MB Motorsports

MB Motorsports
Owner(s)Mike Mittler
BaseForistell, Missouri
SeriesCamping World Truck Series
ManufacturerChevrolet
Opened1995
Closed2018
Career
Debut1995 Sears Auto Center 125 (Milwaukee)
Latest race2018 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Races competed235
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories0
Pole positions1

MB Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Foristell, Missouri, and was owned by Mike Mittler until his death in 2019. The team was one of few to field entries every year since the Series' inception in 1995 until 2018. The team formed partnerships with Young's Motorsports, Norm Benning Racing and Copp Motorsports at various points in its history.

History

[edit]

MB Motorsports debuted at the 1995 Sears Auto Center 125 at The Milwaukee Mile. Tony Roper drove the No. 26 Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool F-150 to a 22nd-place finish. He made another start weeks later at Martinsville Speedway, but finished 27th after suffering rear end problems. Mike Wallace drove the next race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but finished 29th after an engine failure. The team only made two starts in 1996. Kenny Irwin Jr. drove the first race, and started and finished 32nd. The next race came at Flemington Speedway, where Michael Dokken exited the race after seven laps due to electrical problems.

In 1997, the team made a total of three races, with the first one coming at I-70 Speedway with Rick Beebe qualifying ninth but finishing 24th. Jerry Robertson made an additional two starts with Mainstream Technology/Lucas Oil sponsorship, his best finish being 26th. Doug George began the 1998 season with MB, but a failure to finish higher than 30th and three consecutive DNQs forced him out of the ride. The team switched to a part-time schedule for the rest of the season, with Randy MacDonald, Beebe, and Bryan Reffner driving. Randy Nelson ran the 1999 season-opener, but only completed fifteen laps. Robertson returned to run three races in the MB truck, but only finished one race. Jamie McMurray ran five races for the team, and had a best finish of eleventh at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

McMurray was selected to make a full-time run for Rookie of the Year in 2000, but left midway through the season for TKO Motorsports. Tony Roper returned to the team and drove the rest of the season. During the O'Reilly 400K at Texas Motor Speedway on October 13, Roper crashed heavily on lap 33, and suffered a neck injury that would prove fatal the next day. Roper was one of four NASCAR drivers, including Adam Petty, former MB Motorsports driver Kenny Irwin, and seven-time Cup Series Champion Dale Earnhardt to be killed on track in less than nine months.

MB returned to the track in 2001, switching to the No. 63. Rookie Larry Gunselman joined the team, bringing sponsorship from Waterloo Tool Storage, and occasionally running Chevrolets. He ran seventeen races and had a best finish of sixteenth at Kansas Speedway. Mike Harmon also drove one race at Dover International Speedway, but finished thirty-fifth after an early ignition failure. Gunselman drove three early races for MB in 2002, but the team stopped running for a few races until Carl Edwards was hired to run seven races. He recorded the first top-ten finish in team history at Kansas. Regan Smith drove two races late in the season, but failed to finish a race. In 2003, Ronnie Hornaday drove two races with Summer Bay Resort sponsoring, but suffered engine failures in both races. David Stover drove the rest of the team's schedule and had two top-twenty finishes.

In 2004, rookie driver Chris Wimmer drove ten races with Porter Truck Sales sponsorshing, and had a best finish of eighteenth. Justin Allgaier competed in four races the following season, but only had a best finish of 26th, and failed to qualify for five races. After several DNQs in 2006 with J. R. Patton, Allgaier returned the next season for three races, with a best finish of twenty-first. Cameron Dodson then took over for four races and had a best finish of 24th. Scott Lynch drove one race, and Brad Keselowski drove in two races under a partnership with K Automotive Racing. Jason White drove the season-opening race in 2007 with GunBroker.com sponsoring, but the race ended in a crash. For the rest of the season, Scott Lynch and Jack Smith shared the ride with Cooper Bussman sponsoring. The team also fielded a second truck in the first time in its history at Gateway International Raceway. Smith drove but qualified and finished last, failing to complete a lap.

