Team Rensi Motorsports

Team Rensi Motorsports
Owner(s)	Ronnie Russell; Ed Rensi; Gary Weisbaum
Base	Concord, North Carolina
Series	Xfinity Series
Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company
Career
Debut	1999 Textilease / Medique 300
Latest race	2011 O'Reilly Auto Parts 300
Races competed	434
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	5
Pole positions	2

Team Rensi Motorsports was a NASCAR Nationwide Series team owned by Ronnie Russell, Ed Rensi, Gary Weisbaum, and formerly Sam Rensi. The team has also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA racing series.

Ed Rensi, who was president and CEO of McDonald's USA from 1991 to 1997, has been Team Rensi Racing's Chairman and CEO since October 1998.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Car No. 24 history

Jason Keller (2005)

The No. 24 team debuted in 2005 as the No. 35 being driven by veteran Jason Keller with sponsorship from McDonald's.^[2] Despite a ninth-place finish in points, Keller struggled to run up front, and he left for Phoenix Racing at the end of the season.

Regan Smith (2006)

Regan Smith took his place in 2006, and had one top-ten finish. Smith departed from the ride for Ginn Racing. Hamilton returned to Rensi to drive the No. 35 for the 2007 season, finishing sixth in points.

The 35 car at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2007.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. (2007)

During the 2007–08 offseason, McDonald's ended its sponsorship of the No. 35 and David Gilliland took the FreeCreditReport.com sponsorship of the No. 25 car to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Team Rensi signed Smithfield Foods as prime sponsor of the No. 25 car, allowing Hamilton to move to that team. The 35 returned late in 2008 with Danny O'Quinn driving, but he failed to finish both races he ran.

Eric McClure (2009–2010)

The car made a return to full-time racing in 2009, with Eric McClure bringing both Hefty sponsorship and the No. 24 over from Front Row Motorsports.

In 2010, McClure and Hefty remained with the team. After surgery on his foot, McClure was relieved by driver Chris Cook at Road America. D. J. Kennington raced the car at Montreal to an 11th-place finish, as McClure sat out of the race due to a concussion the prior week from Bristol. McClure and Hefty will leave the team for 2011, citing performance issues and a lacking budget from Team Rensi.

Kevin Lepage (2011)

For 2011, Kevin Lepage drove the car for the first several races of the season. Lepage ran full races initially, but was forced to withdraw from Bristol after a practice crash and did not arrive at Talladega. They were last seen at Texas.

Car No. 24 results

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	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	Owners	Pts
2003	Elliott Sadler	35	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM 36		106th	55
2004	Johnny Borneman III			DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL DNQ	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH 30	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR															48th	980
	Shelby Howard																								IRP 24	MCH DNQ	BRI		RCH 25	DOV 31			MEM 36	ATL 18
	Wally Dallenbach Jr.																											CAL 20			KAN 10	CLT 40			PHO 24	DAR	HOM 29
2005	Jason Keller			DAY 35	CAL 17	MXC 13	LVS 43	ATL 17	NSH 8	BRI 19	TEX 13	PHO 21	TAL 8	DAR 13	RCH 11	CLT 23	DOV 7	NSH 11	KEN 31	MLW 13	DAY 17	CHI 22	NHA 21	PPR 36	GTY 33	IRP 4	GLN 18	MCH 15	BRI 12	CAL 6	RCH 38	DOV 13	KAN 18	CLT 18	MEM 10	TEX 13	PHO 16	HOM 15	12th	3866
2006	Regan Smith			DAY 26	CAL 28	MXC 25	LVS 22	ATL 21	BRI 38	TEX 34	NSH 13	PHO 27	TAL 37	RCH 21	DAR 19	CLT 10	DOV 39	NSH 35	KEN 16	MLW 22	DAY 15	CHI 28	NHA 35	MAR 14	GTY 23	IRP 11	GLN 23	MCH 31	BRI 19	CAL 28	RCH 26	DOV 17	KAN 19	CLT 37	MEM 21	TEX 20	PHO 19	HOM 31	29th	3136
2007	Bobby Hamilton Jr.			DAY 24	CAL 29	MXC 17	LVS 14	ATL 24	BRI 18	NSH 9	TEX 14	PHO 34	TAL 12	RCH 22	DAR 20	CLT 33	DOV 10	NSH 13	KEN 36	MLW 13	NHA 20	DAY 12	CHI 29	GTY 13	IRP 13	CGV 24	GLN 22	MCH 27	BRI 12	CAL 21	RCH 16	DOV 12	KAN 20	CLT 16	MEM 38	TEX 14	PHO 24	HOM 8	15th	3149
2008	Danny O'Quinn Jr.			DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT 40	MEM 42	TEX 42	PHO 43	HOM DNQ	70th	139
2009	Eric McClure	24		DAY 26	CAL 30	LVS 16	BRI 26	TEX 34	NSH 26	PHO 22	TAL 25	RCH 39	DAR 28	CLT 19	DOV 23	NSH 22	KEN 30		NHA 33	DAY 28	CHI 31	GTY 23	IRP 23	IOW 20	GLN 30	MCH 28	BRI 25	CGV 22	ATL 26	RCH 29	DOV 24	KAN 25	CAL 28	CLT 18	MEM 30	TEX 19	PHO 28	HOM 28	26th	2962
2009			Chevy															MLW 32																					26th	2962
2010			Ford	DAY 17	CAL 35	LVS 21	BRI 24	NSH 29	PHO 27	TEX 28	TAL 22	RCH 31	DAR 27	DOV 24	CLT 29	NSH 26	KEN 29	ROA 27	NHA 29	DAY 36	CHI 29	GTY 26	IRP 26	IOW DNQ	GLN 31	MCH 30	BRI DNQ		ATL 30	RCH 30	DOV 29	KAN 33	CAL DNQ	CLT 23	GTY DNQ	TEX 26	PHO DNQ	HOM 37	33rd	2491
2010	D. J. Kennington																											CGV 11												2491
2011	Kevin Lepage			DAY 41	PHO 37	LVS 37	BRI Wth	CAL 28	TEX 39	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW	CLT	CHI	MCH	ROA	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		33rd	63rd	39

