Jeff Fuller (racing Driver) - Nationwide Series Career

Nationwide Series Career

Fuller made his Busch Series career in 1992, making one start. Driving the #20 First Ade Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso, Fuller started 27th and finished 26th, twenty-nine laps down.

Three years later, in 1995, after a run in the Whelen Modified Series, Fuller moved to the Busch Series to compete Rookie of the Year. His team would be the #47 Sunoco Chevy owned by ST Motorsports. His sole top-5 was a fourth in the fall race at Charlotte. He also added on five other top-10s. His best start in the season was only a pair of tenths at New Hampshire and Rockingham. He also finished in the top-30 in all but one race and only recorded five DNFs. This enabled him to finish tenth in points in just his first season in Busch Series, earning him Rookie of the Year honors.

Missing two races relegated Fuller back to 17th in points in 1996. In the same weekend at Bristol, Fuller won his first career pole, won his first career race and his wife gave birth to a child. Fuller only managed 3 other top-10s in 1996. He made one of his starts in a Michael Ritch-owned car, driving the #02 ECU Pirates at Rockingham to a 38th place finish. To top off this great year, Fuller had a daughter named Tiffany Fuller. That same year, Fuller won a race in a one-off start at Thompson Speedway in what was then the Busch North Series.

Fuller's team continued to struggle in early 1997. Fuller managed only two top-10s in his first fifteen races, (7th at Darlington and 3rd at New Hampshire) Fuller was released from the #47 after running eighteenth in points. Fuller missed the next two races, but then signed on to become the driver for the #45 Hunters Specialties Chevy for Mike Laughlin, earning finishes of 7th at Gateway and 9th at Bristol. However, Fuller was replaced for the last race by Greg Sacks, but drove the #5 Alka-Seltzer Chevy for Terry Labonte. After finishing 14th, he cemented a 21st place finish in points.

In 1998, Fuller only made eleven starts, making races with five different teams. Most of the season was with the #89 Allerest Chevy owned by Meredith Ruark. His best finish with them was 25th at Charlotte. Overall, Fuller's best finish of 1998 was with Laughlin's racing team at Pikes Peak, where he finished eleventh. Fuller also paired with Joe Gibbs Racing in 1998. He drove their #42 Carolina Turkey Pontiac at Charlotte to a fifteenth place finish. Fuller's other top-20 finish in 1998 was for Bill Elliott at Miami, where he finished fifteenth as well.

In 1999, Fuller made 27 of the season's 32 races, but did not record a single top-10. Fuller ran the first twenty-two races with Ruark's team, earning a best finish of 12th at Pikes Peak and IRP. Fuller made four starts for Joe Gibbs again, driving the #42 Circuit City Pontiac to a best of 12th at Darlington. Fuller also added on one more start with Lyndon Amick's team. He finished 33rd at Memphis Motorsports Park. Fuller's best start in 1999 was 5th at Pikes Peak, and he finished 22nd in points.

When Fuller went to Winston Cup racing, he only made one 2000 start. It was for Moy Racing, where he started 43rd on the field at Bristol, but came back to a 21st place finish.

Fuller only made one start in 2001, as well. Driving for NEMCO Motorsports, he started 40th at California and finished 42nd after only completing five laps.

Fuller made two more starts for NEMCO in 2002, running at Daytona and Talladega. However, despite a 5th place start at Daytona, he finished 42nd there and 40th at Talladega due to large multi car crashes.

Fuller made thirteen starts overall in 2003, driving for assorted teams. Mainly, he split his time between NEMCO and Stanton Barrett's team. His best finishes on the year were a 15th at Bristol for NEMCO and 18th at Nashville for Barrett. He also had a 24th place run at Daytona for Bost Motorsports. He only finished 3 races that year.

In 2004, he ran the most races in a season of his career since 1999 for NEMCO Motorsports. Unfortunately, his best finish was 35th at Nazareth, as he did not finish a race that year. He also caused controversy during the season as he rarely completed more than a handful of laps before pulling out of the race.

In 2005, Fuller started off the year driving two races for NEMCO, but he was quickly replaced by Kim Crosby, whose team bought the #7 NEMCO ride. Ironically, Fuller replaced Crosby later in the year, driving the #7 Big Boar Customs Chevy for GIC-Mixon Motorsports for the remainder of the year. Fuller qualified for fifteen races with the team, and his best finishes were at Dover, where he finished 24th in the fall and 25th in the spring. After Memphis, where Fuller finished 42nd, the team folded due to lack of funding, leaving Fuller rideless.

Fuller returned to the Busch Series in 2006 at the June Nashville race. He was signed to drive the #34 GlowBuoy Chevrolet for Frank Cicci Racing where he started 38th and finishing 27th.

During the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Nationwide Series Seasons, Jeff drove in a few races for Nemco Motorsports and Stanton Barrett.

Jeff planned to drive the #97 Chevrolet in the 2010 Nationwide Season opener at Daytona for Nemco Motorsports, but he withdrew even though he would have made the race, after qualifying was cancelled due to rain. Fuller was one of five drivers to be paid by John Menard and team owner Jack Roush (the approximate amount for each driver was around $45,000, equivalent to a last-place finish) to drop out so John's son Paul could compete.