Ginn Racing

**Ginn Racing** (Formerly **MB2 Motorpsorts**) was a team in the NASCAR: Pepsi Cup Series that particpated from 1997 to 2010. Its principal owners in its final seasons, 2007-2010, were resort and real-estate developers Bobby Ginn and Thomas Ginn (the Ginn family owned 80%) and longtime team director Jay Frye (20%). The team's original name was **MB2 Motorsports**, formed by the last names of the team owners Read Morton, Tom Beard, and Nelson Bowers. Bowers was the longest tenured of the original owners, and the listed owner of the teams' entries when Bobby Ginn bought out the team.

## Founding & Ginn's buyout

In 1997, the team was formed by Read Morton, Tom Beard, and Nelson Bowers. The team was formed because Rick Hendrick had an agreement with M&M-Mars to to sponsor a team at his team, Hendrick Motorsports. At the time Hendrick did not having the funding for a fourth car, but knew Morton, Beard, and Bowers were intrested in owning a team and the team was born.

The team got it's orignal name from the first letters of three owner's names (MBB or MB2). The team evolved to a steady mid-pack team and became a two car operation in 2002, only to expand to three cars for a lone season in 2005.

In 2006, Ginn sposnored several race and then would buyout the team and expaned it back to three cars (A forth was attempted at some points).

## Car No. 01 History

### Derrike Cope (1997)

The No. 01 car started out as the No. 36 Pontiac in 1997 with sponsorship from M&M-Mars through its Skittles candy brand, and driver Derrike Cope. Cope had several struggles thoughout the year, having five DNF's and a DNQ at the first Atlanta race, but had some success with one top five, and two top ten finishes. He finished 27th in the final point standings.

### Ernie Irvan and Others (1998-1999)

In 1998, Ernie Irvan, coming over from Yates Racing joined the team, replacing Cope. Irvan would improve the team, capturing eleven top tens and three Poles. However at the Winston 500, Irvan was in a crash with Dick Trickle and Wally Dallenbach Jr. causing him get an concusion from the crash. Depsite the accident and injury, he would run the next race at Daytona where he placed 8th. Irvan stayed out of the car for the final three races of 1998 to recover from injuries easier. Ricky Craven drove the car in those last three races with a best finish of 25th in the season finale at Atlanta. The team placed 16th in points.

Irvan would return in 1999, with M&M's replacing Skittles as the team's sponsor. Irvan's perfromance decreased, only getting only five top ten finishes with his best one being a sixth place finish in the Las Vegas 400 at Las Vegas. Tragically, Irvan crashed at Michigan Speedway in a practice session for the Mnt Dew Series race. Irvan was airlifted from the track and was diagnosed with a mild head injury and a bruised lung as a result of the accident. Dick Trickle replaced Irvan in the race, where he placed 40th, a whooping twenty-two laps down. Jerry Nadeau would pilot the car in the next race at Bristol, where he'd succesfully place the car 20th.

Then on September 3, 1999, Irvan announced his retirement from driving at a tearful press conference in Darlington, South Carolina. While he would fully recover before the end of the 1999 season, the reasoning for his retirement was to prevent future incidents while he had a family to support.

Nadeau would then run the final eleven races of 1999, getting three more top 20's. The team would finish an unlucky 35th in points. After 1999, Nadeau would leave MB2 to join Hendrick Motorsports in their no.25 Chevorlet.

### Ken Schrader (2000-2002)

Ken Schrader signed to drive the 36 after he departed from Andy Petree Racing in 2000. Although he'd get only two top 10's, Schrader would sixteen top 20 finishes, resulting in an 18th points place finish.

Scharder would get two additonal top tens but dropped to 19th in 2001. But his season was marred in Daytona 500, where he was involved in a final-lap crash where Dale Earnhardt crashed into the wall and died.

2002 saw Schrader's luck get worse, where he didnt post a single top ten, with his best finsh of 2002 being a 13th place run in the 2002 New Hampshire 300 at Loudon, and placced 30th in points. He would leave the team to drive for BAM Racing after the season.

### Jerry Nadeau with Others and the 01 (2003)

Following 2002 M&M's left for Yates Racing, but the United States Army would become the team's sponsor. The car number was switched from 36 to 01 to support the Army's slogan, "An Army of One." Nadeau returned to MB2 as the driver of the No. 01 car, and in his first 10 races with the team he had only two top-20 finishes, with a fourth-place finish at Texas.

