Bob Whitcomb Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that formerly competed in the

NASCAR 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 ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...

. As a successor to DiGard Motorsports, the team achieved its most prominent victory in the

1990 Daytona 500 The 1990 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 18, 1990, in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a ...

with driver Derrike Cope. In the same year, they secured a second race win with Cope at the wheel. From at least 1989 until 1990, the team had a technical alliance with

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...

. The team shut down in 1993.

Cup series

During the 1987–88 NASCAR offseason,

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...

businessman Bob Whitcomb bought the assets and the points for the DiGard Motorsports team and rechristened it "Bob Whitcomb Racing". Whitcomb earned his money in the concrete industry through his family's concrete and stone manufacturing business. In 1988, Whitcomb hired fellow New Englander Ken Bouchard to pilot the No. 10 Ford, winning that season's Rookie of the Year award. The team eventually switched to Pontiac for the final three races of the season. Despite winning Rookie of the Year, Bouchard managed only one top 10 and failed to qualify for five races, including the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

. In 1989, Bouchard returned, and the team continued to drive Pontiacs. Five races into the 1989 season, Bouchard was fired in favor of Derrike Cope, who had recently left Jim Testa's No. 68 car. Cope brought sponsorship from

Purolator Filters MANN+HUMMEL Purolator Filters LLC, more commonly known as Purolator, is an American manufacturer of oil and air filters, based in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Since 2013, it has been a subsidiary of German filter manufacturer Mann+Hummel. Purol ...

to the team, who required that Cope be the driver if they were to sponsor the No. 10. Together, the team garnered four top-10 finishes in 1989 while also failing to finish nine races. For the

1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 42nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 19th modern-era Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. It began on Sunday, February 11, and ended on Sunday, November 18. ...

season, Whitcomb Racing would switch from the

Pontiac Grand Prix The Grand Prix is a line of automobiles produced by the Pontiac (automobile), Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1962 until 2002 as coupes and from 1989 through 2008 model years as four-door sedans. First introduced as a full-size car, full ...

to the Chevrolet Lumina, receiving technical support from

. They also bought engines from Hendrick. Cope and Purolator would both return to the team. 1990 would be the breakout season for both the team and Cope. After a strong

Speedweeks Daytona Speedweek presented by AdventHealth is a series of racing events that take place during January and February at Daytona International Speedway. Traditionally leading up to the Daytona 500, in 2021 it concluded with the 2021 O'Reilly Auto ...

, Cope was running in the second position behind

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

in the

. On the final lap, Earnhardt would blow a tire, allowing Cope to slide under and score his first career win. Cope would win again later that season at Dover. These would be Cope's only victories in the Cup. In 1991, Purolator and Cope returned to the team. Cope posted two top-10 finishes and one top-5. Cope and Purolator again returned for the 1992 season. The team posted three top tens in the 1992 season. The team lost sponsorship from Purolator, and this effectively caused Bob Whitcomb to shut the team down two weeks before the 1993 Daytona 500 Speedweeks, leaving Cope without a ride. Cope was subsequently offered to drive the 98 for Cale Yarborough Motorsports, leaving Jimmy Hensley without a team for the start of the 1993 season. The crew chief in 1990 was Buddy Parrott. In mid-1992, the single-car team switched crew chiefs, hiring Barry Dodson, formerly of

Rusty Wallace Russell "Rusty" William Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series NASCAR Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup ...

's Penske team. The team's assets went for sale in 1993, but Whitcomb would make one more attempt as an owner at Richmond in September 1994.https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1994_Miller_Genuine_Draft_400_%28September%29/W/ Dirk Stephens would fail to qualify.https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1994_Miller_Genuine_Draft_400_%28September%29/W/

Car No. 10 results

References

American auto racing teams Defunct NASCAR teams {{Improve categories, date=June 2023