Jasper Motorsports was a NASCAR NEXTEL 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

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 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.

Complete NASCAR Cup Series results

(Key)

Car No. 77 results

YearDriverNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536OwnersPts
1988Ernie Irvan2ChevyDAY DNQRCH DNQCAR 25ATL 18DAR 22BRI 26MAR DNQTAL 32CLT 22DOV 26RSD 31POC 37MCH 15DAY 25POC 22TAL 32DAR 20DOV 13CLT DNQ29th2319
PontiacNWS 24GLN 29MCH 33BRI 15RCH 28MAR 11NWS 26CAR 15PHO 22ATL 18
1989DAY 41CAR 23ATL 12RCH 9DAR 24BRI 29NWS 10MAR 19TAL 25CLT 15DOV 17SON 23POC 26MCH 18DAY 23POC 26TAL 20GLN 24MCH 25BRI 15DAR 24RCH 26DOV 33MAR 6CLT 33NWS 8CAR 16PHO 33ATL 1123rd2919
1990Eddie BierschwaleOldsDAY 3236th1906
Rick MastPontiacRCH 21CAR 19ATL 35DAR 39BRI 12MAR 29TAL 17CLT 31DOV 28
ChevyNWS 23
Jim BownPontiacSON 22
Troy BeebePOC 37MCH 31POC DNQTAL
Charlie GlotzbachDAY 35DAR 27
Jerry O'NeilGLN 26MCHBRI
D.K. UlrichRCH 33
Jim SauterDOV 34
Ron EsauMAR DNQNWS DNQCLTCAR
Ted MusgraveChevyPHO 22
PontiacATL 26
199155DAY 30RCH 19CAR 25ATL 37DAR 21BRI 12NWS 17MAR 24TAL 16CLT 17DOV 18SON 37POC 27MCH 21DAY 37POC 13TAL 26GLN 26MCH 17BRI 16DAR 20RCH 22DOV 14MAR 20NWS 22CLT 14CAR 21PHO 18ATL 3023rd2841
1992ChevyDAY 8ATL 19TAL 21DAY 16TAL 1218th3315
OldsCAR 17RCH 25BRI 14NWS 19MAR 20SON 22
PontiacDAR 15
FordCLT 8DOV 16POC 33MCH 8POC 5GLN 11MCH 25BRI 22DAR 30RCH 10DOV 8MAR 12NWS 14CLT 11CAR 29PHO 24ATL 9
1993DAY 15CAR 7RCH 17ATL 19DAR 30BRI 15NWS 24MAR 28TAL 28SON 39CLT 26DOV 14POC 5MCH 15DAY 10NHA 24POC 33TAL 33GLN 34MCH 5BRI DNQDAR 34RCH 22DOV 28MAR 31NWS 29CLT 21CAR 28PHO 15ATL 826th2853
1994Greg Sacks77DAY 6CAR 28RCH 28ATL 7DAR 30BRI 11NWS 34MAR 29TAL 6SON 24CLT 27DOV 24POC 24MCH 33DAY 37NHA 25POC 36TAL 29IND 18GLN 39MCH 32BRI 27DAR 19RCH 27DOV 38MAR 26NWS 35CLT 35CAR 39PHO 26ATL 3931st2593
1995Davy JonesDAY 33CAR 37RCH DNQATL 24DAR 20BRI 24NWS DNQMAR DNQTAL 33SON 36CLT DNQ36th2120
Bobby Hillin Jr.DOV 42POC 23MCH 13DAY 28NHA 20POC 12TAL 16IND 39GLN 27MCH 39BRI DNQDAR 13RCH 36DOV 13MAR DNQNWS 24CLT 24CAR 21PHO 21ATL 9
1996DAY DNQCAR 18RCH 26ATL 28DAR 41BRI DNQNWS DNQMAR DNQTAL DNQSON 43CLT 26DOV 29POC 13MCH 14DAY 32NHA 21POC 38TAL 35IND 26GLN 29MCH 19BRI DNQDAR 18RCH 32DOV 12MAR 24NWS 35CLT 36CAR 33PHO 39ATL 1637th2238
1997DAY 38CAR 42RCH 41ATL DNQDAR 42TEX 42BRI DNQMAR 33SON 35TAL 20CLT DNQDOV 43POC 3738th2033