In 2008, Diversified Partners sponsored the season-opening race with P. J. Jones driving, but he wrecked early. Jones and Smith drove two races a piece, with Allgaier returning with a 24th-place finish at Kentucky Speedway. The team also fielded a second truck, the No. 36 at Texas Motor Speedway. J. C. Stout finished 34th after an early vibration put him out of contention.

In 2009, Mittler fielded the No. 63 again, this time for Tim Andrews at Chicago and Texas, where he finished 25th both times, and for Ben Stancil at Kansas, Kentucky, and Charlotte, with a best finish of 19th.

For 2010, young driver Nick Hoffman made his Truck Series debut at IRP finishing 23rd. Jack Smith ran at Kansas, Texas, and Gateway, impressing with all top-25 finishes. Hoffman and Smith would return to MB the following year, with Hoffman running at Nashville and Kansas but only scored a best finish of 25th. Smith's return to MB brought sponsorship from Seal Wrap, as well as consulting from Paul Andrews. Making six starts that season, Smith would get a career best finish of 11th at Atlanta. However, Smith was suspended by NASCAR for failing a drug test. Young driver Tyler Tanner, who brought sponsorship from EF-65, made his debut at Martinsville.

The team stuck to the trio of Hoffman (two races), Smith (six races), and Tanner (one race) for a part-time effort in 2011. Smith recorded the best finish, an eleventh, but was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR at the end of the season for violating its substance abuse policy, ending any partnership between the team and Smith.[1]

Switching to truck number 65 in 2012, only five races were run, two apiece with Justin Jennings and Scott Stenzel and one with Chris Lafferty.

Jennings returned to the team and No. 63 in 2013, with Stenzel again returning for one.

MB went full-time in 2014, the first season since its inception that a full-time effort was made. However, a partnership with Young's Motorsports, then in its infancy, was needed to make it through the season. Jennings ran a large portion of the schedule, but Stenzel and Blake Koch also drove Mittler trucks during the season.

In 2015, 16-year-old Jake Griffin from Quincy, Illinois, was hired to drive for the team. Griffin, the youngest driver to win a NASCAR-sanctioned event after winning a race at age 14, made his debut with the team at Martinsville. At Eldora Speedway, dirt racer Bobby Pierce won the pole in his first attempt.[2] He then finished 2nd after contending for the lead the entire race, despite running an old 2013 Chevy body. Justin Jennings and Tyler Tanner ran the majority of the schedule for the team, which fielded two entries; a full-race 63 and a start-and-park 36. Bobby Gerhart drove the No. 36 at Talladega and finished 12th.

The team shuttered the 36 as entry counts rose in 2016. The No. 36 only starts were at Daytona and Talladega with Bobby Gerhart. The team (No. 63) rotated through a number of drivers, some veteran, some developmental. Pierce started 1st although he didn't win the pole at Eldora but contact during the race resulted in a 25th-place finish.[3] Midway through the season, the team made a deal with Norm Benning Racing to have Benning field his own trucks with MB's owner points in select events.

Bobby Gerhart now drove the No. 63 at Daytona in 2017. The team developed a partnership with Copp Motorsports fielding No. 36, No. 63 and No. 83, similar to the one with NBR the previous season. The team has recently start and parked with various drivers. Landon Huffman drove the No. 83 (usually Copp's number) for the team at Martinsville (fall).

Kevin and Kyle Donahue also drove for MB Motorsports with 6 starts between the two. The brothers made history in 2016 being the first in NASCAR to both debut in the same race. Kevin and Kyle have made starts in the 63 and the 36 truck.

