Red Bull Racing Team

This article is about the NASCAR team. For the Formula One team, see Red Bull Racing. For the Supercars Championship, see Red Bull Holden Racing Team. For other uses, see Red Bull Racing (disambiguation).

Red Bull Racing Team, also known as Team Red Bull, was a NASCAR team owned by Red Bull founders Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina in the United States and was managed by Jay Frye. The team suspended operations on December 8, 2011 and their cars were sold to BK Racing.

Red Bull Racing Team

Owner(s)	Dietrich Mateschitz Chaleo Yoovidhya
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	Sprint Cup Series Nationwide Series
Race drivers	A. J. Allmendinger Mattias Ekström Bill Elliott Kasey Kahne Casey Mears Boris Said Mike Skinner Reed Sorenson Scott Speed Brian Vickers Cole Whitt
Sponsors	Red Bull
Manufacturer	Dodge (2006) Toyota (2007–2011)
Opened	2006
Closed	2011
Career
Races competed	Total: 286 Sprint Cup Series: 284 Nationwide Series: 2
Drivers' Championships	Total: 0 Sprint Cup Series: 0 Nationwide Series: 0
Race victories	Total: 2 Sprint Cup Series: 2 Nationwide Series: 0
Pole positions	Total: 10 Sprint Cup Series: 10 Nationwide Series: 0

History

Origins

After moving to a newer location, Roger Penske decided to sell his old facility. Then, on January 26, 2006, the newly formed team said that they would purchase the facility, and would hire 75 workers. However, the team was not allowed to race in the 2006 season because their manufacturer, Toyota, was not cleared to race, so the team decided that they would drive Dodges during the season. The team didn't have any materials to make their race cars, so they purchased multiple cars from Bill Davis Racing.

2006 season

The team was officially started in January, but they would not choose a driver until June 25, 2006, when Brian Vickers announced his decision to drive for the team on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. A couple months later, the team made their first NASCAR appearance with Bill Elliott as the driver, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the No. 83 Victory Junction Gang Dodge, but they failed to qualify for the race. On October 24, 2006, the team chose former Champ Car driver A. J. Allmendinger as the second driver. They also made two other appearances at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, which like their first, they failed to qualify for both races. Then, announced on December 6, 2006, former Cup Series champion crew chief Doug Richert would serve as the crew chief for Vickers.

2007 season

Brian Vickers driving for Red Bull in 2007 at Texas Motor Speedway.

During the 2007 season, the team moved to Toyota as the manufacturer. Both Vickers and Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500. Allmendinger, in the first duel race, crashed with fellow competitor Robby Gordon on lap 24, causing heavy damage to both their race cars. Vickers blew a right rear tire on lap 51 in the second duel race, ending his chances of making the Daytona 500. One week later, Vickers qualified for the 2007 Auto Club 500, which resulted in the team receiving their first top-ten. After failing to qualify for four consecutive races, Allmendinger qualified for the 2007 Food City 500 held at Bristol Motor Speedway. During the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, Vickers was able to finish in the top-five. On October 5, 2007, the team's development driver, Scott Speed finished seventh in an ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway. Allmendinger's team had a forty-third-place finish in the final owners' standings and had 19 DNQ's. Despite Vickers ending the season with five top-ten finishes with one being a top-five in the Coca-Cola 600, where he led seventy-six laps and finished 5th, Vickers still failed to qualify for 13 races. Vickers' team ended the season with a 38th owners' standings position.

2008 season

A. J. Allmendinger drove for the team from 2006 to 2008.

In 2008, Kevin Hamlin became the crew chief for Vickers. Hamlin's past crew chief roles include stints with Dave Blaney's No. 22 Toyota, preceded by nine years of crew chief duties with Richard Childress Racing drivers including Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt. Hamlin has amassed nine previous Cup wins; five of those with Earnhardt Sr. Said Sawyer of hiring Hamlin: "Finding the right crew chief for the 83 team was a pivotal decision in an effort to restructure the foundation on that team. We need a crew chief with not only the right experience and background to work effectively with our driver and crew, but someone who also shares the same vision for success. We found that package with Kevin Hamlin. Our focus between now and Daytona is not only getting our cars up to speed for the season opener, but also getting Kevin up to speed working with Red Bull, Brian (Vickers) and the 83 team." Due in large part to the additions of Frye and Hamlin, the No. 83 team has been shown to be the most improved in the series, qualifying for all the current races and secured a Top 35 exemption following the spring race at Bristol. Also in 2008, Allmendinger failed to make the first three races of 2008 and was replaced by Mike Skinner on a temporary basis starting with the spring Atlanta race. Allmendinger returned at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega with a new silver paint scheme, and won the Sprint Showdown two weeks later, making him eligible for the All-Star Race. Allmendinger also recorded a 10th-place finish at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. In May, even though Vickers had not won a race for the team prior to Sprint All-Star Race XXIV, they won the All-Star Pit Crew Competition. Later in the season, Allmendinger announced that he was going to leave Red Bull to race for Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009.

