI 30	NHA 36	POC 40	IND DNQ	GLN 36	MCH 23	BRI 16	CAL 31	RCH DNQ	NHA 23	DOV 28	KAN 35	TAL 14	CLT 38	MAR 34	ATL 33	TEX 43	PHO 42	HOM DNQ	38th	2393

External links

• Doug Bawel Winston Cup/Nextel Cup Owner Statistics
• D.K. Ulrich Winston Cup Owner Statistics