Identity Ventures Racing

Identity Ventures Racing
Owner(s) Jay Robinson, Mark Bailey, James Hamilton
Base Monroe, North Carolina
Series Sprint Cup Series
Race drivers 66. Michael Waltrip
Joe Nemechek
Jeff Burton
Brett Moffitt
Tomy Drissi
Timmy Hill
Mike Wallace
Sponsors Landcastle Title
PEAK Motor Oil
Testoril
Royal Teak Collection
Farm Bureau Insurance
Vydox
ASM
Manufacturer Toyota
Career
Debut 2014 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Latest race 2014 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
Drivers' Championships None
Race victories None

Identity Ventures Racing was a race team that competed in NASCAR's premier division, the Sprint Cup Series during the 2014 season. The team was founded by Atlanta-based investor Nat Hardwick and his Identity Ventures company, and Jay Robinson, longtime owner of a Nationwide Series team. IVR formed before the 2014 NASCAR season, and was run out of Robinson's old Nationwide Series shop using Joe Nemechek's old Cup Series equipment, and is a satellite team of Michael Waltrip Racing, handling that organization's research-and-development operations.[1][2] Following lawsuits against Hardwick in August and September 2014, the team was owned by Robinson along with Jim Hamilton and Mark Bailey. Because of a lack of sponsorship, the team was disbanded after one season. Robinson took the equipment with him to Premium Motorsports.

Car #66 History

The #66 was originally the #56 for Michael Waltrip Racing; its current incarnation had its beginnings in the "Singapore Sling" incident, during the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, in which MWR was charged with fixing the outcome of the race to get Martin Truex, Jr. into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. As a result, Truex was booted from the Chase, sponsor NAPA Auto Parts left the team for JR Motorsports, while Truex departed for Furniture Row Racing. This left MWR's #56 team without a driver or sponsor for 2014.[3][4][5]

2014

For 2014, MWR initially planned to run a part-time car out of their shop for owner Michael Waltrip and veteran Jeff Burton.[6][7] However, on January 30, 2014, MWR announced a deal with team owner Jay Robinson and investor Nat Hardwick, spinning off the #66 into a satellite team.[2][8] Identity Ventures Racing was formed when Robinson partnered with the five investors of Identity Ventures, primarily with Atlanta-based Nat Hardwick. Joe Nemechek's Toyota Camry fleet was purchased by IVR in preparation for the MWR alliance, and in return Nemechek was named the team's primary driver.[1] Burton only ended up running two races in the car, with MWR development driver Brett Moffitt taking over most of Burton's schedule. One of Nemechek's starts was replaced by another young driver, Timmy Hill. At the Sonoma road course, Tomy Drissi ran the car as a road course ringer. Mike Wallace ran several fall races after Nemechek left the team. Waltrip ran all four restrictor plate races.

The team fielded three different types of efforts in 2014. For some races, Identity fielded the car with limited MWR support. This was the case for all of Nemechek's races and Drissi's road course start. For certain other races, Identity fielded the car out of their own shop but with strong MWR support. These included Moffitt's first race in the car, and Waltrip's third race. Finally, the car was fielded out of the MWR shop for some races, but still using Identity's equipment and points. These included Waltrip's first two starts, Burton's two starts, and Moffitt's second and third starts.

Sponsorship of the team had included Farm Bureau Insurance, Testroil, Royal Teak Collection and others. However, the team's primary sponsor for most of the season was Landcastle Title, a real-estate title firm owned by team investor Nat Hardwick. Some of Hardwick's other companies also appeared on the car, including Morris-Hardwick-Schneider, Smart Ben, the Dustin Johnson Foundation, and Identity Ventures (the team's namesake).[1] The team's sponsorship, as well as Hardwick's role in the organization was put into question when he was fired from many of these companies in late August, and was embroiled in numerous lawsuits alleging that he misappropriated over $30 million in company funds.[1][9][10] Although Identity Ventures executives still own the team, this ended the primary sponsorship from Hardwick's companies. At Atlanta in September, when the story broke, the Morris-Hardwick-Schneider paint scheme was stripped from the car after qualifying, with Brett Moffitt driving a blank blue car in the race. The team was forced to rely on its secondary partners for sponsorship for the rest of the season, while picking up additional backing from several southeast law firms. Nonetheless, the team was forced to run several races without sponsorship that had been scheduled to be sponsored by Hardwick.

Nemechek's best finish in the car was 30th at Watkins Glen, while failing to qualify at Texas in April. Burton's best finish was 17th, coming at Las Vegas. Waltrip had a best run of 16th at the October Talladega race. Wallace had a best of 26th at the fall Martinsville race. Meanwhile, Moffitt has a best finish of 22nd in his debut at Dover, while failing to qualify at Indianapolis.

Identity Ventures Racing folded after its first season, due to the financial difficulties which followed the breakup with Hardwick. The owner points were transferred to the reconstituted Jay Robinson team, now known as Premium Motorsports.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "#66 [was #55] Team News and Links". JAYSKI.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "MWR Announces 2014 Sponsor Lineup". MichaelWaltrip.com. Charlotte, North Carolina: Michael Waltrip Racing. January 30, 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Fryer, Jenna (2013-09-10). "AP Sources: Newman Replaces Truex in NASCAR Chase". ABC News. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  4. ↑ Fryer, Jenna (2013-09-19). "Napa dropping Waltrip after Richmond scandal". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
  5. ↑ "MWR RESTRUCTURES TO TWO FULL-TIME TEAMS IN 2014". NASCAR. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  6. ↑ Spencer, Lee (June 6, 2014). "MWR to field three Cup cars in 2014". Fox Sports. Avondale, Arizona: Fox Sports. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Caraviello, David (December 3, 2013). "JEFF BURTON BOUND FOR NBC BROADCAST BOOTH". NASCAR.com. Las Vegas: NASCAR. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Michael Waltrip Racing (February 14, 2014). "Michael Waltrip begins his quest for a third Daytona 500 victory". motorsport.com. Cornelius, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  9. ↑ http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/31253-whats-the-latest-with-nat-hardwick-landcastle-title
  10. ↑ Trubey, J. Scott (August 27, 2014). "UPDATED: Firm says Atlanta law partner embezzled $30 million". ajc.com. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 8 October 2014.

External links