On May 2, 2003, during practice at Richmond International Raceway, Nadeau lost control of the No. 01 while trying to avoid another car in turn one, spun and slammed driver-side first into the concrete wall. He suffered fractures to his skull and several ribs along with a collapsed lung and temporary paralysis on his left side, and the cumulative effects forced him into retirement at age 33. Mnt Dew Series veteran Jason Keller replaced Nadeau at the Richmond race and finished 32nd. The team went through several substitutes for the rest of the year. Mike Wallace ran the next four races, then four more races afterwards (skipping Sonoma) with a best finish of 19th at Dover. Mike Skinner, released from Morgan McClure Motorsports, made eleven starts in the #01, earning a pole at Richmond. Boris Said ran both road course races, with both a pole and sixth-place finish at Sonoma. Joe Nemechek, who had been released from Hendrick Motorsports' 25 car (where he had replaced Nadeau), was signed by MB2 as the new permanent driver of the #01 car starting with the last four races of 2003, and earned a top-ten finish at Atlanta.

### Joe Nemechek (2004-2006)

In his first full season with the 01 in 2004, he won two poles late in the season. In October, Nemechek won at Kansas Speedway, beating out Ricky Rudd at the finish line. Aside from the victory and two poles, Nemechek scored three top fives and nine top tens, en route to a 19th points place finish.

Nemechek started off 2005 with a strong run at the second race of the season at Auto Club Speedway. Coming off a solid 13th-place finish at Daytona, Joe started 4th and led leading a race-high 63 laps before his Hendrick Motorsports-built engine expired on lap 178. This was one of six Hendrick engine failures, which included that of teammate Scott Riggs. By race 26 at Richmond, the 01 team found itself as a longshot of making the Chase, sitting 16th in the standings 135 points out of 10th place as the last mathematical contender for a spot in the 10-race playoff. The team's chase hunt was ultimately foiled when Travis Kvapil collided with Nemechek under caution right after he had gotten back on the lead lap, relegating them to a 26th-place finish. Overall, Nemechek improved on the previous years points performance, ranking 16th with 1 pole and 9 top 10s but no wins and only two top 5s. The season was highlighted by a feud with Kevin Harvick. After Harvick caused a multi-car crash involving Nemechek during practice for the 2005 Daytona 500, Nemechek and Jimmie Johnson were outspoken about their displeasure with Harvick. Later, Nemechek got into a tussle with Harvick during The Nextel Challenge. Nemechek and Harvick had an interaction post-race that nearly came to blows, with Nemechek saying, "Kevin thinks he owns this world, and he ain't squat."

2006 was a struggle for Nemechek and the 01 team, with the team not scoring a top 10 until finishing 9th at Charlotte in October, the 31st race of the season. Nemechek's performance was not impressive in 2006, with no pole starts, only two top 10s, and a dismal 27th-place points finish.

### Mark Martin and Regan Smith (2007-2008)

Veteran Mark Martin, coming off his final year with Roush Racing, was signed drive the car for 23 races (21 points races plus the Budweiser Shootout and Nextel All-Star Challenge) in 2007, with Joe Nemechek moving over to the team's new 13 team. Regan Smith was pinned to fill the remaining 16 races of the season, while driving in the Mnt Dew Series for the team as well. The team also changed its name to Ginn Racing to reflect Bobby Ginn's new majority interest in the team. Martin was leading in the final turn of the season-opening Daytona 500, after lining up on the final restart with former Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth behind him. Coming down the front stretch, and with the field wrecking behind him, Martin looked to have finally come through at Daytona. But the caution was not called, and Kevin Harvick caught Martin on his outside, beating him to the line by two-hundredths of a second. Martin put together more strong finishes, and after the fourth race at Atlanta was leading the points standings in what was supposed to be his first season of semi-retirement. Resisting the chance to capture his first championship, Martin did step out of the car as scheduled, breaking a streak of 621 consecutive starts.

Rookie Regan Smith meanwhile made his debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, finishing 25th. Smith would run 11 more races in the car, with a best finish of 24th at Talladega Superspeedway. Smith and Martin would end the year 27th in points, due to the declining performance later in the year after the team switched to having an alliance with Dale Earnhardt, Inc starting at Indianapolis.

2008 saw more dissapointg perfmances, with Martin getting only four top fives, while Smith was getting several top 20's. The team placed 28th in points. Mark Martin left for Richard Childress Racing and Regan Smith would join Furniture Row Racing in 2009. Army left and joined Ryan Newman at Labonte-Haas Racing. With no driver and sponsor for 2009, the 01 was team was disbanded following 2008.-

## Car No. 13 History

### Elliott Sadler (2003-2006)

On December 1st, 2002, MB2 Motorsports announced a partnership with CENTRIX Financial, LLC, coming on as an associate sponsor for the 01 and 10 cars. In addition, the team would also a third car complete with full sponsorship from CENTRIX Auto Finance. Later on January 1st, 2003, Elliott Sadler was announced to be the driver, along with the reveal of the number 13.

