Bryan Reffner is a former

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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...

driver. He was also a champion in the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in t ...

Career prior to NASCAR

Reffner began racing at age 16. Reffner became a regular competitor in the late model division at

Madison International Speedway The Madison International Speedway (MIS) is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest H ...

. He was named the

ARTGO The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers have used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA, ARCA, and NASCAR. Art ...

Series (now NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series) rookie-of-the-year in 1983. Reffner won three track championships in 1989 and 1990. Reffner moved to the American Speed Association in 1994, and became the 1995 ASA champion.

NASCAR career

Reffner made his Craftsman Truck Series debut in 1996, winning Rookie of the Year, driving the #44

1-800-COLLECT 1-800-COLLECT (1-800-265-5328) is a 1-800 number, owned and operated by Viiz Communications, which provides fixed rate collect calling in the United States. The service was launched by MCI in 1993. History Launch Prior to 1993, collect calling ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

for

Mark Simo Mark "Simo" Simonaitis (born October 1, 1959) is an American race car driver and entrepreneur. He is the twin brother of racer Brian Simo. Currently, he is the CEO of No Fear, and is a co-owner of No Fear Racing. Simo has made two NASCAR Craf ...

. He finished the year with 3 top fives, 9 top tens, and three poles, finishing ninth in the points. He continued to run full-time in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, posting two top-tens for Dale Phelon. In 1998, he started the year with Phelon, but was released, and spent the rest of the season running with

Liberty Racing Liberty Racing was an American auto racing team co-owned by former Cleveland Cavaliers player Brad Daugherty and owner of Liberty auto Group Jim Herrick. The team ran a single Ford in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series between 1997 and 1999. Nota ...

and

MB Motorsports MB Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Foristell, Missouri, and was owned by Mike Mittler until his death in 2019. The team was one of few to ...

. He had eight top-tens and finished 22nd in points. 1999 turned out to be a short year for him, as he ran only 13 races. He started the year signed to drive for a new two-truck operation,

Ridge Gate Motion Sports A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

, owned by Mike Clark and

Dominic Dobson Dominic Dobson (born September 14, 1957) is a German-born former CART and Craftsman Truck Series driver who made 7 starts in the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of 12th in 1992, over 60 starts in the CART (Championship Auto Racing Series), wit ...

. However, he left the team early in the season as he felt the team had not lived up to its obligations, and spent the year with Conely Racing, running thirteen races. In 2000 however, he had a breakthrough year, driving for

Team Menard Team Menard was an auto racing team that competed in the Indianapolis 500, CART, Indy Racing League, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was owned by Menards founder, John Menard Jr.. Founded in 1980 to compete in CAR ...

. He won his first career race at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 2 ...

, (a race that unfortunately marked the

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

of Tony Roper) and having 16 top tens, finishing 9th in the points. Four races into 2001 however, Team Menard suspended operations, and Reffner ran just a handful of races, for Conely and

TKO Motorsports TKO may refer to: Sports * Technical knockout, a professional fighting term * Total Knock Out, a professional wrestling move Music Artists * TKO (band), a rock band from Seattle, Washington * TKO, a pop group led by Katie White Albums * ''TK ...

. He had three top-tens during that season. He ran three races in 2002, his best finish a thirteenth at Michigan. He also made his

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...

debut at Michigan. Driving the #0 for Conely, he started 25th and finished 29th. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, he made his last two CTS starts to date, driving his self-owned #80 at Richmond and Homestead. In 2003 he returned to the American Speed Association, and finished sixth in points. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, Reffner made two starts for Smith Bros. Racing, but failed to finish higher than 35th. He also made a failed attempt at qualifying for the

NEXTEL Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

Phoenix race with Competitive Edge Motorsports. He also was leading the points in the

American Stockcar League American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

series going into the final 3 races of 2005 and was declared the ASL Champion when the final races were canceled.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Re/Max Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* (from Internet Archive) *
Rocky road for Reffner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reffner, Bryan American Speed Association drivers ARCA Midwest Tour drivers NASCAR drivers Living people 1963 births People from Rudolph, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Wisconsin