Erik Darnell

Erik Darnell
Erik Darnell
	Good Sam RV Insurance 500 (Pocono)
Homestead)
Cool City Customs 200 (Michigan)
	Statistics current as of December 30, 2021.

Erik Louis Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional

Roush Fenway Racing, joining the team in 2005 after being a co-winner on the Discovery Channel program Roush Racing: Driver X, along with David Ragan

.

Racing career

Early career

Johnny Benson to the line to win at Michigan

in 2008

Darnell's 2009 Nationwide car at Milwaukee

Darnell began racing at the age of 12 in the River Valley Kart Club. He won the championship in the purple plate class in his second year of competition, later racing Allison Legacy Series cars after go karts. His first year of super late models was at Illiana Motor Speedway, with Erik finishing 3rd in the final standings with 1 win. Erik beat the best Wisconsin super late model drivers to win the 2003 Wisconsin Challenge Series championship. At that time his five wins were the most in the series' history.^[2] He set the super late model track record at Lake Geneva Raceway in 2004.^[3]

2004–2012: NASCAR and ARCA

Darnell drove in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Milwaukee in 2004, finishing 26th. He also raced in numerous NASCAR touring series races.

Darnell drove in several NASCAR touring series and six ARCA races in 2005.

Darnell raced full-time in the Truck Series in 2006. He had twelve top-10 finishes in 25 events, and he was the series'

O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway

for his first Truck Series win.

Darnell started the 2008 season by capturing the

Johnny Benson

.

For 2009, Darnell planned to compete in 15

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He ran the car at Atlanta, Loudon, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead. Darnell competed in the No. 96 Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford for the Atlanta, Talladega, and Texas races. He alternated the ride with Bobby Labonte

.

In 2010, Darnell found himself without a ride for most of the season due to the lack of sponsorship. He continued to stay on at Roush Fenway Racing as a practice-qualifying driver for Carl Edwards at the standalone Nationwide Series races. Darnell did a 3 race deal to drive Roush's No. 16 Ford in the Nationwide Series. His best finish was 14th at Dover and Texas.

In 2011, Darnell returned to the Cup Series, driving for Whitney Motorsports in several races. In 2012, he competed for The Motorsports Group (formerly Key Motorsports) in the Nationwide Series.

2013–present: Post-NASCAR career

Darnell's Super Late Model at La Crosse in 2018

Darnell didn't race in NASCAR during 2013. He won the Dick Trickle 99

LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in October 2013.^[4] He has made occasional starts in various Midwest series since. Darnell led much of the second half of the 2019 Oktoberfest ARCA Midwest Tour race at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway before finishing third behind Ty Majeski.^[5]

2021: Return to NASCAR

On May 3, 2021, it was revealed through the release of the entry list for the Truck Series race at Darlington that Darnell would drive the No. 45 for Niece Motorsports in that race with sponsorship from his former sponsor at Roush, Northern Tool + Equipment. This would be his first start in NASCAR since 2012 and first in the Truck Series since 2008.^[6]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
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	36	NSCC	Pts	Ref
2009	Hall of Fame Racing	96	Ford	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL 30	RCH	NHA 30	DOV	KAN 29	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL 37	TEX 30	PHO 31	HOM 36	47th	472	^[7]
2011	Whitney Motorsports	46	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	KAN	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA 39																		51st	2	^[8]
	Whitney Motorsports	46	Ford																				IND DNQ	POC 42	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI	ATL
	Max Q Motorsports	37	Chevy																										RCH DNQ	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
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	NNSC	Pts	Ref
2007	Roush Fenway Racing	6	Ford	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP QL^†	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	N/A	0	^[9]
2008		17		DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC 26	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN																				119th	85	^[10]
2008		60																		MLW QL^‡	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	119th	85	^[10]
2009		6		DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH 12	DAR 4	CLT	DOV	NSH 9	KEN 11	MLW 4	NHA 9	DAY	CHI	GTY 10	IRP 29	IOW 23	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV 12	ATL	RCH 14	DOV 17	KAN 18	CAL	CLT 34	MEM 31	TEX	PHO	HOM 31	26th	1837	^[11]
2010		16		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 22	DOV 14	KAN	CAL	CLT		TEX 14	PHO	HOM	82nd	339	^[12]
2010		60																																	GTY QL^‡				82nd	339	^[12]
2011	Key Motorsports	42	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	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 42	TEX DNQ	PHO	HOM		113th	0¹	^[13]
2012	The Motorsports Group	42		DAY DNQ																																			17th	558	^[14]
2012	The Motorsports Group	40			PHO 26	LVS 35	BRI 21	CAL 24	TEX 23	RCH 35	TAL 14	DAR 29	IOW 18	CLT 27	DOV 27	MCH 22	ROA 23	KEN 25	DAY 21	NHA 40	CHI 30	IND 38	IOW 27	GLN	CGV 16	BRI 35	ATL 20	RCH 18	CHI 22	KEN 24	DOV 31	CLT 21	KAN 17	TEX 25	PHO 37	HOM 35			17th	558	^[14]
^† - Qualified for David Ragan · ^‡ - Qualified for Carl Edwards

