Jeff Fuller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born: | March 27, 1957 | |
| Birthplace: | Boylston, Massachusetts | |
| Awards: | 1992 Winston Modified Tour Champion | |
| NASCAR Busch Series Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | Unemployed | |
| 2005 Busch Series Position: | 51st | |
| Best Busch Position: | 10th - 1995 | |
| First Race: | 1992 AC-Delco 200 (Rockingham) | |
| First Win: | 1996 Food City 250 (Bristol) | |
| Last Win: | 1996 Food City 250 (Bristol) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 1 | 14 | 1 |
| All stats current as of May 27, 2006. | ||
Jeff "Mullet" Fuller is a former NASCAR driver. He is currently a test driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in their #80 Nextel Cup Series Chevy. Before joining NASCAR's major leagues, Fuller won the 1992 Winston Modified Tour championship, driving for Sheba Racing.
[edit] Busch Series Career
Fuller made his Busch Series career in 1992, making one start. Driving the #20 First Ade Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso, Fuller started 27th and finished 26th, twenty-nine laps down.
Three years later, in 1995, after a run in the Whelen Modified Series, Fuller moved to the Busch Series to compete Rookie of the Year. His team would be the #47 Sunoco Chevy owned by ST Motorsports. His sole top-5 was a fourth in the fall race at Charlotte. He also added on five other top-10s. His best start in the season was only a pair of tenths at New Hampshire and Rockingham. He also finished in the top-30 in all but one race and only recorded five DNFs. This enabled him to finish tenth in points in just his first season in Busch Series, earning him Rookie of the Year honors.
Missing two races relegated Fuller back to 17th in points in 1996. In the same weekend at Bristol, Fuller won his first career pole, won his first career race and his wife gave birth to a child. Fuller only managed 3 other top-10s in 1996. He made one of his starts in a Michael Ritch-owned car, driving the #02 ECU Pirates at Rockingham to a 38th place finish.
Fuller's team continued to struggle in early 1997. Fuller managed only two to-10s in his first fifteen races, (7th at Darlington and 3rd at New Hampshire) Fuller was released from the #47 after running eighteenth in points. Fuller missed the next two races, but then signed on to become the driver for the #45 Hunters Specialties Chevy for Mike Laughlin, earning finishes of 7th at Gateway and 9th at Bristol. However, Fuller was replaced for the last race by Greg Sacks, but drove the #5 Alka-Setzer Chevy for Terry Labonte. After finishing 14th, he cemented a 21st place finish in points.
In 1998, Fuller only made eleven starts, making races with five different teams. Most of the season was with the #89 Allerest Chevy owned by Meredith Ruark. His best finish with them was 25th at Charlotte. Overall, Fuller's best finish of 1998 was with Laughlin's racing team at Pikes Peak, where he finished eleventh. Fulleralso paired with in 1998, was Joe Gibbs Racing. He drove their #42 Carolina Turkey Pontiac at Charlotte to a fifteenth place finish. Fuller's other top-20 finish in 1998 was for Bill Elliott at Miami, where he finished fifteenth as well.
In 1999, Fuller made 27 of the season's 32 races, but did not record a single top-10. Fuller ran the first twenty-two races with Ruark's team, earning a best finish of 12th at Pikes Peak and IRP. Fuller made four starts for Joe Gibbs again, driving the #42 Circuit City Pontiac to a best of 13th at Darlington. Fuller also added on one more start with Lyndon Amick's team. He finished 33rd at Memphis Motorsports Park. Fuller's best start in 1999 was 5th at Pikes Peak, and he finished 22nd in points.
When Fuller went Winston Cup racing, Fuller only made one 2000 start. It was for Moy Racing, when he started 43rd on the field at Bristol, but came back to a 21st place finish.
Fuller only made one start in 2001, as well. Driving for NEMCO Motorsports, he started 40th at California and finished 42nd after only completing five laps.
Fuller made two more starts for NEMCO in 2002, running at Daytona and Talladega. However, despite a 5th place start at Daytona, he finished 42nd there and 40th at Talladega due to large crashes.
Fuller made thirteen starts overall in 2003, driving for assorted teams. Mainly, he split his time between NEMCO and Stanton Barrett's team. His best finishes on the year were a 15th at Bristol for NEMCO and 18th at Nashville for Barrett. He also had a 24th place run at Daytona for Bost Motorsports. He only finished 3 races that year.
In 2004, he ran the most races in a season of his career since 1999 for NEMCO Motorsports. Unfortunately, his best finish was 35th at Nazareth, as he did not finish a race that year. He also caused controversy during the season as he rarely completed more than a handful of laps before pulling out of the race.
In 2005, Fuller started off the year driving two races for NEMCO, but he was quickly replaced by Kim Crosby, who's team bought the #7 NEMCO ride. Ironically, Fuller replaced Crosby later in the year, driving the #7 Big Boar Customs Chevy for GIC-Mixon Motorsports for the remainder of the year. Fuller qualified for fifteen races with the team, and his best finishes were at Dover, where he finished 24th in the fall and 25th in the spring. After Memphis, where Fuller finished 42nd, the team folded after lack of funding, leaving Fuller rideless.
Fuller returned to the Busch Series in 2006 at the June Nashville race. He was signed to drive the #34 GlowBuoy Chevrolet for Frank Cicci Racing where he started 38th and finishing 27th. He was involved in a very serious accident at the Kentucky speedway on June 17 when he swerved to avoid a spinning car and ended up hitting the inside wall at almost full speed. His car burst into flames briefly. He never lost consciousness but the car's roof had to be cut off to extract him. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and a broken wrist and finger. He was released the next day.
Fuller has made a full recovery from his accident and is waiting to be cleared to get back behind behind the wheel of the #34 for Frank Cicci Racing. Look for Jeff to be back in time for Gateway. The team is going to finish the year running a select schedule and do have some things in the works for next year.
[edit] Nextel Cup Series Career
Fuller made his Cup Series debut in 1992, running the #88 Pontiac for Patricia Bandyul at Richmond. He started 30th and finished 29th in the thirty-five car field after he broke a water pump.
Fuller then made seven starts in 2000 after a number of years on the Busch Series. He was tapped to drive the #27 Viagra Pontiac for Eel River Racing. Fuller made six of the first seven races, having a best finish of 22nd at Atlanta and a best start of 7th at Texas, but was released in favor of Dick Trickle and Mike Bliss. Later in 2000, Fuller drove the #98 MacPherson Motorsports Ford at Charlotte. He made the race with them with a 27th place start and 41st place finish.
Fuller tacked on three starts in 2004, running the #50 Arnold Motorsports Dodge in the later stages of the year. He was 43rd at California and Dover Downs and then 42nd at Charlotte. Charlotte was his best start on the year with a 26th place start.
Fuller made two starts in 2005, when he drove for Mach 1 Racing. However, Fuller finished 43rd in the both the races. (Darlington and Dover) His best start was 40th at Darlington.
Since then, Fuller tested the #80 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevy at Daytona. He currently does not have a ride in any major racing series.
