Wendell Phillip Chavous Jr. (born February 28, 1985) is an American former 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 ...

driver and current

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. He last competed part-time in the

NASCAR 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 ...

, driving both the Nos. 15 and 49

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 ...

s for Premium Motorsports. He has also driven for

MAKE Motorsports Beaver Motorsports (formerly MAKE Motorsports) is an American drag racing team. The team currently fields a Chevrolet Pro Stock entry in the NHRA. Beaver Motorsports formerly competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Tr ...

and

Mike Harmon Racing Mike Harmon Racing (formerly CHK Racing, Elite 2 Racing and Richardson-Netzloff-Harmon Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team that fields the No. 74 Chevrolet Camaro part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Carson Ware and Daw ...

in the NCWTS. Chavous is also the owner of Steel Barn Truss, a

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

business that makes barn trusses.

Racing career

Early years

Chavous made a name racing late models on dirt tracks, including appearances at the Fastrak Grand Nationals.

Camping World Truck Series

Driving for Mike Harmon, Chavous made his first Truck start in the 2014 Kroger 200, starting last in the 36-truck field but making his way up to 27th. Two weeks later 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 ...

, Chavous finished in the same spot in Harmon's No. 74, albeit more than 30 laps down. Switching to

for the season-ending

Ford EcoBoost 200 Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

a week later, Chavous fell out with electrical problems and finished 31st. After running sporadically in Premium Motorsports' No. 94 for the beginning part of 2015, the team and Chavous announced at

Eldora Speedway Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "the Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "the World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked Dirt track racing, clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, its websit ...

that he would pilot the truck for the rest of the season. However, the deal fell through, with Chavous running only the next three races. His best finish was a sixteenth before the announcement 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 seven races on the season. On February 13, 2017, Premium Motorsports announced that Chavous would compete for 2017 Truck Series Rookie of the Year driving the team's No. 49 entry. Chavous ran the full schedule, except Mosport and Phoenix where he was replaced by Gary Klutt, and Robby Lyons, respectively. He scored a career-best finish of 14th at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...

in the fall. On January 29, 2018, it was announced that Chavous would return to Premium's No. 49 entry for another full-time effort in 2018. Brian Keselowski returned as crew chief. As part of the announcement, addiction help nonprofit Sobriety Nation signed on as sponsor for the entire season. The pairing yielded four top-fifteen efforts, up from one the previous year, although Keselowski departed the team in late spring. On October 8, 2018, Chavous announced his departure from Premium and NASCAR, effective following the October 14 race at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

, citing the need for more family time and business ventures as the reasons to step away. He ended his career with a fifth-place outing in the race.

Personal life

Chavous is married and has a son, who races go-karts. He owns the business Steel Barn Truss, a barn truss manufacturing company.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

K&N Pro Series West

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series driver points

References

External links

*
Steel Barn Truss website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavous, Wendell Living people 1985 births NASCAR drivers People from Hephzibah, Georgia Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state)