Steven Portenga (born May 22, 1970) is an American former NASCAR driver. He spent more than 2 decades racing in various national and regional support series to

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 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 he won the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour championship for late models in 1994 and 1998. Portenga and his wife, Windi, are now car owners of the #21 & #31 cars in the

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series, NASCAR Winston Transcontinental Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing Sto ...

, where he's also the crew chief for one of those drivers, Alex Schutte. Portenga won his first racing championship in 1991 at Silver State Raceway in the Winston Racing Series. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, he competed full-time 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 ...

, winning one pole and finishing in the top-ten three times, finishing 13th in points. He ran six races the following year, his best finish 15th at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway (formerly known as ISM Raceway from 2018–2020, Phoenix International Raceway from 1964–1973 and 1976–2017, and FasTrack International Speedway from 1973–1976) is a dogleg oval track in Avondale, Arizona. The track has ...

. 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 ...

, he 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 a ...

debut 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 ...

, finishing 41st. He also attempted to make his

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, ...

debut at Sears Point International Raceway, but failed to qualify. 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 ...

, he returned to the trucks, running two races for MacDonald Motorsports and one race in his own truck, finishing fourteenth at

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway (formerly known as Kansas International Speedway in initial planning and construction stages) is a tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The track, since its inaugural season of ...

. He ran two races the next year, posting two top-tens. He attempted Phoenix with Ware Racing Enterprises in the Cup series, but missed the race.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (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

References

External links

*
Steve Portenga Driver Card
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portenga, Steve Living people 1970 births Sportspeople from Sparks, Nevada Racing drivers from Nevada NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners