ISM Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Bob Hancher. The team fielded entries in the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

and 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 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, ...

Series.

Indy Racing League

ISM fielded cars in the IRL from 1997 to 1999. 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 ...

, Jeff Ward finished 6th in IRL driver points and won the pole at Phoenix in an ISM car and the team fielded three cars in the

1998 Indianapolis 500 The 82nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1998. This was the third Indianapolis 500 run as part of the Indy Racing League, but the first fully-sanctioned by the IRL after they r ...

. However, the team was only able to run part-time 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 ...

and shut down in July of that year. The IRL team used

G-Force The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a Specific force, mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in Unit of measurement, units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for ...

chassis and

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 ...

engines.

ISM IRL drivers

* Jim Guthrie (1998) *

Steve Knapp Steve Knapp (born April 17, 1964, Minneapolis, Minnesota), is a former driver in IndyCar. He raced in the 1998–2000 seasons with 13 career starts, including 3 at the Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indiana ...

(1998-1999) * Jeff Ward (1997-1999)

Complete IRL IndyCar Series results

( key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) # In conjunction with Sinden Racing Services.

NASCAR: Team Tabasco

ISM started its NASCAR operation in 1997, starting as a part-time operation with the intent of running the full 1998 Winston Cup season. The team received backing from

McIlhenny Company McIlhenny or McElhenny is an Irish surname commonly found in Donegal and Derry. They are a Sept of the Cenel Eogain race, son of Niall high king of Ireland. In Gaelic the name translates "servant of Saint Canice". Notable people with the surname in ...

, the makers of Tabasco hot sauce, and hired

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 ...

, who had last raced full-time in Winston Cup in 1995 for

Butch Mock Motorsports Rahmoc Enterprises is a former NASCAR Winston Cup team that operated from 1978 to 1993. The team was owned by long-time engine builder Bob Rahilly (racing), Bob Rahilly and Butch Mock. Rahilly and Mock split in 1992, with the race team becoming ...

, to drive the team's #35 Pontiac. The team attempted the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte and the season finale at Atlanta, finishing 26th in the former and failing to qualify in the latter. 1998 started off poorly for Bodine as he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and the following two races. The team followed this up with an unexpected front row start at Atlanta, and recorded its first top ten when Bodine finished tenth. This would be the only top ten the team would record, and after running 27th at Darlington and 29th at Bristol, the #35 missed the race at Texas. Bodine then ran 39th at Martinsville before missing the race at California Speedway with an injury suffered in a practice crash. Wally Dallenbach, Jr. brought the car home in 29th, after starting 42nd. Despite the #35's struggles, McIlhenny was not initially upset with the results as they had been largely focused on using their sponsorship as a giant marketing tool. Things began to change when, after he only qualified for five of the first thirteen races of the season, Bodine was released from his contract. After only qualifying for one additional race with

Gary Bradberry Gary Arnold Bradberry (born January 27, 1961) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He raced in the NASCAR All-Pro Series, and had top-ten points finishes from 1990 to 1993. After that, Bradberry made the jump to major NASCAR league ...

attempting the July race at New Hampshire, Hancher decided to exit NASCAR and sold the #35 to

Tyler Jet Motorsports Tyler Jet Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team. History Tyler Jet Motorsports was owned by Tim Beverley, owner of the airplane sales company that shared a name with the race team, and was formed in 1998 when Beverley bought Darrell W ...

Car No. 35 results

References

{{Tyler Jet Motorsports American auto racing teams Defunct NASCAR teams IndyCar Series teams McIlhenny family 1997 establishments in the United States 1999 disestablishments in the United States