Baker Curb Racing

NASCAR_Owner_Infobox
Company Name = Baker Curb Racing


Owner(s) Name = Gary Baker, Mike Curb
Racing Series = Nationwide Series
Championships = 0
Car Number(s) = #27, #37
Driver(s) = Jason Keller (#27)
Brad Baker/Burney Lamar (#37)
Primary Sponsor(s) = Kimberly-Clark (#27)
n/a (#37)
Shop Location = Nashville, Tennessee
Homepage = [http://www.bakercurb.com/ Baker Curb Racing]

Baker Curb Racing is a racing team that competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, it is owned by Gary Baker, former owner of Bristol Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway, and record executive Mike Curb. Currently, it fields the #27 Ford with no official driver named.

The team was owned from 1996 until 2007 by Clarence Brewer, his wife Tammy, and Todd Wilkerson, running under the name Brewco Motorsports. Baker and Curb became owners of the team late in the 2007 season.

Car #27 History

BCR debuted at the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1995. Mark Green finished 18th in the #41 car. After a twenty-eighth place finish the next month at Richmond, the team gained sponsorship from Timber Wolf and ran ten races with Green in 1996 as the #37, posting a top-ten finish at Myrtle Beach Speedway. The team finally went full-time in 1997, with Green chalking up five top-ten finishes and finishing just 79 points shy of a top-ten finish in points. After the 1998 season yielded four top-ten's, Green left for the Dr Pepper team, and was replaced by up-and-comer Kevin Grubb. Grubb's failed to qualify four times, yet finished fifth at Richmond and was seventeenth in points at season's end. Grubb improved four spots the next season thanks to six top tens, and in 2001, he totaled up seven finishes of ninth or better. After that season, Grubb departed for Carroll Racing, and was replaced by Jeff Purvis. Purvis started off by winning at Texas Motor Speedway, but almost died later in the year from a crash at Nazareth Speedway. Kevin Lepage took his place, and won two poles before Elton Sawyer finished out the years.

In 2001, Mark Green's brother David took over the driving chores and won three races and was runner-up in the championship standings in his debut season in the ride. After a winless 2004, Brewco switched to Ford from their combined Chevrolet and Pontiac team, with the number of Green's car switching to #27 (although Green's car wasn't the one that changed numbers technically- the #27 Kleenex sponsored machine was already in the stable and had been driven by Johnny Sauter prior to Green; Greg Biffle and Aaron Fike took over Green's old 37 and had it changed to 66). He collected one win and finished eighth in the points. In late 2006, Casey Atwood replaced David Green.

In 2007, Ward Burton and Jason Keller were announced as the driver of the #27 Ford Fusion, with Burton driving 20 races, and Keller racing five times. Bobby East was named the driver for the rest of the season. After Keller and Burton's contracts expired, Casey Atwood, Brad Baker, and Robby Gordonj split the schedule in the 27 car. Brad Coleman was to drive the car full-time in 2008, but he left mid-way through the season to run the Sprint Cup Series full time for Hall of Fame Racing. Jason Keller took his schedule.

Car #37 History

The #37 car debuted at Myrtle Beach Speedway in 1998, as #27 receiving Timber Wolf sponsorship. Casey Atwood finished 28th in that race. Scot Walters drove next at California Speedway, finishing 43rd after handling problems plagued the car. It went full-time in 1999, with Atwood driving the Castrol-sponsored ride. Despite being the age of 19, Atwood won twice at The Milwaukee Mile and Dover International Speedway, and finished 13th in points. After 2000, he signed onto Evernham Motorsports' Winston Cup program and was replaced by rookie Jamie McMurray and was sponsored by Williams Travel Centers. After three top ten finishes in 2001, McMurray won three times the next year and wound up sixth in points before moving on. Rookies Chase Montgomery and Joey Clanton shared the ride the next season. In 2004, Johnny Sauter came aboard with Kleenex sponsoring. Sauter posted eight top tens and had an eighteenth place finish in points. For 2005, the car switched to #66 with Duraflame sponsoring. Greg Biffle and Aaron Fike have shared the driving duties, with Biffle winning once and garnering sixteen top ten finishes in twenty-one starts, while Fike had one top ten in eleven starts. In 2006, Biffle, Ken Schrader, and Scott Wimmer shared the ride. Bobby Labonte also drove in some races

The team switched back to the #37 in 2007, as Rusty Wallace took back #66, the original number RWI debuted with. Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray began the season sharing driving duties with sponsorship from Cub Cadet and Yard-Man. John Graham was named the driver for ten races in 2007, with Fun Energy Foods sponsoring. Casey Atwood also drove part-time in the 37. Brad Baker drove early in the season, before he was replaced by Burney Lamar.

