Top 5 Defunct NASCAR Truck Series Teams

Top 5 Defunct Truck Series Teams

By Brian Cotnoir

The Truck Series has had some of the Best, albeit short lived, teams in NASCAR History.   Today, we pay homage to those great Truck Series Teams who are no longer competing.

5.)  Red Horse Racing

Red Horse Racing was owned by former Mobil 1 executive Tom DeLoach and former NASCAR Crew Chief, Jeff Hammond.   The team was purchased 2004 from former Clean Line Motorsports team.  The team ran between one and four trucks, most notably the #17 that was piloted by long time driver, Timothy Peters.  The team would also field part-time rides for drivers like Brett Moffit, Todd Bodine, and John King.  Red Horse Racing unfortunately would have to shut down in 2017 due to a lack of funding, but they did win 16 races in their brief existence.

4.)  Xpress Motorsports

Xpress Motorsports was started by Steve Coulter to promote his company IWX Motor Freight in 1996.   Xpress Motorsports most iconic ride was the #16 truck which was sponsored by Coulter’s IWX Company.    In 2002, Xpress won the championship with driver Mike Bliss, and the following season they shocked the world by winning the 2003 drivers’ championship with driver Travis Kvapil in one of the most controversial races at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.   In all Xpress would score 12 career wins in their 13 years of existence.

The team would be sold by Coulter in 2004, and would pass owners a couple more times, but eventually the team and its assets would be purchased by Kyle Busch and turned into Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2010 and would continue Xpress Motorsports Championship winning dominance.

3.)  Bobby Hamilton Racing

Bobby Hamilton Racing was started by long-time Cup Series driver Bobby Hamilton.  Hamilton would field multiple trucks and were one of the strongest teams of the early 2000’s. The team won 20 races in the truck series throughout its tenure in NASCAR. In 2004, Hamilton’s hard work paid off as he won the 2004 drivers’ championship driving for his own team.  Unfortunately, Bobby Hamilton would be diagnosed with neck cancer and would be forced to step aside from racing.  He would eventually succumb to the disease in 2007.  His wife Lori and son Bobby Jr. were left to run the team, but they would have a hard time finding sponsorship for the team during the recession of 2008.  The team was eventually forced to shut down in 2009.

2.)  Ultra Motorsports

Ultra Motorsports was one of the pioneering teams of the NASCAR Truck Series back during the 1995 season.  The team ran with many great drivers and had a lot of success early on.  Drivers like Jason Leffler, Mike Bliss, Scott Riggs, Mike Wallace, and Ted Musgrave all drove for Ultra Motorsports.   The team would win 31 races in a 10 year span and was constantly competing for the Truck Series Championship.   Musgrave would win his and Ultra Motorsports only championship in 2005….sadly the team would never get to defend its championship after have a falling out with the Ford Motor Company, and was forced to close shop.  

1.)  Kevin Harvick Incorporated

Before there was Kyle Busch Motorsports there was another NASCAR driver whose team dominated the Truck Series.  The team was started in 2002 by NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana.  Harvick would drive the team part-time to lots of success early on, but it was with NASCAR Hall of Famer, Ron Hornaday Jr. that, Kevin Harvick Incorporated really began to succeed.  Harvick and Hornaday are responsible for the majority of the teams 43 wins in the NASCAR Truck Series, and Hornaday was able to capture drivers’ championship in 2007 and 2009 while driving for KHI.  

In 2011, Harvick would sell the assets of his championship winning teams to Richard Childress, Eddie Sharp, and Steve Turner’s teams so he could focus his time on winning the Cup Series championship (which he succeeded in in 2014).    Harvick’s last win as an owner came at 2011 Fall Talladega race with veteran driver Mike Wallace.   Perhaps, someday we might see Kevin Harvick Incorporated return to the Truck Series(?)