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
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	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2004	MRD Motorsports	06	Ford	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW 26	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR	HOM	100th	85	^[15]
2006	Roush Racing	99		DAY 6	CAL 11	ATL 8	MAR 11	GTY 31	CLT 10	MFD 13	DOV 25	TEX 35	MCH 12	MLW 27	KAN 26	KEN 9	MEM 2	IRP 10	NSH 12	BRI 18	NHA 9	LVS 17	TAL 19	MAR 3	ATL 3	TEX 9	PHO 10	HOM 3	12th	3136	^[16]
2007	Roush Fenway Racing			DAY 12	CAL 13	ATL 24	MAR 18	KAN 1*	CLT 30	MFD 15	DOV 18	TEX 32	MCH 26	MLW 6	MEM 9	KEN 29	IRP 7	NSH 9	BRI 13	GTW 7	NHA 2	LVS 5	TAL 29	MAR 25	ATL 26	TEX 14	PHO 35	HOM 24	12th	2875	^[17]
2008	Roush Fenway Racing			DAY 21	CAL 11	ATL 12	MAR 5	KAN 28	CLT 4	MFD 11	DOV 25	TEX 24	MCH 1	MLW 4	MEM 2	KEN 29	IRP 3	NSH 2	BRI 15	GTW 6	NHA 4	LVS 2*	TAL 12*	MAR 19	ATL 6	TEX 18	PHO 7	HOM 11	4th	3412	^[18]
2021	Niece Motorsports	45	Chevy	DAY	DAY	LVS	ATL	BRI	RCH	KAN	DAR 17	COA	CLT	TEX	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN	GTW	DAR	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO				66th	20	^[19]

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
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	ARMC	Pts	Ref
2005	Roulo Brothers Racing	39	Ford	DAY	NSH	SLM	KEN	TOL	LAN	MIL 4	POC	MCH	KAN	KEN	BLN	POC	GTW 5	LER	NSH 8	MCH 20	ISF	TOL	DSF	CHI 32	SLM	TAL 13	38th	980	^[20]
2007	Roush Fenway Racing	99	Ford	DAY	USA	NSH	SLM	KAN 2	WIN	KEN 1*	TOL	IOW	POC	MCH 1*	BLN	KEN	POC	NSH	ISF	MIL	GTW	DSF	CHI	SLM	TAL	TOL	47th	700	^[21]

References

^ Bay Darnell's NASCAR driver statistics at racing-reference.info, Retrieved March 8, 2007
^ May 21, 2006; "Haseleu goes for second WIR spring win"; The Post-Crescent,
^ Lake Geneva Raceway Checkered Flag Final Season (2006)
^ Brown, Jeff (October 5, 2013). "Trickle would have enjoyed Darnell's victory". La Crosse Tribune. La Crosse, WI. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
^ Marotta, Karley (7 October 2019). "Majeski crowned 2019 Oktoberfest champion". WXOW. WXOW. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
^ Carey, Michael (May 3, 2021). "Erik Darnell Returning To Truck Series With NIECE Motorsports For Darlington". TobyChristie.com.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
^ "Erik Darnell – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2020.

External links

Erik Darnell driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Achievements
Preceded by Todd Kluever	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year 2007	Succeeded by Willie Allen

[1] Bay Darnell's NASCAR driver statistics at racing-reference.info, Retrieved March 8, 2007

[ref2-2] May 21, 2006; "Haseleu goes for second WIR spring win"; The Post-Crescent,

[3] Lake Geneva Raceway Checkered Flag Final Season (2006)

[4] Brown, Jeff (October 5, 2013). "Trickle would have enjoyed Darnell's victory". La Crosse Tribune. La Crosse, WI. Retrieved 2013-10-21.

