Morgan-Dollar Motorsports
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Owner(s) Name | David Dollar |
Racing Series | Craftsman Truck Series |
Number of Championships | 0 |
Car Number(s) | #46 #85 |
Driver(s) | Kraig Kinser Dennis Setzer |
Primary Sponsor(s) | Centrix Financial E85 FlexFuel |
Shop Location | Mooresville, North Carolina |
Homepage | Morgan-Dollar Motorsports |
Morgan-Dollar Motorsports is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. It is owned by David Dollar. Former driver Rob Morgan co-owned the team until 2004 They currently field the #46 Centrix Financial and #85 E85 FlexFuel Chevrolet Silverados driven by rookie Kraig Kinser and Dennis Setzer, respectively.
The team was originally based in Hennessey, Oklahoma, where it competed in late model races until it moved to North Carolina in 2004.
[edit] Truck #46 history
The truck now numbered as #46 made its debut as the #47 'in 2000 at the Bully Hill Vineyards 150. Morgan's father Charles drove the truck to an eighteenth place finish.
The truck did not run again until 2004 when the Morgan-Dollar team debuted a special program called the Chevrolet Silverado All-Stars program, which was a unique program showcasing popular music stars and Chevrolet's Nextel Cup drivers. Michael Waltrip was the debut driver for this special program and drove the #47 truck to a fifth place finish at the Infineon 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Waltrip's truck carried a paint scheme featuring Sheryl Crow. For the remainder of the 2004 season, a series of rotating drivers raced the truck, with Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and Bobby Labonte posting top-five finishes in the truck. The truck featured Sara Evans (Stewart), George Thorogood (Robby Gordon), Big and Rich (Ron Hornaday), Josh Turner (Labonte - Martinsville), Joe Nichols (Jason Leffler), Axciom (Kyle Busch and J.J. Yeley), and Chevrolet Silverado (Labonte - Homestead) as sponsors on the truck for the remainder of the season. Acxiom and Chevrolet Silverado split primary sponsorship (with Acxiom on the quarter panels and Silverado on the hood of the truck) on all of the trucks, except at Michigan International Speedway and Indianapolis Raceway Park (where Acxiom was on both the hood and quarter panels with drivers Yeley and Busch, respectively).
The Silverado All-Stars program returned in 2005, with Stewart, Labonte, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, and Willie Allen all running. The truck featured sponsorship from Phil Vassar (Labonte - Atlanta 1), Econo Lodge/Rodeway Inn/Trick Pony (Labonte - Martinsville 1), Tork/Diamond Rio (Stewart - Lowe's Motor Speedway), Makita Tools (Stewart - Dover), FedEx Express/FedEx Kinkos/Silverado/Home Depot (Almirola), The City of Nashville (Allen), Econo Lodge/Rodeway Inn/Julie Roberts (Labonte - Atlanta 2), and KISS/RaySat (Harvick - Richmond). The truck came within .008 of a second from scoring its first victory with Labonte at the Atlanta Motor Speedway race in March 2005, then finally scored that first win with Labonte back at the wheel the next week at Martinsville Speedway.
In 2006, MB2 Motorsports development driver Kraig Kinser took over the truck, expanding Morgan-Dollar to 2 full-time truck teams. After DNQ-ing at California Speedway, the team switched to the #29 briefly to assume K Automotive Racing's owner's points, then switched to the #46. The truck is alternating sponsors between Centrix Auto Finance and the U.S. Army. The truck has also sported sponsorships from Ginn Clubs and Resorts and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (Kansas Speedway, July 2006).
Kinser was replaced in the truck by Clint Bowyer at New Hampshire International Speedway in September. Kinser returned to the truck for his final 2006 NCTS race two weeks later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Joe Nemechek and Bowyer were announced as replacements in the truck for the races at Talladega and Texas, respectively.
Clint Bowyer gave the team a victory at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3, 2006.
[edit] Truck #85 history
What is now the #85 truck debuted in 1997 at Sears Point International Raceway. Joe Bean qualified the #46 Ford F-150 in 28th place, but finished in ninth. Morgan ran two races for the team in 1998 with Axciom sponsorship at Heartland Park Topeka and Sears Point, finishing 28th, and 26th, respectively. Morgan returned to drive full-time in 1999, posting a fifth-place finish at Topeka and finishing 19th in points. In 2000, he finished eighth at Kentucky Speedway and moved up to eighteenth in points.
After that season, Morgan retired from driving but remained onboard as a partner with the team. They also switched to Chevy and hired Setzer as driver. In his first year, Setzer won three poles as well as a race at Memphis Motorsports Park, earning him a seventh place points finish. After dropping to ninth in points in 2002, Setzer picked up three wins and finished second in points in 2003. Setzer also received sponsorship from the Chevy Silverado brand, and won four races in 2005. The team has finished second in points for the last three years.
For 2006, Morgan-Dollar Motorsports became the flagship team for Chevrolet. Chevrolet changed the team's factory sponsorship from Silverado to FlexFuel E85 Ethanol. The change was to help initiate General Motors' new Live Green Go Yellow initiative to promote the use of E85 Ethanol and the variety of FlexFuel vehicles the company produces. The team switched truck numbers from #46 to #85 to coincide with the E85 sponsorship. The truck was unvieled at the Chicago Auto Show and features a unique yellow, green and black design representing a corn cob, symbolic of the use of corn to make Ethanol. The team also picked up sponsorship from Shell Rotella T for the 2006 season. Rotella T is an associate sponsor of the truck throughout the season and also assumes a primary sponsorship role in 7 races in 2006.
[edit] External links
Richard Childress Racing | |
NEXTEL Cup Drivers | Clint Bowyer (#07) | Kevin Harvick (#29) | Jeff Burton (#31) | Scott Wimmer (#33) |
Driver development program Drivers | Allison Duncan, Peter Hernandez, Brandon Miller, Peyton Sellers |
Partnerships and Affiliations | Kevin Harvick Incorporated | JR Motorsports | Marsh Racing | Morgan-Dollar Motorsports |
Other | Richard Childress | Dale Earnhardt |