### Joe Nemechek (2007)

In December 2006, Ginn Racing confirmed their third team would return in 2007, but as the 13 instead of the 36. Joe Nemechek (The previous driver of the 01), was moved to the 13 team. However sponsorship was an issue before the season began, as the team only had Certainteed a sponsor and the company would be the primary sponsor for 18 races.

## Car No.14 History

### Johnny Benson (2000-2003)

What became the No. 14 team originally ran several different numbers part of Darrell Waltrip Motorsports and the Tyler Jet Motorsports. At the second Pocono race weekend in 2000, MB2 Motorsports purchased Tyler Jet's unsponsored No. 10 team, driven by Johnny Benson. When MB2 bought the team, Benson remained the driver, with an announcement that Aaron's and RCA would sponsor the No. 10 for the remainder of 2000 and Valvoline would begin sponsoring the car in 2001. Benson finished the season driving full-time for MB2 with two top fives and five top tens.

### Scott Riggs (2004-2005)

Scott Riggs was signed to a multi-year contract, and would to replace Benson for the 2004 season.Riggs was set to compete against a strong rookie class that included his former Mnt. Dew National Series competitors Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Scott Wimmer, and Johnny Sauter as well as Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan. With Pontiac leaving the sport, the team was forced to switch to Chevrolet.

### Mike Bliss (2006)

In January of 2006, it was announced that Mike Bliss will move from HAAS CNC Racing to drive for MB2 in 2006. The team would be sponsored by Waste Management in 12 races, with Centrix Financial returning and Ginn Resorts coming on to fill the remainder of the schedule for 2006. The team selected the no.14 to replace the no.10 after the 10 moved to Evernham Motorsports. The team had only one top 10 finish and ranked 34th in points at the end of the year. Bliss was released from the team at season's end.

### Sterling Marlin (2007-2008)

In November 2006, it was announced that veteran driver Sterling Marlin would come over from Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for MB2 in 2007.

## Car No.36 History

### Boris Said (2004-2005)

Centrix was scheduled to sponsor the several race deal, debuting with a 6th-place finish at Sonoma, but woud later DNQ at Watkins Glen. Howver would do some oval starts at California Speedway and Homestead Miami Speedway. Said would place 30th at Califoria, and 28th at Homestead.

In January 2005, MB2 announced the 36 team would return full-time in 2005 with Said driving the full season, additinally vertan crew cheif and longimte friend of Said, Frank Stoddard, would be the crew chief for the season.

Said would run well throughout the year, sturggling on most of the ovals. Howver at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, Said ran well, qualifying 12th and running in the top 15 before a 25-car pileup ended his day with 35 laps remaining. Boris was, however, strong as always in his road course element. At Sonoma in June, Said was running well when he entered the pits while they were closed after a caution was thrown with 40 laps to go. Sent back to 32nd place, he made it up to 13th place with 10 laps to go, but was relegated to a 17th-place finish after a caution with 7 laps to go. Said shined later in the year at Watkins Glen, starting 41st after qualifying was rained out, and racing with NASCAR Road Course aces Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon for the win. Said would score a career-best 3rd-place finish. Said would score no wins, one top five, and three top 10's and placed 27th in points. Said left the team to drive for No Fear Racing in the No. 60 Ford in 2006.

### Multiple Drivers (2006)

In 2006, MB2 announced the 36 would once again attempt the full season despite that CENTRIX Financial was moving to the 14 team to help sponsor the other races in 2006.

Bill Elliott was tapped to drive the car the Daytona 500, while acquiring sponsorship from Ginn Club & Resorts. Elliott then finished 20th in the race.

The following races would have sponsorship from WileyX Sunglasses and Principal Financial and having Mike Wallace drive the next three races with a best finish of 25th at California Speedway, he would then DNQ at Bristol. Wallace would then be replaced by Mike Skinner starting at Martinsville.

Skinner started with a 27th place finish in the DirectTV 500 at Martinsville Speedway in his first start for MB2 since 2003. Skinner would then drive the 36 in the next several races, with a best finish of 22nd in the 2006 Coca Cola 600.

However following the 2006 Neighborhood Excellence 400 presented by Bank of America at Dover International Speedway (Where Skinner placed 37th.) MB2 announced that because of a lack of sponsorship, the 36 team would suspend operations until sponsorship could be found.  Skinner would then be released from the 36, and made the move to Front Row Motorsports.  The 36 did not return for any other events in 2006.