MacDonald Motorsports
Encyclopedia
MacDonald Motorsports is a NASCAR
team owned by former driver Randy MacDonald
and his wife Pat. They field the #81 Eagle Convenience Stores/Heartland Harley Davidson Dodge Challenger
for Donnie Neuenberger
, Scott Wimmer
and rookie Blake Koch
in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series. As of the Kansas weekend they also field Reed Sorenson
in the #82 DaystarTV Dodge Challenger
most likely as a one-off.
. Randy MacDonald drove the #72 3M
Chevrolet Silverado
to a sixth place finish. MacDonald drove the truck full-time for the rest of the season and finished nineteenth in points. MacDonald’s bid for the championship the next season ended early when he suffered a neck
injury in a wreck at Daytona. Rob Morgan took over for the next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway
, where he finished 27th, before Steve Portenga
, Jerry Hill, and Jimmy Hensley
finished out the year in the truck, which finished 18th in owner’s points. Throughout the season, the team also got sponsorship from the Left Behind
book series as well.
Randy MacDonald returned to the driver’s seat of the 72 in 2002, where he had ten top-twenty fishes and finished nineteenth in points. He followed that up with a fifteenth place points finish in 2003
. During the 2002 season, Teri MacDonald made two races for the team, one in the new #71 truck, and the other in the #72 while Randy raced for Troxell Racing. MacDonald made his final Truck race in 2004 at Daytona, where he finished 21st with Drill Doctor sponsorship. Jerry Hill and Teri MacDonald then took over for two races apiece in the 2004 season, where Macdonald, had a best finish of 25th at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway
, and Hill a 26th at Atlanta Motor Speedway
. The team soon stopped running the Truck Series following that season.
. He ran five more races that season, with the Koolerz 300 garnering his best result. In 2004, Larry Gunselman
ran the first three races for MacDonald, finishing 22nd at Daytona, before Lance Hooper
, MacDonald, Jason White
, and Jamie Mosley began running select races. Kevin Lepage
and Stan Boyd
finished out the year for the team.
For 2005, Donnie Neuenberger
began the year as driver at Daytona, where he finished 38th after suffering an engine failure, then Eric Norris
and Ruben Garcia Novoa ran the next two races. Geoffrey Bodine was then announced as the team’s full-time driver, but left the team after the Federated Auto Parts 300
. Wade Day, Lepage, and Dale Quarterly were among those who finished out the year for the team. At the end of the season, the team announced it was closing down and selling its equipment and shop, but that was soon retracted.
D.J. Kennington ran eleven races for MacDonald in 2007, with a best finish of twenty-third at Dover. MacDonald switched to Dodges and the #81 in 2008 and attempted a full schedule, with Kennington running about 20 races. During the races Kennington missed he was racing in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
. He was signed on for another season in 2009, but left after nine races to focus on his Canadian Tire championship bid. After his departure, many drivers took over for the rest of the season, including Patrick Sheltra
, Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
, Kevin Hamlin
, Sean Murphy
, J. J. Yeley
, Jeff Green
, Mike Bliss
, Bobby Hillin, Jr.
, Blake Koch
, and Alex Tagliani
. In 2010, Michael McDowell drove the 81 for 33 of 34 races, finishing 21st in points. McDowell left for HP Racing at the end of the year, and MacDonald signed on Neuenberger for 10 races in the 81 while Koch returns to drive 20 races for ROTY honors. Reed Sorenson
was hired on the weekend of the Kansas race to drive the teams second car after being released from the Turner Motorsports team. Sorenson came in the race 3rd in points and he stayed there.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
team owned by former driver Randy MacDonald
Randy MacDonald
Randy MacDonald , is a driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, as well as the car owner of the full-time #81 MacDonald Motorsports car in the Nationwide Series. He is a veteran of all three major NASCAR Series...
and his wife Pat. They field the #81 Eagle Convenience Stores/Heartland Harley Davidson Dodge Challenger
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is the name of three different generations of automobiles marketed by the Dodge division of Chrysler.The first generation Dodge Challenger was a pony car built from 1970 to 1974, using the Chrysler E platform and sharing major components with the Plymouth Barracuda. The second...
for Donnie Neuenberger
Donnie Neuenberger
Donnie Neuenberger is a NASCAR driver. Neuenberger is a cancer survivor. During the 2004 season, he was diagnosed after nerves were pinched by the tumor during a race...
