FILMAR Racing 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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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

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 a ...

team. It was owned by Fil Martocci and crew chief

Gil Martin Gilford Hicks Martin Jr. (born September 17, 1960) is an American NASCAR crew chief. He was employed at Richard Childress Racing as the Competition Director of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Shop, formerly the owner of FILMAR Racing and the crew chi ...

. The team was sold in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

to the Pinnacle Motorsports Group and then to Davis & Weight Motorsports.

Beginnings

FILMAR began racing in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

when they fielded the No. 8

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

driven by

Bobby Hamilton Charles Robert Hamilton Sr. (May 29, 1957 – January 7, 2007) was an American stock car racing driver and racing team owner. A driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit and the winner of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Serie ...

in the Busch series, winning in September at Richmond. Originally unsponsored, they picked up sponsorship from TIC Financial Industries in June 1990, starting at

Orange County Speedway Orange County Speedway is a asphalt oval in Orange County, North Carolina, near Rougemont. It first opened in 1966 as a and a dirt oval (Trico Speedway), which operated until 1967 and 1973, respectively. The facility was reopened and paved i ...

. Hamilton had seven top-fives and finished eleventh in points, but departed for the Winston Cup series and was replaced by David Green. Despite missing a pair of races early in the season, Green won the pole for the season-opening

Goody's 300 The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the United Rentals 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the ...

and won at Lanier Raceway. He finished thirteenth in points and finished runner-up to

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

for Rookie of the Year honors. At the end of the season, Green was replaced by

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 23 career victories in the NASCAR ...

. Burton had four top-fives, including a win at New Hampshire International Speedway, and finished ninth in points. In

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, Baby Ruth became the team's sponsor as they switched to Ford, and despite winning at

Myrtle Beach Speedway Myrtle Beach Speedway (originally named Rambi Raceway) was a Short track motor racing, short track located on U.S. Route 501 near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The track was built in 1958. The speedway was a semi-banked Asphalt concrete, asphalt ...

, Burton and the team dropped to fourteenth in points. The team also made its Cup debut that year with Burton at New Hampshire, starting 6th but finishing 37th after their No. 0 Ford wrecked in a lap 3 incident.

Kenny Wallace years

After Burton left to run for

Stavola Brothers Racing Stavola Brothers Racing was a NASCAR racing team, owned by Bill and Mickey Stavola, and operating NASCAR Winston Cup team from 1984 through 1998. The team won the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison behind the wheel of the No. 12 Miller High Lif ...

's Cup program,

Kenny Wallace Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for '' Fox NASCAR''. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning 25 years in NASCAR, Wallace had ...

was hired as the team's new driver for

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Wallace won a pole at

Nazareth Speedway Nazareth Speedway was an auto racing facility in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Nazareth Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which operated from 1910 to 2004. The racing facility operated in two distinct co ...

and won at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, Martinsville, and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

late in the year and finished fourth in points. They also ran a Cup race at

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, finishing nineteenth in the No. 81 car. In 1995, FILMAR and Wallace split time between the Cup and Busch Series. In Cup, the team ran 11 races, finishing in the top-30 three times. In Busch, the team ran fifteen races with sponsorship from Red Dog and won at Richmond and finished 27th in points. In addition to winning again at Richmond in 1996, the team moved up to the Cup series full-time with sponsorship from

Square D Square D is an American manufacturer of electrical equipment headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts. Square D is a flagship brand of Schneider Electric, which acquired the company in 1991. The company was listed on the New York Stock Ex ...

. Wallace had a seventh-place finish at

North Carolina Speedway Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway from 1998 to 2007 and North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 1996) is a D-shaped oval track in Rockingham, North Carolina, United States. The track ...

and finished 28th in points. The following season, FILMAR ran its last Busch race at Richmond as the No. 12

Graybar Graybar Electric Company, Inc. is an American wholesale electrical, communications and data networking products distribution business, which also supplies related supply-chain management and logistics services. The company is based in Clayton, ...

Ford, starting 27th and finishing 26th. That year, Wallace won his first two career poles in Cup at Martinsville and Bristol. Despite two top-tens, Wallace and the team dropped to 33rd in the standings. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, Wallace posted seven top-tens but failed to qualify twice, finishing 31st in points.

Davis & Weight

Towards the end of 1998, Wallace announced he and Square D would be departing FILMAR and join

Andy Petree Racing Andy Petree Racing (APR) was a NASCAR team that won 12 races. Originally formed in 1985 as Jackson Bros. Motorsports, its ownership changed hands several times over the years, with three different owners from its beginning to its closure in 2004 in ...

. After rumors spread that

Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and is curre ...

or Willy T. Ribbs would be the team's new driver for 1999, Marcotti sold the team to an organization called the Pinnacle Motorsports Group. The team planned to run that year's

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 ...

with

Morgan Shepherd Clay Morgan Shepherd (born October 12, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 89 Chevrolet Camaro for Shepherd Racing Vent ...

driving, but failed to qualify. The group was sold again to Davis & Weight Motorsports late in the season. The team made its Busch debut at the

Food City 250 Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have been held at Bristol Motor Speedway, in Bristol, Tennessee during numerous seasons and times of year since the series’ inception in 1982. From 2021 to 2023, the series has had one date. ...

with

Brandon Sperling Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales * Brandon, ...

driving the No. 55

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 ...

with sponsorship from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

. He started and finished 27th. Michael Ritch ran a pair of races for D&W that year, at Rockingham and

Memphis Motorsports Park Memphis International Raceway (formerly known as Memphis Motorsports Park) was an auto racing park located near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, approximately ten miles south of Millington, and a few miles north ...

, his best finish a 35th. D&W hired Ritch to compete full-time in the Busch Series in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

competing for Rookie of the Year honors. In addition, they announced they would run the No. 81 in Cup in five races that season to move up full-time in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. Ritch made 21 starts that season and had five top-twenty finishes in the UoF/

Kleenex Kleenex is a brand name primarily known for their line of facial tissues. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue, ''Kleenex'' is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark applied to products made in 78 countries. The ...

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from 1985 to 2019. From 1985 to 2009, Ford marketed the Taurus alongside its rebadged variant, the Mercury Sable. Four generati ...

, and finished 33rd in points, but the team did not attempt any Cup races. In

, Mark Green took over, and had a best finish of sixteenth at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

when the team announced it was closing its Busch program to focus on Cup. After announcing they would attempt the

Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the ...

, the team laid off all of its employees and did not attempt a race again.

Motorsports results

Winston Cup

Car No. 81 results

Busch Series

Car No. 8 results (FILMAR era)

Car No. 55 results (Davis & Weight era)

References

External links

Fil Martocci Winston Cup Owner StatisticsDavis & Weight Motorsports Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filmar Racing American auto racing teams Companies based in North Carolina Defunct companies based in North Carolina Defunct NASCAR teams Auto racing teams established in 1989 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2003 Motorsport in Nashville, Tennessee