2009 season

Scott Speed drove for the team in the Cup Series from 2008 to 2010.

2009 ended up being a high-water mark for the team, as Vickers scored the team's first victory, and the second of his career, at Michigan in August. This was part of a strong late-summer run that resulted in Vickers taking the last spot in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup at Richmond in September, also a first for the Red Bull team. Unfortunately, an underwhelming Chase performance resulted in Vickers finishing 12th in the final points. Meanwhile, the team signed Scott Speed to replace Allmendinger in the renumbered 82 car. However, Speed could manage only a distant second to Joey Logano in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

2010 season

For the 2010 season, Speed and Vickers remained with the team, but on May 21, Vickers experienced medical problems, which resulted in him missing the rest of the season. His replacements were Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Mattias Ekstrom, Boris Said, and Kasey Kahne. Speed was let go at the end of the season, and he in turn filed a lawsuit against Red Bull.

2011 season

Kasey Kahne drove for the team from October 2010 to November 2011.

For the 2011 season, Kahne became a full-time driver for the team, driving car No. 4 (formerly No. 82), and Vickers returned to drive the No. 83 car. On June 20, 2011, the Associated Press reported that Red Bull was planning to leave NASCAR at the end of the season. The team's on-track struggles, combined with a lackluster outreach to the 18–34 demographic, forced their departure. Despite this, Kahne scored the team's final victory at the November race at Phoenix, while Vickers struggled for most of the year, resulting in a 25th-place points finish. Kahne finished the season in 14th. The team fielded a third car, numbered 84, in the final two races of the season, with development driver Cole Whitt behind the wheel. Whitt finished 25th at Phoenix, but crashed out just past halfway at Homestead, finishing 37th. The team officially closed on December 8, 2011. The team's cars, owners points, and equipment were purchased by former TRG Motorsports executive Ron Devine to form BK Racing.

Team results

No. 4/82/84 car

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 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	36	NSCC	Pts
2006	A. J. Allmendinger	84	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL DNQ	TEX DNQ	PHO	HOM	NA	-
2007			Toyota	DAY DNQ	CAL DNQ	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	BRI 40	MAR 38	TEX DNQ	PHO DNQ	TAL DNQ	RCH 32	DAR 36	CLT 31	DOV 33	POC 39	MCH 31	SON DNQ	NHA DNQ	DAY DNQ	CHI DNQ	IND DNQ	POC DNQ	GLN DNQ	MCH DNQ	BRI 35	CAL 18	RCH 23	NHA 33	DOV 43	KAN DNQ	TAL DNQ	CLT 15	MAR 35	ATL 16	TEX 39	PHO DNQ	HOM DNQ	43rd	1165
2008				DAY DNQ	CAL DNQ	LVS DNQ						TAL 30	RCH 39	DAR 27	CLT 20	DOV 37	POC 12	MCH 19	SON 37	NHA 43	DAY 42	CHI 13	IND 10	POC 19	GLN 11	MCH 28	BRI 34	CAL 14	RCH 43	NHA 38	DOV 16	KAN 9								36th	2436
	Mike Skinner						ATL 27	BRI 40	MAR 31	TEX 29	PHO 28																						TAL 31	CLT 39						48th	734
	Scott Speed																																		MAR 30	ATL 34	TEX 33	PHO 41	HOM 16	55th	366
2009		82		DAY 35	CAL 41	LVS 21	ATL 35	BRI 28	MAR 39	TEX DNQ	PHO 34	TAL 5	RCH 33	DAR DNQ	CLT 18	DOV 37	POC 32	MCH 37	SON DNQ	NHA 36	DAY 31	CHI 36	IND 31	POC 23	GLN 22	MCH 34	BRI 15	ATL 24	RCH 36	NHA 31	DOV 25	KAN 27	CAL 21	CLT 28	MAR 31	TAL 27	TEX 18	PHO 33	HOM 27	35th	2690
2010				DAY 19	CAL 11	LVS 22	ATL 10	BRI 31	MAR 33	PHO 21	TEX 16	TAL 15	RCH 35	DAR 28	DOV 23	CLT 30	POC 20	MCH 28	SON 18	NHA 27	DAY 10	CHI 30	IND 25	POC 26	GLN 43	MCH 25	BRI 33	ATL 34	RCH 24	NHA 36	DOV 32	KAN 19	CAL 24	CLT 19	MAR 23	TAL 29	TEX 27	PHO 35	HOM 23	30th	3178
2011	Kasey Kahne	4		DAY 25	PHO 6	LVS 14	BRI 9	CAL 9	MAR 39	TEX 21	TAL 37	RCH 3	DAR 4*	DOV 36	CLT 22	KAN 14	POC 12	MCH 28	SON 20	DAY 4	KEN 13	NHA 6	IND 18*	POC 28	GLN 26	MCH 7	BRI 11	ATL 34	RCH 38	CHI 12	NHA 15	DOV 4	KAN 2	CLT 4	TAL 6	MAR 25	TEX 3	PHO 1	HOM 7	14th	1041
	Cole Whitt	84		DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	KAN	POC	MCH	INF	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO 25	HOM 37	49th	26