, Scott Wimmer
Scott Wimmer
Scott Wimmer is a NASCAR Nationwide Series driver. He has a total of 6 wins in the Nationwide Series. His brother Chris Wimmer competed in the Busch Series. Wimmer co-owns State Park Speedway in a Wausau suburb...
and rookie Blake Koch
Blake Koch
Blake Koch is an American race car driver who races for MacDonald Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the #81 Daystar Dodge Challenger.-Early career:...
in the NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Nationwide Series. As of the Kansas weekend they also field Reed Sorenson
Reed Sorenson
Bradley Reed Sorenson is an American NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #82 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge Charger in the Nationwide Series...
in the #82 DaystarTV Dodge Challenger
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is the name of three different generations of automobiles marketed by the Dodge division of Chrysler.The first generation Dodge Challenger was a pony car built from 1970 to 1974, using the Chrysler E platform and sharing major components with the Plymouth Barracuda. The second...
most likely as a one-off.
Craftsman Truck Series
MacDonald made its NASCAR debut in 2000 at Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...
. Randy MacDonald drove the #72 3M
3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
Chevrolet Silverado
Chevrolet Silverado
The Chevrolet Silverado , is the latest line of full-size pickup trucks from General Motors.-History:...
to a sixth place finish. MacDonald drove the truck full-time for the rest of the season and finished nineteenth in points. MacDonald’s bid for the championship the next season ended early when he suffered a neck
Neck
The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
injury in a wreck at Daytona. Rob Morgan took over for the next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race track in Homestead, Florida southwest of Miami.Since 2002 Homestead has hosted the final races of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series...
, where he finished 27th, before Steve Portenga
Steve Portenga
Steve Portengais a NASCAR driver. He currently races in the NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series. He won the Featherlite Southwest Series championship in 1994 and 1998....
, Jerry Hill, and Jimmy Hensley
Jimmy Hensley
Jimmy Hensley is a former NASCAR driver. With a career spanning 27 seasons in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions, Hensley may be best remembered for his Rookie of the Year award won in 1992, his 15th season in the series, and for his nine career Busch Series wins. He spent most of his career...
finished out the year in the truck, which finished 18th in owner’s points. Throughout the season, the team also got sponsorship from the Left Behind
Left Behind
Left Behind is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world. The primary conflict of the series is the members of the Tribulation...
book series as well.
Randy MacDonald returned to the driver’s seat of the 72 in 2002, where he had ten top-twenty fishes and finished nineteenth in points. He followed that up with a fifteenth place points finish in 2003
2003 in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season was the ninth season of the third highest stock car racing in the United States. The season included twenty-five races, beginning with the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway...
. During the 2002 season, Teri MacDonald made two races for the team, one in the new #71 truck, and the other in the #72 while Randy raced for Troxell Racing. MacDonald made his final Truck race in 2004 at Daytona, where he finished 21st with Drill Doctor sponsorship. Jerry Hill and Teri MacDonald then took over for two races apiece in the 2004 season, where Macdonald, had a best finish of 25th at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway
Mansfield Motorsports Speedway
Mansfield Motorsports Park is a half-mile oval racetrack located in Mansfield, Ohio, United States. Featuring moderately high banks and a wide racing surface, it is suitable for close racing and passing. The track hosts an ARCA RE/MAX Series race in 2009...
, and Hill a 26th at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...
. The team soon stopped running the Truck Series following that season.
Nationwide Series
MacDonald’s Nationwide Series team made its debut in 2003 at the Koolerz 300. Randy MacDonald finished 22nd in the 72 Pontiac Grand PrixPontiac Grand Prix
Picking up where the Pontiac Ventura model left off, the Grand Prix first appeared in the Pontiac line for 1962. It was essentially a standard Pontiac Catalina coupe with minimal outside chrome trim and a sportier interior...
. He ran five more races that season, with the Koolerz 300 garnering his best result. In 2004, Larry Gunselman
Larry Gunselman
Larry Gunselman is an American former race car driver. He has made a total over 100 starts and over 2 million in earnings in all three of NASCAR's top divisions...
ran the first three races for MacDonald, finishing 22nd at Daytona, before Lance Hooper
Lance Hooper
Lance Allen Hooper is a race car driver in NASCAR as well as several touring divisions. Hooper attended his first race when he was just two weeks old, and also came from a long line of racing champions, including his uncle, father, and brother...
, MacDonald, Jason White
Jason White (NASCAR)
Jason White is the driver for the #23 GunBroker.com Chevy Silverado for Joe Denette Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He has been racing in NASCAR since 1999.-Beginnings:...