Morgan ShepherdMCH DNQCAL 24DAY 32NHA 37POC 27IND DNQGLN DNQMCH 40BRI DNQDAR DNQRCH DNQ
Robert PressleyNHA 43DOV 39MAR 38CLT 36TAL 27CAR 13PHO 38ATL DNQ
1998DAY 32CAR 40LVS 23ATL 27DAR 20BRI 28TEX 3MAR 23TAL 31CAL 17CLT 16DOV 39RCH 41MCH 32POC 16SON 30NHA 34POC 32IND 29GLN 29MCH 24BRI 40NHA 12DAR 30RCH 43CLT 41TAL 26DAY DNQPHO 17CAR 38ATL 2833rd2579
Hut StricklinDOV 30
Ted MusgraveMAR 15
1999Robert PressleyDAY 19CAR 14LVS DNQATL DNQDAR 15TEX 20BRI 40MAR 23TAL 22CAL 39RCH 27CLT 35DOV 40MCH 42POC 35SON 40DAY DNQNHA DNQPOC 23IND 17GLN DNQMCH 42BRI 43DAR 25RCH 39NHA 30DOV 23MAR 35CLT 24TAL DNQCAR 29PHO 38HOM 37ATL 2739th2050
2000DAY 20CAR 43LVS 21ATL 33DAR 18BRI 17TEX 26MAR 15TAL 23CAL 21RCH 35CLT 26DOV 26MCH 5POC 11SON 37DAY 17NHA 38POC 14IND 27GLN 26MCH 32BRI 37DAR 36RCH 37NHA 18DOV 14MAR 33CLT 35TAL 25CAR 12PHO 31HOM 16ATL 1326th3055
2001DAY 14CAR 12LVS 16ATL 36DAR 15BRI 28TEX 43MAR 40TAL 24CAL 10RCH 32CLT 38DOV 22MCH 21POC 14DAY 23CHI 2NHA 19POC 9IND 35MCH 14BRI 28DAR 38RCH 15DOV 37KAN 7CLT 25MAR 43TAL 27PHO 42CAR 13HOM 40ATL 21NHA 721st3428
Boris SaidSON 11GLN 8
2002Dave BlaneyDAY 25CAR 22LVS 18ATL 17DAR 30BRI 17TEX 15MAR 17TAL 31CAL 9RCH 29CLT 21DOV 29POC 10MCH 13SON 20DAY 28CHI 17NHA 35POC 22IND 15GLN 18MCH 18BRI 33DAR 29RCH 9NHA 25DOV 11KAN 21TAL 31CLT 10MAR 20ATL 19CAR 17PHO 7HOM 4319th3670
2003DAY 24CAR 10LVS 34ATL 8DAR 3BRI 38TEX 36TAL 23MAR 31CAL 13RCH 18CLT 14DOV 20POC 26MCH 38SON 32DAY 35CHI 31NHA 13POC 9IND 28GLN 25MCH 25BRI 30DAR 30RCH 33NHA 14DOV 24KAN 43CLT 24MAR 37ATL 37PHO 24CAR 27HOM 2829th3194
DodgeTAL 17
2004Brendan GaughanDAY 19CAR 20LVS 22ATL 33DAR 27BRI 20TEX 38MAR 17TAL 13CAL 6RCH 34CLT 33DOV 27POC 39MCH 16SON 26DAY 36CHI 30NHA 22POC 28IND 35GLN 34MCH 33BRI 35CAL 42RCH 27NHA 30DOV 22TAL 4KAN 10CLT 23MAR 34ATL 18PHO 30DAR 27HOM 628th3165
2005Travis KvapilDAY 19CAL 24LVS 26ATL 42BRI 7MAR 27TEX 30PHO 40TAL 18DAR 35RCH 22CLT 32DOV 17POC 17MCH 26SON 21DAY 23CHI 43NHA 27POC 38IND 37GLN 40MCH 38BRI 19CAL 33RCH 11NHA 41DOV 21TAL 16KAN 22CLT 17MAR 21ATL 26TEX 24PHO 10HOM 3233rd3077
2006Michael Waltrip55DAY 18CAL 36LVS 35ATL 20BRI 32MAR 29TEX 26PHO 42TAL 25RCH 31DAR 35CLT DNQDOV 32POC 28MCH 25SON 23DAY 38CHI 30NHA 36POC 40IND DNQGLN 36MCH 23BRI 16CAL 31RCH DNQNHA 23DOV 28KAN 35TAL 14CLT 38MAR 34ATL 33TEX 43PHO 42HOM DNQ38th2393

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