On May 10, 2019, Mittler died from with cancer at age 67.[4] Various tributes to Mittler were made during the 2019 season: for the Truck Series' 2019 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the trucks carried a special decal,[5] while the Mike Mittler Memorial Trophy was presented to the winner of the CarShield 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.[6] NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Garrett Smithley drove a paint scheme honoring Mittler in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway.[7]

Truck No. 26/63 results (primary truck)

[edit]
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NCWTC Pts
1995 Tony Roper 26 Ford PHO TUS SGS MMR POR EVG I70 LVL BRI MLW
22
CNS HPT RCH
DNQ
MAR
27
Andy Brass IRP
23
FLM
Mike Wallace NWS
29
SON MMR PHO
1996 Kenny Irwin Jr. HOM PHO
32
POR EVG TUS CNS HPT BRI NZH
Randy Porter MLW
22
LVL
Rick Beebe I70
22
IRP
DNQ
Michael Dokken FLM
30
GLN NSV RCH NHA MAR NWS SON MMR PHO
Ken Bouchard LVS
DNQ
1997 Andy Belmont WDW
DNQ
TUS
DNQ
HOM PHO
DNQ
POR EVG 53rd 387
Rick Beebe I70
24
NHA TEX BRI NZH
Jerry Robertson MLW
26
LVL CNS
30
HPT IRP
DNQ
FLM NSV MAR
DNQ
SON MMR CAL PHO
Doug George GLN
DNQ
RCH
Perry Tripp LVS
DNQ
1998 Billy Bigley Jr. WDW
DNQ
31st 1177
Doug George HOM
33
PHO
30
POR
30
EVG
32
I70
DNQ
GLN
DNQ
Randy MacDonald TEX
32
BRI MLW
28
NZH CAL PPR IRP
23
NHA FLM NSV HPT
26
GTY
20
MAR SON MMR PHO
Bryan Reffner LVL
15
RCH
35
MEM
28
Rick Beebe LVS
26
1999 Randy Nelson HOM
30
PHO EVG MMR MAR MEM PPR 33rd 777
Jamie McMurray I70
24
BRI IRP
24
GTY
30
HPT RCH LVS
11
LVL TEX
28
CAL
Jerry Robertson TEX
25
PIR GLN MLW
25
NSV
33
NZH MCH NHA
2000 Jamie McMurray DAY
20
HOM
22
PHO
33
MMR
30
MAR PIR GTY
23
MEM
20
PPR
32
EVG TEX
14
KEN
17
GLN MLW
31
NHA NZH MCH 31st 1260
Tony Roper IRP
30
NSV
34
CIC RCH
21
DOV
DNQ
TEX
29
CAL
2001 Larry Gunselman 63 DAY
18
HOM
36
MMR
26
MAR
17
GTY
23
MLW
19
KAN
16
KEN
22
NHA
31
IRP
31
NSH CIC
24
TEX
35
LVS
33
PHO CAL
29
26th 1446
Chevy DAR
36
PPR
32
NZH
33
RCH SBO
Mike Harmon DOV
35
TEX MEM
2002 Larry Gunselman Ford DAY
31
DAR
32
MAR GTY
30
PPR DOV TEX 30th 1035
Carl Edwards MEM
23
MLW
28
KAN
8
KEN
18
NHA MCH IRP
19
NSH RCH TEX
24
LVS
36
CAL
Regan Smith SBO
29
PHO
30
HOM
2003 Ronnie Hornaday DAY
27
DAR MMR MAR CLT
32
DOV TEX 36th 775
David Stover MEM
25
MLW
18
KAN
27
KEN GTW
26
MCH IRP
35
NSH BRI
17
RCH NHA CAL LVS
DNQ
SBO TEX
30
MAR PHO HOM
2004 Chris Wimmer DAY ATL MAR
DNQ
MFD
36
CLT DOV TEX MEM
36
MLW
20
KAN
18
KEN
21
GTW
24
MCH IRP
DNQ
NSH
33
BRI
25
RCH
36
NHA LVS
DNQ
CAL
29
TEX
27
MAR PHO
33
DAR 35th 1095
Brad Keselowski HOM
DNQ
2005 J. R. Patton DAY
DNQ
CAL ATL 41st 589
Justin Allgaier MAR
DNQ
GTY
DNQ
MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW
26
KAN
36
KEN
DNQ
MEM
DNQ
IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS
27
MAR ATL TEX
27
PHO HOM
DNQ
2006 J. R. Patton DAY
DNQ
CAL ATL GTY
DNQ
CLT
DNQ
MFD DOV TEX
DNQ
MCH 37th 1017
Justin Martz MAR
DNQ
Justin Allgaier MLW
22
KAN
21
KEN
36
MEM
Cameron Dodson IRP
29
NSH NHA
24
MAR
30
ATL TEX PHO
30
