Contreras Motorsports was a Mexican professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was owned by Carlos Contreras and his nephew Enrique. The team fielded the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for various drivers. During operation, they were the sole Mexican team in the three national divisions of NASCAR.
Camping World Truck Series
Truck No. 71 history
The No. 71 truck began racing in 2016.[1] Their first race was the Great Clips 200 because they did not qualify for the NextEra Energy Resources 250. Carlos Contreras drove the first race, with funding from RaceTrac convenience stores. Several up-and coming drivers raced for the team in its inaugural season, including JR Motorsports development driver Josh Berry and Israeli Alon Day. the team also brought in experienced drivers, such as Ken Schrader and Mike Bliss.[2] It was announced on December 25 that Brandon Hightower would drive for the team full-time in 2017.
Partnerships
JR Motorsports
On October 29, 2016, Contreras Motorsports ran a truck for Chase Elliott at Martinsville;[3] the truck was built by JR Motorsports.[4] He qualified on the pole and finished second.
Ranier Racing with MDM
Ranier Racing with MDM ran some races in 2016 with the No. 71 with Austin Dillon and Brandon Jones driving. Jones drove at Dover, Charlotte, Iowa, Kentucky and Bristol. Dillon drove at Texas. Between the two drivers, they recorded three top-ten finishes.
Ken Schrader Racing
In 2016 Contreras Motorsports partnered with Ken Schrader Racing to run the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby in the No. 71 Toyota Tundra. Ken Schrader drove the truck sponsored by Hunt Brothers Pizza.[5] Schrader drove the truck to a 12th-place finish.
Truck No. 71 results
| Year | Team | 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 | NCWTC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Carlos Contreras | 71 | Chevy | DAY DNQ |
ATL 27 |
TEX 31 |
POC 27 |
LVS 30 |
20th | 288 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Bliss | MAR 30 |
KAN 17 |
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| Brandon Jones | DOV 20 |
CLT 11 |
IOW 17 |
KEN 7 |
BRI 9 |
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| Enrique Contreras III | GTW 20 |
MCH 28 |
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| Ken Schrader | Toyota | ELD 12 |
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| Camden Murphy | Chevy | MSP 31 |
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| Josh Berry | CHI 13 |
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| Alon Day | NHA 24 |
HOM 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brandon Hightower | TAL 30 |
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| Chase Elliott | MAR 2* |
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| Austin Dillon | TEX 8 |
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| Kevin Donahue | PHO 20 |
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Ending of operations
Before the 2017 season, the assets and ownership of the team was transferred to business partner and crew veteran D. J. Copp to form Copp Motorsports.
References
- ^ "CONTRERAS MOTORSPORTS, EL PRIMER EQUIPO MEXICANO EN LA NASCAR". NASCAR.com (in Spanish). Turner Sports Network. February 11, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ^ "Carlos Contreras's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
- ^ Wilhelm, Chase (October 27, 2016). "Take a look at Chase Elliott's truck for Martinsville Speedway". FoxSports.com. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- ^ Utter, Jim (October 27, 2016). "Chase Elliott enters Truck race for first time in three years". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
- ^ ".:Official Internet Home of Schrader Racing:". www.schraderracing.com. Retrieved 2016-12-27.