No. 83 car

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 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	36	NSCC	Pts
2006	Bill Elliott	83	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT DNQ	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	-
2007	Brian Vickers		Toyota	DAY DNQ	CAL 10	LVS DNQ	ATL 42	BRI 15	MAR DNQ	TEX 14	PHO DNQ	TAL DNQ	RCH DNQ	DAR 43	CLT 5	DOV 19	POC 35	MCH 41	SON DNQ	NHA DNQ	DAY 29	CHI DNQ	IND 21	POC 29	GLN 41	MCH 8	BRI DNQ	CAL 8	RCH 24	NHA 43	DOV 16	KAN DNQ	TAL 39	CLT DNQ	MAR DNQ	ATL 10	TEX 23	PHO 21	HOM 42	38th	2065
2008				DAY 12	CAL 11	LVS 24	ATL 9	BRI 39	MAR 23	TEX 16	PHO 25	TAL 5	RCH 28	DAR 25	CLT 42	DOV 13	POC 2	MCH 4	SON 14	NHA 16	DAY 11	CHI 6	IND 42	POC 28	GLN 18	MCH 7	BRI 20	CAL 12	RCH 36	NHA 35	DOV 31	KAN 15	TAL 35	CLT 18	MAR 11	ATL 21	TEX 18	PHO 42	HOM 32	19th	3580
2009				DAY 39	CAL 10	LVS 8	ATL 5	BRI 29	MAR 33	TEX 16	PHO 19	TAL 8	RCH 15	DAR 31	CLT 5	DOV 25	POC 21	MCH 9	SON 16	NHA 35	DAY 7	CHI 7	IND 5	POC 6	GLN 11	MCH 1	BRI 12	ATL 7	RCH 7	NHA 11	DOV 18	KAN 37	CAL 29	CLT 34	MAR 11	TAL 13	TEX 26	PHO 38	HOM 20	12th	5929
2010				DAY 15	CAL 12	LVS 31	ATL 7	BRI 15	MAR 6	PHO 37	TEX 38	TAL 29	RCH 20	DAR 10																										40th	1158
	Casey Mears														DOV 22	CLT 29	POC 23	MCH 36																						36th	1573
	Mattias Ekström																		SON 21										RCH 31											58th	175
	Reed Sorenson																			NHA 24	DAY 8	CHI 27	IND 35	POC 32		MCH 26	BRI 15	ATL 14		NHA 27	DOV 16	KAN 30	CAL 27	CLT 18						39th	1355
	Boris Said																								GLN 38															52nd	448
	Kasey Kahne																																		MAR 14	TAL 26	TEX 13	PHO 30	HOM 6	20th	3961
2011	Brian Vickers			DAY 31	PHO 30	LVS 10	BRI 36	CAL 8	MAR 17	TEX 27	TAL 38	RCH 10	DAR 34	DOV 5	CLT 18	KAN 16	POC 22	MCH 10	SON 36	DAY 12	KEN 27	NHA 34	IND 15	POC 39	GLN 18	MCH 15	BRI 21	ATL 11	RCH 33	CHI 13	NHA 5	DOV 14	KAN 19	CLT 20	TAL 5	MAR 30	TEX 21	PHO 23	HOM 17	25th	846

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
2010	Cole Whitt	84	Toyota	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	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO 15	HOM 17	107th	118

See also

• Red Bull Racing
• Scuderia AlphaTauri

External links

• Official Website
• Red Bull Racing team blog