Car No. 25 history

Early years (1999–2000)

The team, then known as Team Rensi Motorsports first joined the Busch Series in 1999, fielding the No. 25 Dura Lube Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Jeff Finley. They finished 13th at the season opening NAPA Auto Parts 300, but Finley failed to qualify for the next few races, and he and the team drifted apart. Kenny Wallace took over at Nashville, and drove 18 races that season for the team, posting nine finishes of seventh or better. Rick Fuller, David Blankenship and Scott Lagasse drove two races a piece for the team as well, and they finished eighteenth in owner's points that season. Wallace returned again in 2000 with new sponsor Lance Snacks, and posted eight top-ten finishes, his best finish was 4th twice at Bristol races. Blankenship and Andy Santerre drove in the races that Wallace did not run, with Santerre finishing 3rd at Pikes Peak.

Chad Chaffin (2001)

In 2001, the U.S. Marines signed on as sponsor. Since Wallace had moved onto Innovative Motorsports, Chad Chaffin began the year with the team, but after he couldn't finish higher than 16th at Atlanta, he was released. Rookie David Donohue took over at the Pepsi 300 Presented by Mapco/Williams, but he too, struggled in the ride, and was released after 12 starts. Randy Tolsma finished the season for the team, who finished 29th in points that year.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. (2002–2004)

After 2001, Rensi switched to Ford Tauruses and signed Bobby Hamilton Jr. to drive. After a slow start, the two began to gain momentum, and they picked up their first win at the Busch 200, and finished eighth in points. This success carried over into the next season as well, as Hamilton won four races and finished fourth in points. They would not be able to win in 2004, and after the Cabela's 250, Hamilton left to drive for PPI Motorsports at the Nextel Cup level, and Mike McLaughlin took over for the rest of the season, finishing second at the Stacker 200 Presented by YJ Stinger.

Ashton Lewis (2005–2006)

In 2005, Rensi signed Ashton Lewis to drive the 25 car. Lewis had five top-ten finishes and a fourteenth-place finish in points. After many poor performances, however, Lewis was released and the Marines left as a sponsor.

David Gilliland and Richard Johns (2007)

For 2007, credit report site FreeCreditReport.com signed on as sponsor, with Nextel Cup driver David Gilliland and head engineer Richard Johns originally slated to share the ride. During the RoadLoans.com 200 weekend, Gilliland announced his departure from the No. 25, citing that he needed to focus on his Yates Racing No. 38 Cup ride. Johns drove for the remainder of the season.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. (2008)

The team returned Hamilton to the ride for the 2008 season in the newly renamed Nationwide Series, as his No. 35 team had folded. Smithfield Foods served as the sponsor for 30 races, and Hamilton drove to a fifteenth-place points finish with two top-ten finishes. Boris Said drove the 25 for two road course races with No Fear sponsorship.

Part-time (2009–2011)

The No. 25 returned for one race in 2009, at ORP with Hamilton Jr. driving.

In 2010, the No. 25 raced at Richmond and Charlotte with Kelly Bires behind the wheel and Raybestos as the sponsor.

