Copp Motorsports was an American professional

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 specifical ...

team that competed in the

NASCAR Gander Outdoors 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 (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series is ...

. The team was owned by D. J. Copp. The team fielded the No. 63

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from the to ...

part-time for

Bobby Gerhart Robert Peyton Gerhart Jr. (born July 21, 1958) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He last competed in the ARCA Menards Series, driving Chevrolet SS for Gerhart Racing and the No. 63 Chevy Silverado for ...

Timmy Hill Timothy Grant Hill (born February 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 56 Toyota Tundra for his team, Hill Motorsports, and part- ...

and Scott Stenzel. Copp purchased the assets of Contreras Motorsports in early 2017 to make the team.

History

During the early part of 2017, D. J. Copp bought the assets of the race team an acquaintance of his, Carlos Contreras, owned. Copp renumbered the trucks from the Contreras No. 71 to the traditional Copp family number, No. 83. In the beginning of the 2017 season, Copp and his wife were the only two full-time employees of the team. On August 6, 2019, Copp announced that the future of the team is uncertain, commenting that "some people make it hard to love the sanctioning body".

Gander Outdoors Truck Series

Truck No. 36 history

To complete the 32-truck field, Copp Motorsports field a second truck No. 36 in partnership with MB Motorsports for Camden Murphy at

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. The truck returned at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

with J. J. Yeley behind the wheel.

Truck No. 63 history

In 2019, the team decided to run the No. 63 for the whole season in memory of Mike Mittler, who died on May 10, 2019.

Truck No. 83 history

In 2017 D. J. Copp, a former dirt racer-turned-tire changer and crew chief, bought Contreras Motorsports and renumbered the No. 71 to the No. 83. Copp's family racing history was the driving force behind changing the number to 83. They made their first start with

Todd Peck Todd Michael Peck (born January 29, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 96 Toyota Tundra for Peck Motorsports. He has also raced in the NASCAR ...

driving at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

in the

NextEra Energy Resources 250 The Fresh From Florida 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season at Daytona International Speedway and as of 2004 has been held under the lights. It is the Truck Series event of Speedweeks – the series of races leading up ...

. In their first start, they finished 18th. Peck stayed with the team for the next race, but retired early with overheating issues. Donnie Levister then made his first

Camping World 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 (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series i ...

race with the team at Martinsville, but again the truck fell victim to mechanical issues. Due to lack of sponsorship, the team started and parked in most of the races. On March 15, 2017, it was announced that former drag racer Salvatore Iovino would pilot the Copp Motorsports entry full time in 2018, though the truck number may not be 83, however, the deal fell through and Scott Stenzel, Bayley Currey, and Kyle Donahue now drive the 83. Mike Senica made one start for Copp Motorsports in June 2017 at Iowa Speedway in the M&M's 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He started 33rd and finished 21st.

Partnerships

Early in the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, Copp formed a partnership with MB Motorsports, fielding the No. 36 for Camden Murphy with MB owner Mike Mittler as crew chief. The following week, Murphy was shuffled out of MB's No. 63 at Charlotte to make room for

, who ran what appeared to be the Daytona truck renumbered to 63 and still under the MB banner in owner points.

References

External links

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{{Contreras Motorsports Stock car racing American auto racing teams Defunct NASCAR teams 2017 establishments in North Carolina