Pastrana 199 Racing - Busch Series / Nationwide Return

Busch Series / Nationwide Return

Diamond Ridge's Busch program began running with Grissom in 1995, when they purchased Grissom's Busch operation. Channellock and Meineke were sponsors and Grissom won twice during his abbreviated season. He ran eight races in 1996 with WCW sponsoring and had another visit to victory lane, but he was released during the season. Bill Ingle, the team's crew chief, took over driving duties at South Boston Speedway and Loudon, finishing 22nd and 26th respectively. Greg Sacks signed a one race deal to drive at Talladega Superspeedway, and ended up winning the race. Soon afterwards, Bechtel signed driver Elliott Sadler and ran the rest of the year, and had three top-ten finishes.

Geared up for a full run in 1997, Diamond Ridge & Sadler went from unsponsored to receiving backing from Phillips 66. The extra funding made a difference as Sadler captured his first career victory at Nazareth Speedway. He went on to post additional victories at Myrtle Beach and Gateway. He finished fifth in points that year. Diamond Ridge also expanded to a three car operation in 1997, purchasing the #1 DeWalt Tools team and fielding a car for Sadler's older brother, Hermie. Hermie had two poles and finished tenth in points in 1997. Diamond Ridge also fielded the #8 for Jeff Green, who won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ran fourteen races before he moved to Cup. In 1998, Elliott's team switched to #66 in order to accommodate their sponsor while Hermie moved into the #29. Hermie had a season virtually identical to 1997, posting two top-fives and having another tenth-place finish in the championship. Elliott scored three victories and finished eighth in points. Unfortunately, Elliott, who Diamond Ridge hoped would be their future in Cup, signed with Wood Brothers Racing. Still, hope was not lost. In 1999, Bechtel merged his Busch program with Joe Gibbs Racing, to field the #4 Lance Snacks Chevy for Jeff Purvis. While Purvis did not win that year, he had twelve top-ten finishes. The team fielded the #29 briefly as a second car for Curtis Markham, but sponsorship problems kept that from turning into a full-time ride. During the season, Bechtel eventually lost interest in the team, and sold the whole of the operation to Gibbs. Diamond Ridge Motorsports never returned to Cup as planned. The number 29 later went to Kevin Harvick in his first season in the Cup Series replacing the late Dale Earnhardt.

In November 2009, Bechtel returned as partner of Michael Waltrip Racing to form Diamond-Waltrip Racing. The team fielded Trevor Bayne for most of the year with sponsorship from Out! Pet Care and Aaron's. Bayne scored three consecutive poles in the summer, but he moved to Roush Fenway Racing at Kansas when Gary Bechtel was unable to come up with a sponsor for 2011. The Truex brothers Martin and Ryan drove the #99 and #00 Toyotas for the remainder of the season.

It was announced late in 2010 that the team has formed a partnership with Rally driver and motocross star Travis Pastrana for him to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2011 and 2012. Pastrana was to run 7 races in 2011 under the banner of Pastrana-Waltrip Racing with sponsorship from Boost Mobile. Pastrana was to debut at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis to promote the 2011 X Games and Pastranathon, but was injured while performing the 'Toilet Paper Roll' at the Staples Center in L.A. on July 28, 2011. He sustained a broken right foot and ankle, which required surgery and forced PWR's withdrawal from competition for the rest of the season. As a result, Ryan moved to Joe Gibbs Racing for the rest of 2011. For 2012, the team changed its name to Pastrana 199 Racing to prevent a conflict with Clint Bowyer's sponsorship from 5-hour Energy due to Pastrana's status as a Red Bull athlete. However, MWR struck a partnership with RAB Racing to run in the 99 car.