R3 Motorsports

R3 Motorsports
Owner(s)Robert Richardson Sr.
Robert Richardson Jr.
SeriesSprint Cup Series
Nationwide Series
Camping World Truck Series
ARCA Re/Max Series
Race driversRobert Richardson Jr.
ManufacturerChevrolet
Dodge
Toyota
Career
Races competed24
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories0
Pole positions0

R3 Motorsports (formerly Richardson Motorsports) was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Re/Max Series. The team commonly fielded No. 23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet Impala driven by Robert Richardson, Jr. part-time in the Nationwide Series. The team shut down in 2015 and sold their equipment to Rick Ware Racing.

History

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R3 Motorsports began running the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2005 as Richardson Racing. It fielded the No. 33 in the first two races of the season with Richardson Jr., with a fourteenth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway. The team changed its name to R3 Motorsports and started their entry into NASCAR's top series.

Camping World Truck Series

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Truck No. 1 history

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In 2005, R3 ran one race in the Craftsman Truck Series at Phoenix with Richardson, Jr. finishing thirty-fourth in the No. 35 Chevrolet Silverado after wrecking.

At the end of the season, the team bought the equipment and owners points from Ultra Motorsports and changed to the No. 1 running full-time in 2006. With WinYourMortage.com sponsoring, the team qualified for twenty races and had two top-twenty finishes, but shut down their Truck team at the end of the season due to lack of sponsorship. They did attempt three Busch Series races in the No. 80 McKinley Pipe/Kinky Friedman Chevy, but did not qualify for either race.

Nationwide Series

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Car Nos. 03 and 50 history

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In 2011, the team entered a second car, No. 03, at Las Vegas for Charles Lewandoski due to the short field of 42 cars. Alex Kennedy drove the No. 03 at Fontana. Scott Riggs drove at Michigan and Kentucky. Scott Wimmer drove at Road America. All races in 2011 have been start and parks to help fund the No. 23, the team's main car.

Also in 2011 a third R3 car the No. 50 car attempted one race at Watkins Glen. Driver Brian Simo got a DNQ.

Car No. 23 history

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In 2008, R3 returned with Robert Richardson attempting 8 races and making 5. Renegade wheels served as the sponsor at Lowes and Mahindra Tractors at other races. Richardson had a best finish of 23rd at Kansas.

In 2009, the team ran a full schedule with Aaron's and Mahindra serving as the primary sponsors. Robert Richardson Jr and Ken Butler III served as the primary drivers for the season. For the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian driver Jean-Francois Dumoulin drove the car and finished in 7th (R3 Motorsports' best finish of the year). Jeff Fuller drove at Darlington Raceway and finished thirtieth.

For the 2010 season, R3 Motorsports fielded five drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide series No. 23. Robert Richardson III ran most of the tracks throughout the season. R3 hired Alex Kennedy for Road America and Watkins Glen. R3 Motorsports also hired Coleman Pressley (the son of former NASCAR Sprint cup series driver Robert Pressley) to drive at Bristol Motor Speedway and Nashville, the team finished 12th at Nashville. The team also ran with Marc Davis, Johnny Sauter, and Peyton Sellers each running one race.

For 2011, the No. 23 team returned and switched from Chevrolet to Dodge and was sponsored by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Richardson has run the majority of the races. Richardson's best finish so far is 22nd at Las Vegas and Iowa. Alex Kennedy drove the No. 23 at Dover and America finishing 32nd and 21st respectively. Scott Riggs ran the No. 23 at Darlington finishing 13th, R3's best finish in 2011. The team made the switched back Chevrolet at Kentucky Motorspeedway and will remain in the Chevy Camp fielding Impala's.

They fielded the No. 23 full-time again in 2012 with Robert Richardson Jr. and Jamie Dick sharing the ride. Anthony Gandon ran the No. 23 at Mid-Ohio.[1]

In 2015, R3 Motorsports shut down the team, with the shop being leased.[2]

Car No. 80 history

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In 2006, R3 attempted three Nationwide series races in the No. 80 Chevy with Richardson driving. The team did not qualify for any of their events.

R3 attempted only one race in 2007. Richardson attempted to qualify the No. 80 at Texas, but once again failed to qualify. After 2007, R3 shut down the No. 80 team.

Sprint Cup Series

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Car No. 23 history

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R3 attempted the 2009 Daytona 500 with Mike Skinner, but did not qualify for the event.

In 2010, R3 Motorsports attempted to run the October race at Charlotte with Johnny Sauter driving, but failed to qualify. They also attempted the November Texas race with Josh Wise, but again did not qualify.

After not attempting a race for a year, they attempted the 2011 fall race at Phoenix with Scott Riggs but did not qualify.

For 2012, the team would attempt the full Sprint Cup Series schedule using cars purchased from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, using the number 23. Robert Richardson Jr. ran two Daytona races and two Talladega races in Toyotas. Scott Riggs ran through the majority of the season, running Chevys. Riggs got the team qualified for the first time in Phoenix. The Cup team was a start-and-park operation to help fund the Nationwide Series team.

Car No. 23 results

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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 Owners Pts
2009 Mike Skinner 23 Chevy DAY
DNQ
CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 65th 1
2010 Johnny Sauter Toyota DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT
DNQ
MAR TAL 57th 35
Josh Wise TEX
DNQ
PHO HOM
2011 Scott Riggs DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT KAN POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO
DNQ
HOM 59th 0
2012 Robert Richardson Jr. DAY
DNQ
TAL
27
DAY
DNQ
TAL
35
44th 82
Scott Riggs Chevy PHO
42
LVS
DNQ
BRI
41
CAL
41
MAR
42
TEX
42
KAN
43
RCH
DNQ
DAR
DNQ
CLT
DNQ
DOV
37
POC
40
MCH
41
SON KEN
43
NHA
41
IND
41
POC
43
GLN MCH
41
BRI
41
ATL
40
RCH
39
CHI
DNQ
NHA
DNQ
DOV
42
CLT
DNQ
KAN
Wth
MAR
42
TEX PHO HOM
42

Statistics

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Nationwide Series

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The No. 23 car in 2010
Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
2008 No. 23 Robert Richardson 5 0 0 0 0 45
2009 No. 23 Robert Richardson 8 0 0 0 0 39
2009 No. 23 Ken Butler 9 0 0 0 0 38
2009 No. 23 Jeff Fuller 1 0 0 0 0 92
2009 No. 23 Jean-Francois Dumoulin 1 0 0 0 1 100
Totals 24 0 0 0 1

[3]

Truck Series

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Year Truck Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
2005 No. 35 Robert Richardson 1 0 0 0 0 62
2006 No. 1 Robert Richardson 20 0 0 0 0 30
Totals 21 0 0 0 0

[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Nationwide Children's Hospital 200". NASCAR. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
  2. ^ EYES ON XFINITY: IT’S NOW OR NEVER FOR ELLIOTT SADLER, Front Stretch, 23 February 2015
  3. ^ a b [1] Racing-reference.info Richardson Career Owner Statistics