StarCom Racing

StarCom Racing (SCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. Based in Salisbury, North Carolina, the team currently fields the No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE full-time for Quin Houff.[1] Veteran NASCAR driver Derrike Cope serves as the team's manager. StarCom Racing has a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.[2][3]

StarCom Racing
Owner(s)William Woehlemann
Michael Kohler
Matthew Kohler
Derrike Cope
BaseSalisbury, North Carolina[1]
SeriesNASCAR Cup Series
Race drivers00. Quin Houff
Sponsors00. Mane' n Tail
ManufacturerChevrolet
Opened2017
Career
Debut2017 Hollywood Casino 400 (Kansas)
Latest race2020 Season Finale 500 (Phoenix)
Races competed128
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories0
Pole positions0

NASCAR Cup Series

StarCom Fiber on September 25, 2017; announced their intentions to field a car in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team selected veteran driver Derrike Cope to drive the No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, whom they had previously sponsored throughout the 2017 season at Premium Motorsports.[4] Almost a month later, ESPN reported SCR would be making its Cup Series debut at Kansas Speedway for the 2017 Hollywood Casino 400.[5]

Car No. 00 history
Landon Cassill in the No. 00 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2019.

On September 25, 2017, StarCom Fiber, who had sponsored Derrike Cope throughout the season at Premium Motorsports, announced their intentions to field a car in the MENCS, selecting driver Derrike Cope to drive No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet.[4] On October 17, 2017, it was reported StarCom Racing will make its MENCS debut at Kansas Speedway for the 2017 Hollywood Casino 400.[5]

Before their first planned attempt at Dover, the No. 00 withdrew from the race due to not having sufficient staff for the team to successfully operate. On October 22, The team would go on to successfully debut at Kansas, starting 40th and finishing in 40th after numerous problems plagued the team. On October 29, Cope would later announce the team would attempt two more NASCAR premier series races next month at Texas and Phoenix.[6] That same day, SCR announced the team had decided that they would longer attempt to race in Texas, instead focusing all of their effort on Phoenix. Phoenix once again got off to a rough start for the team, as they had to cut the first practice short with engine issues. When the problem was not fixed by qualifying, Cope and the team decided to skip qualifying and take the last position on the grid. The race, however, went much better for the team. After starting last, the team quickly moved out of the last position. After a series of problems for other teams, the No. 00 car managed a 32nd-place run, completing the race.

On January 24, 2018, StarCom announced that they had secured a charter and will run the full schedule, with Cope planning to drive the majority of the races.[7] The charter was leased from Richard Childress Racing, which had closed down the No. 27 team.[8] However, Jeffrey Earnhardt was later announced as the driver for the 2018 Daytona 500.[9] Earnhardt piloted the car for the first five races of the season with sponsorship from VRX Simulators. He earned a best finish of 21st at Daytona. On March 18, 2018, Earnhardt and StarCom Racing had agreed to part ways.[10] Earnhardt was replaced by Landon Cassill, who brought two races of sponsorship from USFRA.org.[11] On April 10, 2018, the team announced that TW Cable, LLC and Superior Essex would sponsor Cassill at Bristol.[12] On April 17, 2018, it was announced that NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Joey Gase would drive the car at Talladega with sponsorship from Gase's Xfinity Series sponsor, Sparks Energy.[13] Cassill returned to the car at Dover with sponsorship from RNH Electric.[14] Road course ringer Tomy Drissi was hired to drive the #00 at Sonoma. At the fall Las Vegas race, Cassill finished 18th place, the best finish by the team so far, and the feat was achieved again at the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 with Joey Gase behind the wheel.

After the 2018 season, StarCom Racing announced that Cassill had signed full-time with the team for the 2019 season. In addition, the team purchased the charter they were leasing from RCR.[1][15][8] He finished the season 33rd in points.

On November 25, 2019, crew chief Joe Williams announced that he has left the No. 00 team. StarCom Racing announced his replacement for 2020 is George Church.[16]The next day, it was announced that Quin Houff would pilot the 00 full time in 2020 and 2021.

