BK Racing has been in the news lately and with that, we wanted to look back on their past in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. BK Racing's future is looking slightly foggy following Sunday's Daytona 500. It's truly unknown on if they will trek into their sixth full-time season in 2018 but in this day and age, BK Racing is about the only small team from the 2012 season that remains in the field. Should BK Racing continue, it'll be very interesting watching the team rebuild but if they don't, they can't call it a complete failure.2012
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| Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR |
BK Racing made their debut in 2012 with two entries in the Daytona 500. Landon Cassill drove the No. 83 while David Reutimann piloted the No. 93. The organization started out pretty strong finishing 26th (Reutimann) and 22nd (Cassill) in the 2012 Daytona 500.
Cassill remained in the No. 83 the whole 36 race season. The No. 93 entry featured the Reutimann in two races while the remainder of the season featured Travis Kvapil. Cassill finished 18th three times during the season in the Coca-Cola 600, Michigan in June, and at Kansas in the Chase but that was about the only positives that came out of the season as Cassill finished a disappointing 31st place finish in the standings.
Travis Kvapil jumped in the No. 93 at Phoenix and finished 19th in his debut with BK Racing. Kvapil was able to deliver BK Racing their first top-ten finish at the October Talladega race when Kvapil finished 9th. He was able to do a lot with a little finishing second in the standings despite missing the season-opening race at Daytona. Kvapil did compete in the Southern 500 piloting the No. 73 which was the third entry for the organization as Reutimann drove the No. 93.
2013
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| Richmond International Raceway |
Following a rather successful season, BK Racing arrived in 2013 with their program seemingly together. The organization fielded two full-time entries for the first time.
David Reutimann and Travis Kvapil would become the full-time drivers of the No. 83 and 93. The season again kicked off on a high note as both drivers would have strong runs in the Daytona 500. Reutimann would finish 16th while Kvapil would finish 25th.
As the season continued it was like a roller coaster ride with the best finish of 16th at Bristol in August with Kvapil and a few last place finishes spread between both of them. Disappointing finishes during the season would result in both drivers having disappointing points finishes. Kvapil finished 31st and Reutimann finished 33rd.
2014
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| Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images |
After running two full-time cars in 2013, BK Racing searched for some new drivers after Reutimann began seeking other opportunities and Kvapil would only compete in two races with the organization.
Alex Bowman got his start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with BK Racing in 2014. Bowman made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in the 2014 Daytona 500 driving the No. 23. Bowman finished 23rd in his first start and would continue the rest of 2014 with the organization. He'd earn a season-best finish of 13th in the 2014 Coke Zero 400 but would finish a disappointing 35th in points.
Cole Whitt was left out to dry when Swan Racing closed its doors just a few races into the 2014 season. Whitt would find a home with BK where he would compete in 28 races with the organization. Whitt would finish 15th at Talladega in October, which would be the teams best finish of the year. Whitt would also finish 31st in points, the best of all BK Racing drivers that year.
The younger brother of Martin Truex Jr. would race 23 of the 36 races with BK Racing finishing a career best of 20th at Pocono. Clay Rodgers, Johnny Sauter, Mike Bliss, and J.J. Yeley would all four also turn laps behind the wheel of a BK Racing Toyota.
2015
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| Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images |
A few fewer drivers in 2015 plus a new face would make his debut with the organization. Matt DiBenedetto would make his MENCS debut at Phoenix driving the No. 83 car. Johnny Sauter would finish 19th in the 2015 Daytona 500, his only MENCS start since.
Another roller coaster season would highlight 2015 with five different drivers. Jeb Burton, son of Ward Burton, would run 28 races with BK Racing in 2015. He earned his best finish of the season at Martinsville in October where he finished 27th. He would finish 38th in points and wouldn't return to the organization the following season.
J.J. Yeley ran in 34 races with the organization while Josh Wise only drove one. Yeley finished a season-best of 14th at Talladega in May.
DiBenedetto would be an experiment that would be successful for the organization. Everything clicked for the two in 2015 which resulted in his return the following year. Finishing 35th in points didn't look like anything at first but BK Racing would take a shot with him and the following year it would pay off.
2016
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| NASCAR Media |
Matt DiBenedetto was one of the feel-good stories of 2016. No there wasn't any story at Daytona, in fact, DiBenedetto finished 40th after a hard crash with Chris Buescher. Fast forward to Bristol just a few months later where DiBenedetto battled with the best in the "Last Great Colosseum" and come out with the upper hand. DiBenedetto would deliver Ron Devine his best career finish of sixth. The sixth-place finish would mark the best career finish for a BK Racing car, at least as of February 12th, 2018.
After becoming a free agent over the off-season, David Ragan made his home at BK Racing where he would compete full time in the No. 23. Ragan would only lead a total of nine laps with BK and secure the best finish of 16th in the Coke Zero 400. He would finish 33rd in points and return to Front Row Racing in 2017.
While not racing for Go-Fas Racing, Jeffrey Earnhardt would move over to BK Racing where he'd compete in three races with the organization. Earnhardt would run the signature black car that his grandfather had made so famous at Talladega in October. Earnhardt would earn a best BK Racing finish at Homestead where he finished 31st.
Also in 2016, Ryan Ellis made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut with BK Racing. Ellis would go on to compete in two other events after his debut. It would mark the beginning of the DiBenedetto-Ellis relationship we see today over at Go Fas Racing where Ellis is the PR Representative for DiBenedetto. Dylan Lupton would also make his MENCS debut with BK Racing while Robert Richardson Jr. would make his return to the series for the first time since 2012.
Michael Waltrip would make a single start with the organization in 2016 Daytona 500. Waltrip would finish 30th in his second-to-final start in the event.
2017
2017 would become an issue for BK Racing both in the lawsuit department and the debt department. The season would be overshadowed by a black cloud with rain and the performance on track wasn't anything to really reverse any of it.
Corey Lajoie and Joey Gase competed in the Daytona 500 with BK Racing and the two cars managed to finish inside the top-25. Lajoie and Gray Gaulding made their names known. LaJoie competed in the majority of the season with the organization while Gaulding would take a break from BK after a contract dispute pushed him elsewhere. Gaulding would return Darlington and he'd finish off the season with the organization. Gaulding would deliver the last great finish for the organization after surviving the chaos at Talladega in October. Meanwhile, Lajoie would earn his best career finish at Daytona in July, finishing 11th.
Alon Day would make history becoming the first Israeli born driver to compete in the cup series. He raced at Sonoma with BK Racing to make that history. After competing in the season-opening race, Gase also competed in four other events with the organization. Ryan Sieg would make his Cup series debut at Dover while former Rookie of the Year winners Brett Moffitt and Stephen Leicht made their return to the series.
2018 and Beyond
During the off-season, the rumor of BK Racing not even showing up to Daytona really began popping up. After the year of struggle in 2017 and then having all of their assets were seized by Virginia Bank, it really was a shock to see the BK Racing hauler make its way into the Daytona International Speedway on Friday. Gray Gaulding only turned one lap in the car in final practice while the car wasn't seen on track during qualifying.
One big positive is that the No. 23 has a charter... for now. That could be another thing the bank could seize over time which could spell for the ending of BK Racing. A team that was built in the years of growth for the sport, could be very well making its farewell tour on Sunday in the Daytona 500 if they compete in the event. The team never earned the victory in 496 starts and only earned three top-ten finishes in its six-year history but still, it has been one of those staple back-of-the-pack teams over the years. Some people may not miss BK Racing if its the end of the road but in a sport that isn't replacing departing teams, the field is getting smaller which means many will miss BK Racing. (Koelle,2018)
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