Winston Cup
Diamond Ridge Motorsports made its NASCAR debut at the 1990 Coca-Cola 600 as the #68 Country Time Pontiac Grand Prix. Bobby Hamilton qualified eighth for the race, but crashed early in the race and finished 39th. Phil Parsons also drove the #29 for Diamond Ridge at the Miller Genuine Draft 400, the DieHard 500, and the Heinz Southern 500, his best finish being 22nd.
After failing to run a race the following year, Diamond Ridge returned in 1992, with John Krebs driving Chevrolets at Sears Point and Phoenix, finishing 31st and 23rd, respectively. Krebs returned to run Sonoma and Pocono the next year as well, but DNF-d in both races. Andy Hillenburg drove one race for the team at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but had a DNF as well. Diamond Ridge ran one more race that year, at Phoenix, with Steve Grissom driving. He finished 29th.
In 1994, Diamond Ridge mounted its first full-time attempt at a Cup championship, hiring Grissom to drive for the team. Despite failing to qualify for the golden races of the Cup schedule(the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400), Grissom posted three top-tens and finished 28th in points, runner-up to Jeff Burton for Rookie of the Year. Krebs returned for a final race with Diamond Ridge, finishing 42nd in the #9 Channellock car. He crashed on lap 2 and flipped over in the dirt embankment. He did not suffer any injuries.
Grissom returned in 1995 and got off to a strong start, posting three top-tens in the first seven races of the season, but only finished one spot higher in the points standings. After that season, Meinke left, and Cartoon Network joined the team as Team Wacky Racing. Despite a fifth-place finish at Rockingham Speedway, Grissom was released from the ride after the spring Michigan race. Greg Sacks took over for the next six races, his best finish being a 29th at Pocono. Butch Leitzinger, Chad Little, Robert Pressley, and Jeff Green shared the driving duties in turns for the rest of the year.
In 1997, Diamond Ridge chose Pressley as its driver for the season. Pressley struggled and after the Winston 500, he was released from his ride. Jeff Green returned to take his place. After missing the first ten races of the year, Green had two top-tens and finished 39th in the points. Unfortunately, at the end of the year, Cartoon Network announced it would not return as sponsor. The team attempted a few races with Green as Team Monte Carlo sponsoring, but they only qualified for three races, and Green left the organization. The team ran the #92 later in the season for Elliott Sadler in two races. After the year came to a close Diamond Ridge announced it was suspending the operations for its Cup team, and would return to the Busch Series for a planned return to Cup in 2001.
In 2009, Bechtel became a co-owner of Tommy Baldwin Racing, but left the team after several months.
Read more about this topic: Pastrana 199 Racing
Famous quotes containing the word cup:
“I write mainly for the kindly race of women. I am their sister, and in no way exempt from their sorrowful lot. I have drank [sic] the cup of their limitations to the dregs, and if my experience can help any sad or doubtful woman to outleap her own shadow, and to stand bravely out in the sunshine to meet her destiny, whatever it may be, I shall have done well; I have not written this book in vain.”
—Amelia E. Barr (1831–1919)