Car No. 00 results
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Owners Pts
2017 Derrike Cope 00 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV
Wth		 CLT TAL KAN
40		 MAR TEX PHO
32		 HOM 43rd 6
2018 Jeffrey Earnhardt DAY
21		 ATL
34		 LVS
31		 PHO
35		 CAL
36		 34th 259
Landon Cassill MAR
38		 TEX
21		 BRI
20		 RCH
34		 DOV
31		 KAN
25		 CLT
28		 POC
31		 MCH
32		 CHI
36		 KEN
33		 NHA
37		 POC
34		 GLN
31		 MCH
29		 BRI
25		 DAR
30		 IND
31		 LVS
18		 CLT
29		 DOV
33		 KAN
29		 TEX
35		 PHO
26		 HOM
31
Joey Gase TAL
27		 DAY
25		 RCH
35		 TAL
18		 MAR
35
Tomy Drissi SON
32
2019 Landon Cassill DAY
24		 ATL
33		 LVS
32		 PHO
33		 CAL
29		 MAR
28		 TEX
30		 BRI
26		 RCH
35		 TAL
34		 DOV
31		 KAN
37		 CLT
37		 POC
31		 MCH
29		 SON
31		 CHI
31		 DAY
11		 KEN
32		 NHA
26		 POC
28		 GLN
29		 MCH
30		 BRI
25		 DAR
25		 IND
40		 LVS
29		 RCH
28		 CLT
28		 DOV
26		 TAL
14		 KAN
37		 MAR
26		 TEX
27		 PHO
33		 HOM
28		 32nd 285
2020 Quin Houff DAY
39		 LVS
32		 CAL
35		 PHO
34		 DAR
36		 DAR
26		 CLT
35		 CLT
32		 BRI
27		 ATL
32		 MAR
34		 HOM
33		 TAL
27		 POC
40		 POC
31		 IND
23		 KEN
35		 TEX
34		 KAN
24		 NHA
32		 MCH
27		 MCH
32		 DAY
33		 DOV
33		 DOV
34		 DAY
23		 DAR
31		 RCH
32		 BRI
29		 LVS
34		 TAL
13		 CLT
28		 KAN
33		 TEX
33		 MAR
33		 PHO
39		 35th 214
2021 DAY HOM CAL LVS PHO ATL BRI MAR RCH TAL KAN DAR DOV COA CLT SON NSH POC POC ROA ATL NHA GLN IND MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL CLT TEX KAN MAR PHO -* -*

Car No. 99 history
Kyle Weatherman in the No. 99 at Pocono Raceway in 2018.

Team manager Derrike Cope was originally intended to pilot the No. 00 for the majority of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, however, after the hiring of Jeffrey Earnhardt to drive full-time, StarCom announced that they intended to field a second car, the No. 99, part-time for Cope and possibly other drivers. Cope announced that they were hoping to field the No. 99 beginning at Texas Motor Speedway, with Cope planning to drive unless another driver with sponsorship was found. However, the team didn't race at Texas, instead delaying the #99 car debut until the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway.[14] An early wreck relegated Cope to 37th in his first race in the 99. The 99 car returned at Pocono with Cope, finishing 34th. Garrett Smithley made his debut in the 99 at Michigan. The race did not last long, as Smithley stripped the gears in the transmission on lap 1.[17]Kyle Weatherman would take over the 99 for Chicagoland, finishing 33rd. Landon Cassill would pilot the 99 at Daytona while Joey Gase was in the 00. Smithley and Weatherman would run the next 3 races, with Smithley finishing 36th at Kentucky, while Weatherman would finish 31st at both New Hampshire and Pocono. Gray Gaulding would pilot the car for two races, finishing 33rd and 40th. Cope would return at Darlington to participate in the annual throwback weekend, with Bojangles sponsoring the car, paying homage to Cope's time with Cale Yarborough Motorsports. The 99 would finish second in Darlington's paint scheme contest while finishing 33rd in the race. Kyle Weatherman and Landon Cassill would split time between the 99 for the remainder of the season, with Weatherman's best finish coming at Las Vegas, a 26th, and Cassill's best finish coming at Talladega, a 22nd. The No. 99 hasn't been used since.

Car No. 99 results
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Owners Pts
2018 Derrike Cope 99 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV
37		 KAN CLT POC
34		 DAR
33		 IND 39th 82
Garrett Smithley MCH
39		 SON KEN
36
Kyle Weatherman CHI
33		 NHA
31		 POC
31		 GLN LVS
26		 KAN
35		 TEX
34		 PHO HOM
36
Landon Cassill DAY
24		 RCH
36		 CLT DOV TAL
22		 MAR
32
Gray Gaulding MCH
33		 BRI
40

    References
    1. "StarCom Racing purchases charter and locks up Cassill for 2019". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
    2. Beard, Brock (June 23, 2018). "Cope says Starcom Racing has "come a long way in a short period of time"". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
    3. McFadin, Daniel (December 14, 2018). "Richard Childress Racing reveals Daytona 500 cars, sponsors and Xfinity details". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
    4. "StarCom Racing to compete In MENCS, withdraws from Dover". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. September 27, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
    5. "StarCom Racing to Debut at Kansas". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. October 17, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
    6. "Cope Plans to Attempt Phoenix". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. October 30, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
    7. "Derrike Cope, StarCom Racing Acquire Charter for 2018 Season". Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
    8. "NASCAR Charters". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
    9. "StarCom Racing signs Jeffrey Earnhardt for 2018 season". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 30, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
    10. "Jeffrey Earnhardt and StarCom Racing part ways". Motorsport Network. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
    11. "Landon Cassill to drive next two races for StarCom Racing". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. March 19, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
    12. "StarCom Racing partners with TW Cable, LLC, Superior Essex and Landon Cassill for the Food City 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
    13. "Joey Gase Joins StarCom Racing for Talladega". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
    14. "StarCom Racing Set to Field Second Car at Dover with Drivers Cassill & Cope - StarCom Racing". StarCom Racing. May 1, 2018. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
    15. "Landon Cassill to return to StarCom Racing in 2019". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
    16. Page, Scott (November 25, 2019). "Crew chief change at StarCom Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
    17. Beard, Brock (May 6, 2018). "CUP: Corey LaJoie scores third engine-related last-place finish in four starts". LASTCAR. Blogger. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
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