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Featherlite Southwest Tour
The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series (originally NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour) was a late model stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR that was held in the Southwestern United States. The original NASCAR Southwest Tour began in 1985 and ran until NASCAR discontinued the Elite Division in 2006. The cars feature a perimeter frame chassis where rails of equal lengths must kick out, compared to the more modern offset chassis where one side is straight and one side kicks out. They weigh 2,900 pounds and have a fiberglass body. When NASCAR eliminated the Elite Division at the end of the 2006 season, several competitors joined former IRL driver Davey Hamilton's SRL Southwest Tour. Champions NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series * 2006: Rip Michels * 2005: Jim Pettit II * 2004: Jim Pettit II * 2003: Auggie Vidovich NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour * 2002: Eddy McKean * 2001: Craig Raudman * 2000: Matt Crafton * 1999: Kurt Busch * 1998: Steve ...
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Late Model
Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification to the engines of post-World War II passenger cars, but the modern day understanding references a class that allows considerable modifications to both the engine and body, yet requires some form of front fender package. Overview As the post WWII auto industry began meeting demand for new cars, auto lots were filling up with the pre-war coupes and sedans. These 1939-1941 cars, "modified" with souped up engines, were finding their way to competitions at racing ovals converted from horse racing or newly carved out in fields. In 1948 NASCAR became one of the first organizations to standardize the rules to ensure equal competition. The rulebook mandated that all cars had to be American made, and ...
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Steve Portenga
Steven Portenga (born May 22, 1970) is an American former NASCAR driver. He spent more than 2 decades racing in various national and regional support series to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and he won the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour championship for late models in 1994 and 1998. Portenga and his wife, Windi, are now car owners of the #21 & #31 cars in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, where he's also the crew chief for one of those drivers, Alex Schutte. Portenga won his first racing championship in 1991 at Silver State Raceway in the Winston Racing Series. In 1995, he competed full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series, winning one pole and finishing in the top-ten three times, finishing 13th in points. He ran six races the following year, his best finish 15th at Phoenix International Raceway. In 1999, he made his Busch Series debut at Pikes Peak International Raceway, finishing 41st. He also attempted to make his Winston Cup debut at Sears Point International Raceway, but ...
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NASCAR Series
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in the world and is one of the largest spectator sports leagues in America. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. NASCAR, and stock car racing as a whole, traces its roots back to moonshine runners during Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition, who grew to compete against each other in a show of pride. This happened notably in North Carolina. In 1935, Bill France Sr. established races in Daytona Beach, with the hope that people would come to watch races and that r ...
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Ron Esau
Ronald Richard Esau (October 9, 1954 – January 24, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who competed from 1975 to 1990.''Ron Esau Career Statistics''
at Racing Reference


Career

The primary vehicle for this driver was the No. 56 Marc Reno-owned Gear Vendor .''Ron Esau''
racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
He completed 1,704 laps - the equivalent of of racing - while picking up eight DNQs in the proces ...
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Mike Chase
Mike Chase (April 17, 1952 – April 18, 2025) was an American professional stock car racing driver. Winner of the 1994 series championship in the NASCAR Winston West Series, he also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series and worked for Penske Racing as a crewman. Background Born in Redding, California, Chase moved to the Charlotte, North Carolina, area in 1993 to further his racing career. Chase died April 18, 2025, at the age of 73. Early career Growing up competing at Shasta Speedway in his native California, Chase began competing in NASCAR touring series in the mid-1980s, winning the 1987 championship in the Featherlite Southwest Tour; Chase also made his debut in the Busch Series in 1986 at Darlington Raceway, finishing 32nd. Chase moved up to the Winston West Series in 1990 where he won Rookie of the Year. In 1991 he made his debut in the Winston Cup Series, competing in a combination race at Sears Point Raceway; he finished ...
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Doug George
Douglas Paul George (born November 5, 1960) is an American professional stock car racing driver and crew chief in NASCAR. He serves as the crew chief of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driven by Ben Rhodes. Racing career He began racing professionally in the 1980s, driving for his own team. In 1990, he won the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Rookie of the Year award. He later moved to the NASCAR Winston West Series, where he won Rookie of the Year honors and later, the 1995 series championship. George made his NASCAR debut in 1995 at Sears Point International Raceway. Driving the No. 07 Olson Technology Ford Thunderbird, he qualified 42nd and finished 31st in the Winston Cup race. He ran an additional race that season at Phoenix International Raceway, where he finished 41st after a wreck. In 1996, he ran the Craftsman Truck Series in the No. 21 Ortho Ford F-150. He had a fifth-place run at Sears Point, and finished 12th i ...
