Chance 2 Motorsports

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Not to be confused with 2nd Chance Motorsports.
Chance 2 Motorsports
Wrangler
ManufacturerChevrolet
Opened2003
Closed2005
Career
Races competed83
Drivers' Championships2
Race victories16
Pole positions14

Chance 2 Motorsports is a former NASCAR racing team that was founded by Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003. Although connected with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and run by Teresa Earnhardt after his death, the two were separate operations.

The team ran in the

NASCAR Busch Series for the three years it was in operation. The team fielded the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/Yum! Brands Chevrolet for Martin Truex Jr. full time in 2004 and 2005 and the No. 81 under various sponsorships and for various drivers including Earnhardt Jr., Truex, and Tony Stewart
. Truex scored two Busch Series championships and twelve wins for the team in its 3-year existence. Between 2003 and 2005, Earnhardt Jr. also won four races for Chance 2.

History

Chance 2 was founded in 2003 by Teresa Earnhardt, widow of Dale Earnhardt, and Earnhardt's son Dale Earnhardt Jr. The team name originates from Chance Racing, the team Earnhardt Sr. founded for his children Kerry, Kelley, and Dale Jr. which was the precursor to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI)[1] After the 2000 season, DEI did not field a Busch Series team and only made two one-off starts with Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona in 2002 and 2004, winning both races. DEI later re-entered the series with Paul Menard in the second-half of 2004.[2] Chance 2 originally competed part-time in the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series season, with five drivers making a combined 14 starts in the No. 8/81 car. Earnhardt Jr. won three times for the team in his first three attempts, while the team scored five more top fives with other drivers. In 2004 and 2005, Martin Truex Jr. drove full-time in the No. 8, winning six races and the series championship in each season. Earnhardt, Tony Stewart, and Ryan Moore ran a combined eleven races in the No. 81 over those two seasons, with Earnhardt winning at Bristol in 2004.[3] After the season, Chance 2 folded its operations, the remnants of the team becoming JR Motorsports, which later merged operations with Hendrick Motorsports after 2007.

Busch Series

Car No. 8 history

The No. 8 car began as a part-time effort in 2003, with Earnhardt Jr. running all the superspeedway races (Daytona and Talladega), winning all three. He led the most laps in the

Cabela's 250 at Michigan in August, finishing 11th after leading the most laps.[3]

The 2004 season saw the first full-time season for Chance 2 as Martin Truex Jr. ran the full schedule and was considered an early season favorite. Truex ran several races for Chance 2 the year before in the No. 8/81 and had made a total of fourteen previous starts in the Busch Series dating to 2001, driving one race for

Roush Racing when he was 16) for the points championship. Busch drove the No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that had won the series points championship in 2003 with Brian Vickers.[3]

Truex's car carried sponsorship from

Aaron's 312 at Talladega, the Charter 250 at Gateway, and the Goulds Pumps/ITT Industries 200 at Nazareth, the final race held at the speedway.[3]

Truex claimed the points lead after Nazareth but quickly lost it to Busch. However, Truex put together a string of top ten finishes, regaining the points lead and putting distance between him and Busch. Truex won his fifth and sixth races of the season in the second half of the year, the

Dover and the Sam's Town 250 at Memphis, and clinched the series points championship with one race to spare. In addition to six wins and the championship, he ended the 2004 season with eight poles, 17 top fives, and 26 top tens in 34 races.[3]

Truex's 2005 season saw him claim a victory at

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the first NASCAR race held in Mexico. He won at Talladega for the second consecutive year and also won at Dover in the spring. Truex's summer got off to a strong start as he won three times in six races, notching victories at Daytona, New Hampshire, and IRP. This duplicated his 2004 season total of six victories, and Truex won his second consecutive points championship by 68 points over Clint Bowyer.[3]

After Chance 2 folded, Truex joined DEI full-time as the driver of the No. 1 car in the

NEXTEL Cup Series for 2006, replacing Michael Waltrip
in the second fulltime seat at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Car No. 81 history

The No. 81 car was a part-time operation for Chance 2 and was driven most often by Earnhardt Jr., primarily with sponsorship from longtime DEI partner Nabisco but also Menards and Yum! Brands on occasion. The car first appeared in 2003 renumbered from No. 8 to No. 81 for three races at Richmond, Dover, and Bristol, all three driven by Martin Truex Jr. Although Truex finished sixth at Bristol, he failed to qualify for his next attempt at the fall Dover race. Truex competed in three more races late in the season, however they were all in the No. 8 car.[3]

At Daytona in 2004, Truex drove the No. 81 as the No. 8 car was driven by Earnhardt Jr. under the DEI banner. Following that race, Truex switched to the No. 8 under the Chance 2 banner and the No. 81 was operated on a part-time basis. Earnhardt led the most laps at Talladega but finished second. He also competed in the July Daytona race, finishing 17th.

Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway with Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats sponsorship. He led 115 of 200 laps in the No. 81 before being spun out by eventual race winner Joe Nemechek and finishing 25th.[3]

For 2005, Earnhardt finished third at Daytona in February, but failed to finish the July Daytona race. Ryan Moore took over two races later at New Hampshire, but also failed to finish. Earnhardt made his third start in the car at Bristol, finishing seventh. Moore's next finish was 32nd at Richmond, while Earnhardt finished 39th at Charlotte in October. In the final race for the car at Homestead, Moore brought home a 13th-place finish.[3]

Race Results

Note: In 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the No. 8 car at Daytona for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Martin Truex Jr. drove the No. 81 in that race before switching to the No. 8 for the remainder of the season.[2]

NASCAR Busch Series results[3]
Year Team 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 NBSC Pts Ref
2003 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevy
DAY

1*
CAR
TAL

1*
NSH
CAL
DAY

1**
CHI
NHA
PPR
 IRP – – [5][6]
[7][8]
Steve Park
LVS

4
DAR
BRI
TEX
Martin Truex Jr. 81
RCH

31
GTY
 NZH
DOV

18
NSH
KEN
MLW
BRI

6
DAR
RCH
DOV

DNQ
8
CLT

17
MEM
 CAR
2
HOM

2
Hank Parker Jr.
CLT

7
KAN

5
ATL

5
PHO
Tony Stewart
MCH

11*
2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 81 CAR
LVS
DAR
BRI
TEX
NSH
TAL

2*
CAL
GTY
RCH
 NZH
CLT
DOV
 NSH
KEN
MLW
DAY

17
CHI
NHA
PPR
 IRP
BRI

1*
CAL
RCH
DOV
 – – [9]
Tony Stewart
MCH

DNQ
KAN

25
CLT
MEM
ATL
PHO
DAR
HOM
Martin Truex Jr.
DAY

28 		1st 5173 [10]
8 CAR
2
LVS

14
DAR

4
BRI

1
TEX

10
NSH

23
TAL

1
CAL

13
GTY

1
RCH

7 		NZH
1
CLT

14
DOV

2 		NSH
2
KEN

6
MLW

9
DAY

3
CHI

14
NHA

11
PPR

5 		IRP
4
MCH

3
BRI

7
CAL

6
RCH

3
DOV

1
KAN

30
CLT

6
MEM

1
ATL

9
PHO

3
DAR

4
HOM

9
2005
DAY

4
CAL

30
MXC

1
LVS

16
ATL

11
NSH

14
BRI

31
TEX

35
PHO

9
TAL

1
DAR

3
RCH

38
CLT

7
DOV

1 		NSH
5
KEN

2
MLW

2
DAY

1
CHI

7
NHA

1 		PPR
4
GTY

26 		IRP
1
GLN

5
MCH

4
BRI

6
CAL

15
RCH

27
DOV

12
KAN

9
CLT

11
MEM

3
TEX

11
PHO

6
HOM

7 		1st 4937 [11]
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 81
DAY

3
CAL
MXC
LVS
ATL
NSH
BRI
TEX
PHO
TAL
DAR
RCH
CLT
DOV
 NSH
KEN
MLW
DAY

40
CHI
BRI

7
CAL
CLT

39
MEM
TEX
PHO
 – – [12]
[13]
Ryan Moore
NHA

34 		PPR
GTY
 IRP
GLN
MCH
RCH

32
DOV
KAN
HOM

13

See also

References

  1. Daytona Beach, Florida
    . Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Dale_Earnhardt, Inc". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Chance2 Motorsports". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  4. ^ [1] Archived September 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Hank Parker, Jr. – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  6. ^ "Steve Park – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  7. ^ "Martin Truex, Jr. – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  8. ^ "Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  9. ^ "Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2004 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  10. ^ "Martin Truex, Jr. – 2004 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  11. ^ "Martin Truex, Jr. – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ryan Moore – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 16, 2021.

External links

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