Andy Petree Racing - Closing Up Shop

Closing Up Shop

Oakwood Homes' financial troubles left the #33 without a sponsor for 2002. Mike and Kenny Wallace ran limited schedules in the car, but no full-time sponsor could be located. In addition to all the turmoil, several attempts to get Jerry Jones to buy into the team failed. Things went from bad to worse in the #55, where Hamilton, who was struggling intensely, suffered a broken shoulder in a crash. Ron Hornaday and Greg Biffle were able to fill in, but despite a tenth-place finish in the season finale, Hamilton was not happy, and he departed to the Craftsman Truck Series, taking the Square D sponsorship with him. Christian Fittipaldi signed to drive the #33 at the Daytona 500, and he finished 35th. The team made only one other race that year, with Paul Menard at Watkins Glen International Raceway, where he finished 29th. In 2004, Menard and Petree ran in the Busch Series in the hopes of attracting major sponsorship for the team's planned return to the Cup series, but Menard signed a contract with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and took the sponsorship from his father's company with him. This was the final blow to APR, and despite running a couple of truck series races, Petree auctioned off all of his equipment, with most of it including the number, going to the Kevin Harvick Incorporated racing stable which races it as the 33 in the Busch Series.