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Rick Carelli
Richard Dean Carelli (born November 9, 1954) is an American former race car driver from Arvada, Colorado. He was nicknamed the "High Plains Drifter". He won multiple times in the No. 6 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series truck. He is the spotter for Erik Jones in the NASCAR Cup Series. Racing career Carelli won the NASCAR Southwest Tour championship in 1991 and won 21 times in the series during his career. He joined the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series in 1992, and he was named the series Rookie of the Year. He returned to the series in 1993, capturing the series championship and Most Popular Driver award. He has won nine times in that series. He was one of the original drivers in the Craftsman Truck Series, starting at the series' first race at Phoenix in 1995. Carelli raced every series race until he suffered near-fatal injuries when his truck hit the wall during a race at Memphis Motorsports Park in 1999. He suffered a basilar skull fracture, ...
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Ron Hornaday Jr
Ronald Lee Hornaday Jr. (born June 20, 1958) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He currently owns Team Hornaday Development, a driver development program, as well as Hornaday Race Cars, a Dirt Modified chassis builder. He is also the father of former NASCAR driver Ronnie Hornaday and son of the late Ron Hornaday Sr., a two-time NASCAR Winston West Series Champion. Hornaday himself is a four-time champion in the NASCAR Truck Series, his most recent coming in 2009 and is a NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour Champion. He was noticed by Dale Earnhardt while participating in the NASCAR Winter Heat on TNN. Racing career Beginnings Hornaday was born in Palmdale, California, and began racing in go-karts and motorcycles early in his career. Eventually, he moved up to race stock cars at Saugus Speedway. In 1992, he won his first championship in the Southwest Series as well as winning the Most Popular Driver award. He won the Southwest champi ...
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Lance Hooper
Lance Allen Hooper (born June 1, 1967) is an American former race car driver and crew chief in NASCAR as well as several touring divisions. Hooper attended his first race when he was just two weeks old, and also came from a long line of racing champions, including his uncle, father, and brother. Hooper last served as the driver and crew chief of the No. 44 Key Motorsports Chevy in the Truck Series in 2009. Racing career Hooper did not race much in 1999. He ran one Busch Series race for Jackson and made an unsuccessful attempt at the 1999 Brickyard 400 with Fenley-Moore Motorsports after replacing Jeff Davis during qualifying. Motorsports career results NASCAR ( key) () Winston Cup Series Busch Series Camping World Truck Series Busch North Series Winston West Series ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series ( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ...
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Chris Raudman
Chris Raudman (August 26, 1963 - October 28, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a regular competitor in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour, and was the series' 1996 champion; he also attempted to qualify for one NASCAR Winston Cup Series race during his career. Career The brother of Craig Raudman, Chris Raudman began his racing career competing in Late model stock car at Shasta Raceway Park; in 1994, he won the track's Late Model championship. He finished tenth in the Sunbelt Region standings of NASCAR's Winston Racing Series that season. In 1996, Raudman moved full-time to the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour, a regional late-model-style series, competing for the series' Rookie of the Year title. In addition to winning Rookie of the Year, he won two races on his way to beating Bryan Germone by 160 points for the series championship. Raudman also won the series' prestigious "Winter Heat Series" race at Tucson Raceway Park that year. In 1997, Raudman returne ...
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Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American auto racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000–2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the 2017 Daytona 500 winner. He is the older brother of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. Busch began his NASCAR Cup Series career in 2000, driving for teams including 23XI Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Stewart–Haas Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Phoenix Racing, Penske Racing, and Roush Racing. He has won 34 Cup races and claimed the championship in the inaugural " Chase for the Cup" points format. In 2006, he joined an elite group of 36 drivers to win races in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Camping World Truck Series. Early in his career, Busch gained attention for his aggressive driving and clashes with competitors, team members, and the media. Over time, he became kno ...
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Stock Car Racing
Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the Culture of the Southern United States, southern United States and later spread to Japan; its largest governing body is NASCAR. Its NASCAR Cup Series is the premier top-level series of professional stock car racing. Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile also have forms of stock car racing in the Americas. Other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, have forms of stock car racing worldwide as well. Top-level races typically range between in length. Top-level stock cars exceed at speedway tracks and on superspeedway tracks such as Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Contemporary NASCAR-spec top-level cars produce maximum power outputs of 860� ...
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