For 2011, the No. 25 team, with driver Kelly Bires, qualified for the Daytona race, but lack of funding caused them to start and park, only completing a few laps.

The last time they were seen at a racetrack was at Michigan which was going to be the Nationwide debut for Chad Finley. Unfortunately, Finley crashed the car in practice and the team did not have a backup, so they were forced to withdraw.

Car No. 25 results

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	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	Owners	Pts
1999	Jeff Finley	25	Chevy	DAY 13	CAR DNQ	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR DNQ																															18th	2766
	Kenny Wallace								TEX DNQ	NSV 26	BRI 6			NHA 22	RCH 7		CLT 15	DOV 13			MLW 17	MYB 21		GTY 27		MCH 38	BRI 6	DAR 6	RCH 4	DOV 6	CLT 27	CAR 7	MEM DNQ	PHO 5	HOM 19
	Stevie Reeves											TAL DNQ	CAL DNQ
	Rick Fuller															NZH 26
	David Blankenship																		SBO 29				PPR 43
	Scott Lagasse																			GLN 14
	Ron Hornaday Jr.																								IRP 39
2000	Kenny Wallace			DAY 6	CAR 6		ATL 41	DAR 31	BRI 4			TAL 11		RCH DNQ		CLT 41								GTY 8			BRI 4	DAR 11	RCH 6		CLT 11	CAR 9		PHO 7					9th	3516
	Andy Santerre					LVS 30				TEX 20	NSV 15		CAL 21		NHA 6		DOV 39	SBO 10	MYB 19	GLN 27	MLW 14	NZH 23	PPR 3		IRP 10								MEM 32
	Ricky Craven																									MCH 24
	Randy Tolsma																													DOV 27
	Chad Chaffin																																		HOM 26
2001	Chad Chaffin			DAY 41	CAR 22	LVS 25	ATL 16	DAR 37	BRI 34	TEX 27																														29th	2603
	David Donohue										NSH 32	TAL 33	CAL 27	RCH 36	NHA 33	NZH 27	CLT 20	DOV 32	KEN 32	MLW 21	GLN 15	CHI 34
	Andy Houston																						GTY 17
	Randy Tolsma																							PPR 23	IRP 33	MCH 33	BRI 22	DAR 29	RCH 38	DOV 26	KAN 40	CLT 25	MEM 18	PHO 25	CAR 31
	Jay Sauter																																			HOM 22
2002	Bobby Hamilton Jr.		Ford	DAY 30	CAR 16	LVS 11	DAR 12	BRI 13	TEX 8	NSH 3	TAL 22	CAL 37	RCH 25*	NHA 1*	NZH 6	CLT 7	DOV 3	NSH 2	KEN 36	MLW 7	DAY 33	CHI 9	GTY 17	PPR 12	IRP 31	MCH 5	BRI 32	DAR 6	RCH 14	DOV 30	KAN 8	CLT 9	MEM 37	ATL 8	CAR 29	PHO 24	HOM 5		9th	4058
2003				DAY 7	CAR 13	LVS 34	DAR 12	BRI 6	TEX 40	TAL 35	NSH 10*	CAL 18	RCH 10	GTY 5	NZH 9	CLT 13	DOV 6	NSH 5	KEN 1*	MLW 10	DAY 22	CHI 1*	NHA 6	PPR 25	IRP 35	MCH 3	BRI 34	DAR 4	RCH 3	DOV 2	KAN 19	CLT 7	MEM 1	ATL 3	PHO 1*	CAR 3	HOM 3		5th	4588
2004				DAY 13	CAR 8	LVS 5	DAR 19	BRI 24	TEX 5	NSH 27	TAL 24	CAL 10	GTY 4	RCH 4	NZH 2*	CLT 13	DOV 4	NSH 23	KEN 28*	MLW 5	DAY 12	CHI 43	NHA 9	PPR 10	IRP 6	MCH 29													11th	4036
2004	Mike McLaughlin																										BRI 12	CAL 11	RCH 24	DOV 2	KAN 11	CLT 12	MEM 18	ATL 41	PHO 36	DAR 39	HOM 16		11th	4036
2005	Ashton Lewis			DAY 13	CAL 11	MXC 9	LVS 22	ATL 14	NSH 19	BRI 8	TEX 32	PHO 17	TAL 4	DAR 14	RCH 16	CLT 10	DOV 14	NSH 25	KEN 25	MLW 18	DAY 26	CHI 11	NHA 28	PPR 15	GTY 36	IRP 15	GLN 31	MCH 26	BRI 31	CAL 31	RCH 30	DOV 14	KAN 28	CLT 8	MEM 31	TEX 21	PHO 21	HOM 43	18th	3587
2006	Ashton Lewis			DAY 12	CAL 29	MXC 13	LVS 13	ATL 17	BRI 30	TEX 38	NSH 11	PHO 20	TAL 33	RCH 26	DAR 20	CLT 28	DOV 42	NSH 9	KEN 5	MLW 16	DAY 17	CHI 35	NHA 24	MAR 27	GTY 16	IRP 22	GLN 33	MCH 39	BRI 18	CAL 5	RCH 31	DOV 25	KAN 14	CLT 11	MEM 37	TEX 25	PHO 24	HOM 20	22nd	3376
2007	David Gilliland			DAY 20		MXC 36	LVS 32	ATL 31	BRI 35		TEX 26	PHO 16	TAL 37	RCH 20	DAR 33	CLT 27	DOV 29				NHA 19	DAY 10	CHI 27				GLN 16	MCH 29	BRI 41	CAL 18									30th	2502
	Kenny Wallace				CAL 26
	Richard Johns									NSH 34								NSH 34	KEN 28	MLW 19				GTY 31	IRP 15	CGV 25					RCH 30	DOV 28	KAN 26	CLT 27	MEM 23	TEX 34	PHO 31	HOM 35
2008	Bobby Hamilton Jr.			DAY 22	CAL 20	LVS 12	ATL 23	BRI 17	NSH 10	TEX 23	PHO 13		TAL 3	RCH 17	DAR 30	CLT 18	DOV 14	NSH 30	KEN 21	MLW 15	NHA 16	DAY 15	CHI 19	GTY 20	IRP 14		GLN 16	MCH 18	BRI 18	CAL 19	RCH 14	DOV 15	KAN 25	CLT 37	MEM 21	TEX 16	PHO 18	HOM 21	18th	3779
2008	Boris Said											MXC 35														CGV 5													18th	3779
2009	Bobby Hamilton Jr.			DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP 22	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	73rd	97
2010	Kelly Bires			DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH 27	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT 21	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	63rd	179
2011	Kelly Bires			DAY 43	PHO 37	LVS 35	BRI 43	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW	CLT	CHI																						68th	17
2011	Chad Finley																	MCH Wth	ROA	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		68th	17

