Phoenix Racing - Sprint Cup

Sprint Cup

Phoenix Racing began racing in the Cup Series in 1990, when it fielded the #51 Plasti-Kote Chevrolet Lumina for Jeff Purvis. In four races, Purvis failed to finish a race, his best finishing being a 31st at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Phoenix attempted to run a full schedule in 1991, but soon cut back to a part-time schedule, completing six races in total. Due to a lack of funding, the team only ran two races in 1992, with Finch's company Phoenix Construction of Panama City, FL serving as sponsor. In 1993, the team ran all of the restrictor plate races on the schedule, except for the Daytona 500, for which they failed to qualify. For 1994, they picked up sponsorship from Country Time and had planned to run a limited schedule with Neil Bonnett driving. Bonnett was killed in a practice crash at Daytona before the 1994 Daytona 500, and Purvis was brought back to drive the car. In six races, his best finish was 21st. Phoenix changed its number to 44 in 1995, and ran six more races with Purvis and Jackaroo Sauce, only finishing one race. MCA Records became the new sponsor for 1996, and the team had two top-ten qualification starts, but could not finish higher than twelfth.

After staying out of Cup for several years, Finch purchased a number of Ford Tauruses from Bill Elliott Racing, and ran all of the 2001 schedule's restrictor plate races with Purvis driving the #51, only finishing one race. In 2002, the team picked up funding from Miccosukee and switched to the #09. Driver Geoffrey Bodine had a third place finish in the Daytona 500, and later had a 2nd-place qualification at the Pepsi 400. Mike Wallace ran a limited schedule for Phoenix in 2003, and had two top-ten finishes. Scott Pruett and Buckshot Jones also ran one race deals for the team that season, during which they switched to Dodge. The team began 2004 with Joe Ruttman and Johnny Benson sharing the ride. Ruttman would later become infamous for a "start and park" at Rockingham, where he appeared at the race without a pit crew, was parked after one lap, and collected $54,000 for a last-place finish. The team later said they would be "legitimate racing" after the incident. Bobby Hamilton, Jr. then drove for six races during the middle of the season, before Wallace and Johnny Sauter returned to run the tail part of the season. Pruett and Tony Raines, also ran in one-off attempts in the car. Sauter drove ten races in the #09 in 2005, and had a ninth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway. Late in the season, Bobby Hamilton and Reed Sorenson drove the 09 at Martinsville and Homestead, respectively.

Beginning in 2006, Phoenix abbreviated the 09's schedule even further, switching back and forth between Dodge and Ford. Mike Wallace ran just three races and failed to finish higher than seventeenth. Mayfield ran the season-ending Ford 400, but did not finish due to an oil leak. Wallace had a fourth place finish in the 2007 Daytona 500, but the team did not qualify for another race until the final two races of the year, when Sterling Marlin drove. For 2008, Marlin ran 10–12 races for Phoenix.

Phoenix Racing announced for 2009 that they would be running two different makes of cars for the upcoming Sprint Cup season. The #09 was shared by Marlin, Phoenix's Nationwide Series driver Mike Bliss, and Brad Keselowski. The team fielded Dodges for the majority of the season, except for when Keselowski and Fellows drove for the team, they fielded Chevrolets. After 19 years in the Cup Series Phoenix Racing finally won its first race, taking the Aaron's 499 with Keselowski behind the wheel. Keselowski wrecked Carl Edwards when Edwards attempted a second block on Keselowski's passing move, but Keselowski held his ground and drove to the finish to lead his only lap of the day and win the race.

Aric Almirola was hired to drive for the team in 2010. Phoenix lost its Miccosukee sponsorship at the beginning of the 2010 season; its struggles continued as Almirola failed to qualify three of the first seven events, including the Daytona 500. Almirola left the team after Phoenix and was replaced by Mike Bliss and a handful of other drivers, including Landon Cassill, Jan Magnussen, and Bobby Labonte.

Phoenix Racing returned in 2011 despite rumors that Finch had been trying to sell the team. Bill Elliott drove the first 3 races before Landon Cassill took over the ride with sponsorship from Security Benefit. In June 2011, prior to the Kansas race, the team changed the car number to #51, which Phoenix Racing originally used when it first competed in the then-Winston Cup Series. For 2012, Cassill was replaced by Kurt Busch.

In 2012, the team ran most of the season unsponsored, and Busch's best finish with the team was a 3rd place finish at Sonoma. He would leave the team following the fall Talladega race for Furniture Row Racing, and was supposed to be replaced by Regan Smith until Dale Earnhardt, Jr. suffered a concussion in the aftermath of the Talladega race and Smith was needed as a sub for the Charlotte and Kansas races in the Chase. A.J. Allmendinger drove the #51 for those two races.

Citing the recurring lack of stable sponsorship, Finch announced in May 2013 that he would close operations after the 2013 Brickyard 400.