[5] Marotta, Karley (7 October 2019). "Majeski crowned 2019 Oktoberfest champion". WXOW. WXOW. Retrieved October 7, 2019.

[6] Carey, Michael (May 3, 2021). "Erik Darnell Returning To Truck Series With NIECE Motorsports For Darlington". TobyChristie.com.

[7] "Erik Darnell – 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[8] "Erik Darnell – 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[9] "Erik Darnell – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[10] "Erik Darnell – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[11] "Erik Darnell – 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[12] "Erik Darnell – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[13] "Erik Darnell – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[14] "Erik Darnell – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[15] "Erik Darnell – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[16] "Erik Darnell – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[17] "Erik Darnell – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[18] "Erik Darnell – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.

[19] "Erik Darnell – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

[20] "Erik Darnell – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2020.

[21] "Erik Darnell – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2020.

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

v t e Hall of Fame Racing
Years active	2005–2010
Personnel	Jeff Moorad Tom Garfinkel Tom Davin Roger Staubach Troy Aikman Bill Saunders
Former drivers	Brad Coleman Erik Darnell Ron Fellows P. J. Jones Bobby Labonte Terry Labonte Joey Logano Tony Raines Ken Schrader J. J. Yeley
NASCAR Hall of Fame	Bobby Labonte Terry Labonte
Buyouts and mergers	Front Row Motorsports Richard Petty Motorsports Yates Racing

v t e NASCAR Rookies of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series	1954: Pitt 1957: Rush 1958: Rollins 1959: Petty 1960: Pearson 1961: Wilson 1962: Cox 1963: Wade 1964: Cooper 1965: McQuagg 1966: Hylton 1967: Do. Allison 1968: P. Hamilton 1969: Brooks 1970: Dennis 1971: Ballard 1972: L. Smith 1973: Pond 1974: Ross 1975: B. Hill 1976: Manning 1977: Rudd 1978: Thomas 1979: Earnhardt 1980: Ridley 1981: R. Bouchard 1982: Bodine 1983: Marlin 1984: R. Wallace 1985: Schrader 1986: Kulwicki 1987: Da. Allison 1988: K. Bouchard 1989: Trickle 1990: Moroso 1991: B. Hamilton 1992: Hensley 1993: Gordon 1994: J. Burton 1995: Craven 1996: Benson 1997: Skinner 1998: Irwin 1999: Stewart 2000: Kenseth 2001: Harvick 2002: Newman 2003: McMurray 2004: Kahne 2005: Ky. Busch 2006: Hamlin 2007: Montoya 2008: R. Smith 2009: Logano 2010: Conway 2011: Lally 2012: Leicht 2013: Stenhouse Jr. 2014: Larson 2015: B. Moffitt 2016: Elliott 2017: Jones 2018: Byron 2019: Hemric 2020: Custer 2021: Briscoe 2022: Cindric 2023: Gibbs
NASCAR Xfinity Series	1989: K. Wallace 1990: Nemechek 1991: Gordon 1992: Craven 1993: Sadler 1994: Benson 1995: Fuller 1996: Allen Jr. 1997: Park 1998: Santerre 1999: Raines 2000: Harvick 2001: Biffle 2002: Riggs 2003: Stremme 2004: Ky. Busch 2005: Edwards 2006: O'Quinn Jr. 2007: Ragan 2008: Cassill 2009: Allgaier 2010: Stenhouse Jr. 2011: T. Hill 2012: A. Dillon 2013: Larson 2014: Elliott 2015: Suárez 2016: Jones 2017: Byron 2018: Reddick 2019: Briscoe 2020: H. Burton 2021: Gibbs 2022: A. Hill 2023: S. Smith
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series	1996: Reffner 1997: Irwin 1998: Biffle 1999: Stefanik 2000: Ku. Busch 2001: Kvapil 2002: Gaughan 2003: Edwards 2004: Reutimann 2005: Kluever 2006: Darnell 2007: Allen 2008: Braun 2009: Sauter 2010: A. Dillon 2011: Coulter 2012: T. Dillon 2013: Blaney 2014: Kennedy 2015: Jones 2016: Byron 2017: Briscoe 2018: Snider 2019: Ankrum 2020: Z. Smith 2021: C. Smith 2022: Heim 2023: Sanchez