David Stremme

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David Andrew Stremme (born in South Bend, Indiana on June 19, 1977) is a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racecar driver. Stremme is contender for the 2006 Rookie of the Year award, and currently drives the #40 Coors Light/Lone Star Steakhouse Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi Racing.

[edit] Background

David Stremme (right) signs as autograph by his 2005 Busch Series car, courtesy U.S. Navy

A third-generation driver, David is the eldest son Lou and Cindy Stremme, both of whom are multi-time Track Champions at South Bend area tracks. Stremme began racing at the New Paris (IN) Speedway just before his 16th birthday and won his first Track Championship a few years later. He moved to the NASCAR-sanctioned Kalamazoo (MI) Speedway where he was noticed and brought to the American Speed Association (ASA) circuit. Stremme won the 2002 ASA Rookie Of The Year Award.

[edit] Ganassi Busch Series

After signing a driver development contract with Ganassi, Stremme started 15th in his Busch Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway in April 2003, driving the #1 for James Finch and finished 7th in the race. He finished 14th in both of his next two starts, before coming to 6th at Nazareth Speedway. He led 32 laps in that race, which were the first in his career.

He finished 4th after starting 3rd at Nashville in June, and duplicated the result at the Milwaukee Mile. He had a 10th at Kentucky and a 9th at Memphis. Stremme's worst finish that year was a 31st at Dover. Due to a contract obligation, Finch had Jamie McMurray back in the car for the final two races, and Stremme moved to Braun Racing for the remaining two races. Stremme led 48 laps at Rockingham, finishing 5th, in additiondrove the #30 Sport Clips Dodge home in 14th, enough to secure the Rookie of the Year award, despite competing in only 18 of the 34 races.

Stremme raced in the #32 TrimSpa Dodge in 2004. Stremme started 4th and finished 6th in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. He received his best qualifying effort to that time at Rockingham, starting on the outside pole. Stremme then finished 3rd at Las Vegas and 5th at Darlington. Despite winning his first career pole at Milwaukee, and finishing that up with a second, Stremme's team began to run mid-pack with a handful of top-10s mixed in.

Stremme pits the #14 Dodge during the 2005 Kroger 200.

When Braun announced they would put Shane Hmiel in the car, Ganassi made an alliance with FitzBradshaw Racing to put Stremme in the #14 U.S. Navy Chevy (as part of the alliance, FitzBradshaw would switch to Dodges for the following season). Despite a 7th at Memphis, Stremme's next laps would be with the #14 team at Atlanta. At the end of 2004, Stremme's 12th place at Miami secured him a top-10 finish in points.

Stremme drove full-time with FBR in 2005, posting five top-five finishes and finishing 13th in points, when it was announced he would run full-time in NEXTEL Cup.

In 2006 Stremme along with Reed Sorenson will drive the #41 Wrigley Company Car for Gananssi Racing. It will run numerous paint schemes including Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, and Winterfresh.

[edit] Move to the Nextel Cup

In June 2005, Chip Ganassi announced David would go to the Cup series, driving the #40 Coors Light Dodge in 2006. Stremme made his Cup debut in 2005 driving Ganassi's R&D #39 Navy Dodge at Chicagoland Speedway. He started 31st and would finish 16th in his debut, his second best career finish to date. He also had finishes of 42nd at Richmond and Miami, and a 36th at Charlotte.

So far in 2006, Stremme's best finish has been an 11th at New Hampshire International Speedwayand Homestead-Miami Speedway. The team has struggled to remain in the top-35 in owners points (guaranteeing a spot in the next race). As of the Dover 400, the #40 team is 34th in owner points.

[edit] Craftsman Truck Series Career

Stremme has also made one Craftsman Truck Series start in 2006. Chip Ganassi agreed to a deal with Bobby Hamilton Racing to let Stremme drive the #04 Dodge Hemi Dodge in the spring Martinsville, replacing Scott Lagasse Jr.. However, that start went poorly. Stremme only qualified 28th and only four laps into the race was Stremme involved in an accident. After replacing the radiator, Stremme's team made laps and finished 32nd.

[edit] External links

• Official Site for David Stremme
• Stremme at racing-reference.com
• The Inside Groove.com - David Stremme - Bio, Stats, Images, Links and more..