, and Jamie Mosley began running select races. Kevin Lepage
Kevin Lepage
Kevin Lepage is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #52 car, for Jimmy Means Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Lepage is the only NASCAR driver from Vermont to qualify for the Daytona 500.-Early career:...
and Stan Boyd
Stan Boyd
Stan Boyd is a former NASCAR driver who competed in both the Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.-Truck Series:...
finished out the year for the team.
For 2005, Donnie Neuenberger
Donnie Neuenberger
Donnie Neuenberger is a NASCAR driver. Neuenberger is a cancer survivor. During the 2004 season, he was diagnosed after nerves were pinched by the tumor during a race...
began the year as driver at Daytona, where he finished 38th after suffering an engine failure, then Eric Norris
Eric Norris
-Biography:Norris was born in Redondo Beach, California, the son of Dianne and Walker, Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris. He won the 2002 NASCAR Winston West Championship during a limited schedule in major league NASCAR racing....
and Ruben Garcia Novoa ran the next two races. Geoffrey Bodine was then announced as the team’s full-time driver, but left the team after the Federated Auto Parts 300
Federated Auto Parts 300
The Federated Auto Parts 300 is a NASCAR Nationwide Series race that takes place at Nashville Superspeedway. The race is one of two races held at the track, which received a second date on the then-Busch Series schedule one year after the track opened...
. Wade Day, Lepage, and Dale Quarterly were among those who finished out the year for the team. At the end of the season, the team announced it was closing down and selling its equipment and shop, but that was soon retracted.
D.J. Kennington ran eleven races for MacDonald in 2007, with a best finish of twenty-third at Dover. MacDonald switched to Dodges and the #81 in 2008 and attempted a full schedule, with Kennington running about 20 races. During the races Kennington missed he was racing in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series , commonly abbreviated as NCATS, is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada that is based from the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981.-History:...
. He was signed on for another season in 2009, but left after nine races to focus on his Canadian Tire championship bid. After his departure, many drivers took over for the rest of the season, including Patrick Sheltra
Patrick Sheltra
Patrick Sheltra is an American professional race car driver and owner. Sheltra was the 2010 ARCA Racing Series season champion and he currently runs a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Rick Ware Racing...
, Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
Charles Robert Hamilton, Jr. is a NASCAR driver and owner, and current track promoter. He is currently a free agent...
, Kevin Hamlin
Kevin Hamlin
Kevin Hamlin is an American racecar driver who has competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series divisions.-General information:...
, Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy (racer)
Sean Murphy in Auckland, New Zealand and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is a current competitor in the ASA Super Late Model Series. He is racing in the #07 ASI Limited Chevrolet for SS-Green Light Racing in 2007....
, J. J. Yeley
J. J. Yeley
Christopher Beltram Hernandez Yeley is a NASCAR driver. Nicknamed "J. J." , he is currently a competitor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving for Front Row Motorsports.-Open wheel:Yeley initially made a mark for himself in the world of auto racing when he took the Hoosier state by...
, Jeff Green
Jeff Green (NASCAR)
Jeffery Green is an American stock car driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He currently drives part time in the Nationwide Series for Tri-Star Motorsports in their #44 entry and the Sprint Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports in their #55 entry.Green's 1990 Nashville Speedway USA championship...
, Mike Bliss
Mike Bliss
Michael Bliss is a NASCAR driver who has run in all three major series. He currently drives the #19 Chevrolet Impala for TriStar Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He began racing at age 10...
, Bobby Hillin, Jr.
Bobby Hillin, Jr.
Bobby Hillin, Jr. , is an American stock car racecar driver. Hillin's love for racing began when he was a young boy watching his father's USAC Sprint and Indy cars race across the Midwest. At the age of 13, after a short period of racing go-karts and motocross, Hillin drove his first race car in...
, Blake Koch
Blake Koch
Blake Koch is an American race car driver who races for MacDonald Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the #81 Daystar Dodge Challenger.-Early career:...
, and Alex Tagliani
Alex Tagliani
Alexandre Tagliani is a Canadian auto racing driver from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He currently competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series, driving the #77 entry for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.-Champ Car career:...
. In 2010, Michael McDowell drove the 81 for 33 of 34 races, finishing 21st in points. McDowell left for HP Racing at the end of the year, and MacDonald signed on Neuenberger for 10 races in the 81 while Koch returns to drive 20 races for ROTY honors. Reed Sorenson
Reed Sorenson
Bradley Reed Sorenson is an American NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #82 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge Charger in the Nationwide Series...
was hired on the weekend of the Kansas race to drive the teams second car after being released from the Turner Motorsports team. Sorenson came in the race 3rd in points and he stayed there.