Car #43 History

The 43 car began running when Curb began fielding NASCAR entries in 1984. He hired seven-time champion Richard Petty to drive the #43 STP Pontiac. Petty won his final two Cup races with the team and finished tenth in the final championship standings. He returned in 1985, but fell four spots in the standings after posting only top-ten. During the season, Tom Sneva drove the 42 car as a second entry to Curb at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing 32nd after an engine failure.

In 1986, Petty and STP left to rejoin Petty Enterprises, and Ron Bouchard became Curb's new driver, switching to the #98 with Valvoline sponsorship. They ran a limited schedule and had top-ten finishes at the Daytona 500 and Winston 500, but struggled with engine problems during the second half of the season. Dale Jarrett drove the 98 at Bristol Motor Speedway, bringing Busch sponsorship, starting 28th and finishing 29th. The following year, they began running Buicks and qualified for three races with Ed Pimm. Pimm did not finish any of those races, and only managed a best finish of 27th.

Sunoco became the team's new sponsor in 1988. Pimm qualified for two out of the first three races of the season, but was replaced by rookie Brad Noffsinger. His best finish was 14th at his series debut in Atlanta. Curb Racing folded at the end of 1988.

Curb Agajanian returned to NASCAR in 1998 with the Busch Series at the GM Goodwrench Service Plus 200, as the #96 Big A Auto Parts Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Mike Stefanik. Stefanik qualified 43rd and finished 35th, one lap down. He ran the next race for the team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he finished 32nd. After missing the next four races, Stefanik was released, and Kyle Petty took over at the Coca-Cola 300, where he finished 12th. Brad Loney was the last driver to run with them that season, finishing 36th at Talladega Superspeedway.

In 1999, the team purchased Stegall Motorsports, switched to #43, got sponsorship from Central Tractor, and hired Shane Hall as their driver. Hall had a fourth-place finish at Myrtle Beach Speedway, and finished 24th in points. Rookie Jay Sauter replaced Hall in 2000, nailing eight top-tens and finishing seventeenth in points. He returned in 2001, and grabbed a pole at Kentucky Speedway, and finished nineteenth in points. Ron Hornaday climbed aboard to relieve Sauter in two races during the season

In 2002, the team lost sponsorship and cut back to a limited schedule, running three races late in the season with Hermie Sadler driving. The team continued to run part-time with Sauter's brother Johnny in 2003 with sponsorship from Channellock. They picked up their first win as a team at the Funai 250, and finished 30th in owner's points.

For 2004, the team switched to Dodge and signed Aaron Fike as the driver. Fike ran thirteen races, his best finish a seventeenth at Dover. In 2005, Fike switched between the 43 and Brewco Motorsports, with his older brother A. J. filling in. He was not able to crack the top 20, and was released at the end of the season. Aaron returned to the ride full-time.In 2006, Fike qualified for most of the races, but soon departed for Kevin Harvick Incorporated. A permanaent replacement was not named, although P. J. Jones and Chris Cook ran a handful of races apiece, with Erin Crocker and Kertus Davis running one race deals as the team went part time. Due to a lack of sponsorship, CAPG was mostly inactive in the 2007 season, before attempting the Sam's Town 250 with Bobby East driving with sponsorship from Kick Butt Energy Ballz. The 43 car will run a part-time schedule in 2008 following the merger between Brewco and Curb Racing.

See also

*CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports

External links

* [http://www.bakercurb.com Baker Curb Racing Official Website]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/owner?id=curbmi01 Mike Curb Winston Cup Owner Statistics]
* [http://www.everythingstockcar.com/377o-mike-curb-nascar-owner.html Mike Curb - NASCAR Owner]
* [http://www.mikecurb.com/auto/nascar.cfm Mike Curb - NASCAR Racing]