Brad Keselowski BRI
34
HOM
24
Scott Lynch LVS
35
TAL
2007 Jason White DAY
35
CAL ATL MAR 34th 793
Scott Lynch KAN
20
CLT DOV
27
TEX MCH IRP
31
NSH BRI GTW
26
NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL
33
TEX
28
PHO
Dodge HOM
DNQ
Jack Smith Ford MFD
27
MLW
25
MEM KEN
27
2008 P. J. Jones DAY
35
CAL ATL MAR 35th 609
Chevy TEX
23
MCH MLW MEM
Jack Smith Ford KAN
22
CLT MFD
32
DOV GTW
22
NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX
21
PHO HOM
Justin Allgaier KEN
24
IRP NSH BRI
2009 Ben Stancill DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN
25
CLT
19
DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN
35
IRP NSH BRI GTW
DNQ
NHA LVS MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 47th 386
Tim Andrews CHI
25
IOW
2010 Jack Smith DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN
14
DOV CLT TEX
15
MCH IOW GTW
23
45th 432
Nick Hoffman IRP
23
POC NSH DAR BRI CHI KEN NHA LVS MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM
2011 DAY PHO DAR MAR NSH
34
DOV CLT KAN
25
TEX 37th 143
Jack Smith KEN
18
IOW
29
NSH IRP
28
POC MCH BRI ATL
11
CHI
23
NHA KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX
26
HOM
2012 Caleb Roark DAY
DNQ
40th 106
Tyler Tanner 65 MAR
DNQ
CAR
Scott Stenzel Chevy KAN
24
CLT DOV TEX
24
KEN
Justin Jennings Ford IOW
23
IOW
20
KEN
Chris Lafferty Chevy CHI
DNQ
POC MCH BRI ATL LVS
24
TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM
2013 Scott Stenzel 63 Ford DAY
DNQ
MAR CAR TAL
25
MAR 35th 176
Justin Jennings Chevy KAN
18
CLT DOV TEX
24
KEN
30
IOW
23
CHI
30
LVS TEX
19
PHO HOM
Ford IOW
28
ELD
23
POC MCH BRI MSP
2014 Justin Jennings Chevy DAY
16
MAR
25
KAN
16
CLT
29
DOV
19
TEX
26
GTW
32
KEN
18
IOW
15
POC
32
MCH
23
BRI
16
CHI
22
LVS
21
MAR
35
TEX
23
PHO
34
HOM
22
21st 457
J. R. Heffner ELD
18
NHA
23
Scott Stenzel MSP
24
TAL
22
2015 Justin Jennings DAY
DNQ
DOV
28
KEN
22
BRI
20
CHI
19
TEX
25
20th 513
Garrett Smithley ATL
18
POC
16
MCH
14
HOM
28
Jake Griffin MAR
26
IOW
27
Tyler Tanner KAN
15
CLT
21
TEX
17
GTW
16
TAL
26
Bobby Pierce ELD
2
MAR
22
Daniel Brown MSP
27
Akinori Ogata NHA
18
LVS
23
PHO
27
2016 Reed Sorenson DAY
DNQ
32nd 130
Garrett Smithley ATL
18
Spencer Boyd Ram MAR
28
Bobby Pierce Chevy KAN
23
DOV
26
CLT
27
ELD
25*
Mike Bliss TEX
28
Jake Griffin IOW
21
GTW
30
BRI
DNQ
Norm Benning KEN
28
POC
23
MCH
27
MSP
20
LVS
26
TEX
32
PHO
26
HOM
DNQ
Jesse Little CHI
29
Akinori Ogata NHA
31
Ryan Ellis TAL
DNQ
Kyle Donahue MAR
31
2017 Bobby Gerhart DAY
21
TAL
11
27th 274
J. J. Yeley ATL
DNQ
TEX
29
Kyle Donahue MAR
16
GTW
16
IOW
26
Kevin Donahue KAN
21
TEX
27
CHI
29
Todd Peck CLT
32
MSP
29
LVS
29
Camden Murphy DOV
32
KEN
30
NHA
27
Bobby Pierce ELD
6
Travis Kvapil POC
26
B. J. McLeod MCH
24
Landon Huffman BRI
20
Chris Windom MAR
32
HOM
26
Ted Minor PHO
31
2018 Bobby Gerhart DAY
DNQ
TAL
23
32nd 146
Akinori Ogata ATL
30
Scott Stenzel LVS
32
Kevin Donahue MAR
30
KAN
32
GTW
12
J. J. Yeley CLT
32
IOW
32
CHI
29
Kyle Donahue TEX
28
MAR
22
TEX
Bayley Currey KEN
30
POC
32
Kyle Strickler ELD
31
Timmy Hill MCH
32
BRI MSP LVS
Jesse Iwuji PHO
27
HOM

Truck No. 36 results (secondary truck)

[edit]
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCWTC Pts
2004 Patrick Lawson 26 Ford DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP
DNQ
NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 83rd 16
2007 Jack Smith 68 DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW
36
NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM N/A 0
2008 J. C. Stout 36 DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV TEX
34
MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW
33
NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX
26
PHO HOM 47th 210
2009 Jack Smith DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN
DNQ
IRP NSH BRI CHI IOW GTW
DNQ
NHA LVS MAR TAL 58th 186
Tim Andrews TEX
25
PHO HOM
2011 Tyler Tanner 65 DAY PHO DAR MAR NSH DOV CLT KAN TEX KEN IOW NSH IRP POC MCH BRI ATL CHI NHA KEN LVS TAL MAR
30
TEX HOM 68th 14
2014 Scott Stenzel 36 Chevy DAY MAR KAN
31
CLT CHI
29
LVS
28
HOM
33
32nd 153
Ram GTW
28
KEN IOW ELD POC MCH
Blake Koch DOV
35
TEX BRI
35
Chevy TEX
32
Justin Jennings MSP
26
NHA
29
TAL
35
MAR
Tyler Tanner Ram PHO
21
2015 Justin Jennings Chevy DAY ATL MAR KAN
27
CLT
30
TEX
26
GTW
29
IOW
31
KEN ELD POC
31
MCH
32
MSP
29
NHA
32
LVS
29
30th 241
Tyler Tanner DOV
31
BRI
32
CHI
32
TEX
31
Bobby Gerhart TAL
12
MAR
Bobby Pierce PHO
16
HOM
DNQ
2016 Bobby Gerhart DAY
12
ATL MAR KAN DOV CLT TEX IOW GTW KEN ELD POC BRI MCH MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL
17
MAR TEX PHO HOM 38th 37
2017 Camden Murphy DAY ATL MAR KAN
30
CLT POC
28
MCH
25
HOM
27
38th 91
J. J. Yeley DOV
29
TEX
Kevin Donahue GTW
26
IOW
28
KEN
Chris Windom ELD
19
BRI
DNQ
MSP
B. J. McLeod CHI
30
NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO
2018 Bayley Currey DAY ATL LVS MAR DOV KAN
29
CLT TEX IOW GTW CHI KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 55th 8

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "NASCAR suspends Truck driver Smith for drugs". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  2. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (July 22, 2015). "Bobby Pierce earns pole at Eldora in first career NCWTS start". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  3. ^ "Driver Bobby Pierce 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  4. ^ Crandall, Kelly (May 10, 2019). "Remembering Mike Mittler". Racer.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "Teams To Carry Tribute To Mike Mittler Decals At Charlotte". Speedway Digest. May 16, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "NASCAR CarShield 200 presented by CK Power trophy to be named for Mike Mittler". World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. June 17, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  7. ^ Seelman, Jacob (August 31, 2019). "Smithley Honoring Mike Mittler's NASCAR Legacy". Speed Sport. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
[edit]