Craftsman Trucks

Team Rensi began fielding a Craftsman Truck team in 2000, after purchasing equipment from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Driver Jimmy Hensley drove the mostly unsponsored No. 16 Chevrolet Silverado to a 13th-place finish in points. In 2001, Donohue began running the No. 16, but after three races, the team shut down due to sponsorship issues. Randy Tolsma drove the No. 61 that year and was tenth in points when his team closed as well due to financial problems. He ran one final Truck race for Rensi in 2002 (driven by Butch Miller), finishing 18th in a Marine-sponsored truck at Martinsville Speedway, the last race for Rensi's truck program.

References

^ NASCAR (July 7, 2004). "BUSCH: Chicagoland: Ed Rensi - NASCAR spotlight". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
^ ^a ^b Macarthur, Kate (February 14, 2005). "McDonald's adjusts its sports menu". Advertising Age. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
^ "Stocks". Bloomberg News.

External links

[Motorsport-EdRensiSpotlight-2004-1] NASCAR (July 7, 2004). "BUSCH: Chicagoland: Ed Rensi - NASCAR spotlight". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

[AdAge-McDonald's-SportsMenu-2005-2] Macarthur, Kate (February 14, 2005). "McDonald's adjusts its sports menu". Advertising Age. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

[3] "Stocks". Bloomberg News.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Team Rensi Motorsports
Years active	1997–2012
Personnel	Ed Rensi Sam Rensi Ronnie Russell Gary Weisbaum
Former drivers	Kelly Bires David Blankenship Johnny Borneman III Chad Chaffin Ricky Craven David Donohue Tim Fedewa Chad Finley Jeff Finley Rick Fuller Mark Gibson David Gilliland Bobby Hamilton Jr. Jimmy Hensley Ron Hornaday Jr. Andy Houston Shelby Howard Matt Hutter Richard Johns D. J. Kennington Scott Lagasse Kevin Lepage Tracy Leslie Ashton Lewis Jr. Mike Lorz Eric McClure Mike McLaughlin Butch Miller Ryan Newman Elliott Sadler Boris Said Sammy Sanders Andy Santerre Jay Sauter Ken Schrader Randy Tolsma Billy Venturini Kenny Wallace Mike Wallace Vince Whitmire
NASCAR Hall of Fame	Ron Hornaday Jr.