Innovative Motorsports (IMI) 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 ...

team. It was owned by George DeBidart and began racing in the Busch North Series in the mid-1990s, before moving to the

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 ...

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 ...

Winston Cup

Innovative ran four Cup races during its tenure. Using the No. 98 Chevy purchased from

Michael Waltrip Racing Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership betwe ...

, Kenny Wallace ran the

Pepsi 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...

, the

Tropicana 400 The Camping World 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, from 2001 to 2019. Previously, the race was held in July from 2001 through 2010, with night races held from 2008 to 2010. F ...

, 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 ...

, and the Sirius at the Glen. His best finish was 29th.

Car No. 98 results

Busch Series

Car No. 47 history

Innovative debuted on the Busch Circuit at the 1998 NAPA Auto Parts 300. Andy Santerre was the driver of the car, the No. 47 Monro Muffler and Brake

Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a two-door coupe that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Deriving its name from the Monte Carlo, city in Monaco, the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car ...

, and finished 25th. Santerre was the driver for the whole season, grabbing two top-tens, a pole at

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 ...

, and NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year honors. The next season, Santerre suffered a broken leg in a crash at Daytona, and missed half of the year.

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

filled in for him, posting two top-ten finishes. Santerre returned and won his first career race at

Pikes Peak International Raceway Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado, that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several series ...

. Santerre struggled making the field, and was released.

Hermie Sadler Herman Marion Sadler III (born April 24, 1969) is an American professional stock car racing driver and broadcaster, businessman and politician. He competed in NASCAR as a driver from 1992 to 2019. In the late 2000s and the 2010s, he scaled back ...

finished the year, his best finish a 22nd at Phoenix. Sadler took over the car full-time 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 ...

, as it was renumbered the No. 30 and receiving sponsorship from

Little Trees Little Trees are disposable air fresheners shaped like a stylized evergreen tree, marketed for use in motor vehicles, and most commonly seen hanging from rear-view mirrors. They are made of an absorbent material produced in a variety of colors an ...

. Sadler struggled making races as well, and would soon be released.

Chad Little Charles Glen Little Jr. (born April 29, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He holds a degree in marketing from Washington State University and a J.D. degree from Gonzaga University. While attending Washington State ...

replaced him, but when his performance didn't improve over Sadler's, Sadler came back to finish the year, and posted a seventh-place run at Pikes Peak. After the team did not run 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 ...

, it returned in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

as the No. 47 with rookie

Shane Hmiel Shane Riley Hmiel (pronounced: "Meal") (born May 15, 1980) is an American former racecar driver, who competed in all three of NASCAR's national series. Hmiel's controversial stock car career, marred by accidents from his aggressive driving style, ...

driving with sponsorship from Mike's Hard Lemonade. Hmiel had two poles, eight top-tens and a sixteenth-place points finish, finishing behind

Scott Riggs Russell Scott Riggs (born January 1, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the 92 for RBR Enterprises in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Racing career Early career Riggs was born in Bahama ...

and

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. He has also driven in the NASCAR Cup ...

for Rookie of the Year. The team closed after that.

Car No. 47 results

Car No. 48 history

The second Innovative car made its debut in 2000 at Daytona with Mike McLaughlin, sponsored by

Goulds Pumps ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...

. He wrecked and finished 26th. McLaughlin struggled through the course of the season, and had six top-tens en route to a 24th-place points finish. Just before the 2001 season, McLaughlin quit the team for

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, ...

, and was replaced by

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 ...

. Wallace had two poles as well as a victory in

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 ...

, finishing 10th in points. After Stacker 2 came on as a sponsor, Wallace improved to seventh in points in 2002 and had thirteen top-tens, but did not win. After the No. 47 team closed its doors, Hmiel moved to the 48 and had ten top-tens and was in eighth in points, when he was suspended by NASCAR for violating its drug policy. Jeff Green,

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 ...

, Carlos Contreras, Randy LaJoie, and

Kerry Earnhardt Kerry Dale Earnhardt (born December 8, 1969) is an American former NASCAR driver and the eldest son of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt. He is the half-brother of former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelle ...

finished out the year for the team.

Car No. 48 results

Craftsman Truck Series

In 2004, Innovative closed its Busch teams, and signed with

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

to field entries in the

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

, the No. 12 driven by

Robert Huffman Robert Huffman (born March 12, 1968) is an American former stock car racing driver from Claremont, North Carolina. He drove in eleven NASCAR Busch Series between 1991 and 1993. He next raced two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 1997. He re ...

and the No. 21 driven by Hank Parker Jr. Huffman, a rookie, had six top-tens, but failed to finish nine races and ended up twenty-third in points. Parker Jr. had four top-tens and finished 17th in points. Due to a lack of funding, Innovative closed up for good at the end of the season, with Huffman's team being sold to

Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Darrell Waltrip Motorsports was a NASCAR team owned by three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip. It was formed in 1991 when Waltrip resigned from Hendrick Motorsports to start his own team, and was originally named DarWal, Inc.. During the ...

, and Parker's team to Capital Motorsports.

Truck No. 12 Results

Truck No. 21 Results

References

External links

George Debidart - NASCAR Owner
{{Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Auto racing teams established in 1998 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2005 Companies based in North Carolina Defunct NASCAR teams American auto racing teams Defunct companies based in North Carolina