Ed rensi biography

Former NASCAR team

Team Rensi Motorsports was a NASCARNationwide Series team owned by Ronnie Russell, Ed Rensi, Gary Weisbaum, and formerly Sam Rensi. The team has also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA racing series.

Ed Rensi, who was president and CEO of McDonald's USA from to , has been Team Rensi Racing's Chairman and CEO since October ^[1][3]

Car No. 24 history

Jason Keller ()

The No. 24 team debuted in as the No. 35 being driven by veteran Jason Keller with sponsorship from McDonald's. Despite a ninth-place finish in points, Keller struggled to run up front, and he left for Phoenix Racing at the end of the season.

Regan Smith ()

Regan Smith took his place in , and had one top-ten finish. Smith departed from the ride for Ginn Racing. Hamilton returned to Rensi to drive the No. 35 for the season, finishing sixth in points.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. ()

During the –08 offseason, McDonald's ended its sponsorship of the No. 35 and David Gilliland took the sponsorship of the No. 25 car to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Team Rensi signed Smithfield Foods as prime sponsor of the No. 25 car, allowing Hamilton to move to that team. The 35 returned late in with Danny O'Quinn driving, but he failed to finish both races he ran.

Eric McClure (&#;)

The car made a return to full-time racing in , with Eric McClure bringing both Hefty sponsorship and the No. 24 over from Front Row Motorsports.

In , McClure and Hefty remained with the team. After surgery on his foot, McClure was relieved by driver Chris Cook at Road America. D. J. Kennington raced the car at Montreal to an 11th-place finish, as McClure sat out of the race due to a concussion the prior week from Bristol. McClure and Hefty will leave the team for , citing performance issues and a lacking budget from Team Rensi.

Kevin Lepage ()

For , Kevin Lepage drove the car for the first several races of the season. Lepage ran full races initially, but was forced to withdraw from Bristol after a practice crash and did not arrive at Talladega. They were last seen at Texas.

Car No. 24 results

Car No. 25 history

Early years (&#;)

The team, then known as Team Rensi Motorsports first joined the Busch Series in , fielding the No. 25 Dura LubeChevrolet Monte Carlo for Jeff Finley. They finished 13th at the season opening NAPA Auto Parts , but Finley failed to qualify for the next few races, and he and the team drifted apart. Kenny Wallace took over at Nashville, and drove 18 races that season for the team, posting nine finishes of seventh or better. Rick Fuller, David Blankenship and Scott Lagasse drove two races a piece for the team as well, and they finished eighteenth in owner's points that season. Wallace returned again in with new sponsor Lance Snacks, and posted eight top-ten finishes, his best finish was 4th twice at Bristol races. Blankenship and Andy Santerre drove in the races that Wallace did not run, with Santerre finishing 3rd at Pikes Peak.

Chad Chaffin ()

In , the U.S. Marines signed on as sponsor. Since Wallace had moved onto Innovative Motorsports, Chad Chaffin began the year with the team, but after he couldn't finish higher than 16th at Atlanta, he was released. Rookie David Donohue took over at the Pepsi Presented by Mapco/Williams, but he too, struggled in the ride, and was released after 12 starts. Randy Tolsma finished the season for the team, who finished 29th in points that year.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. (&#;)

After , Rensi switched to Ford Tauruses and signed Bobby Hamilton Jr. to drive. After a slow start, the two began to gain momentum, and they picked up their first win at the Busch , and finished eighth in points. This success carried over into the next season as well, as Hamilton won four races and finished fourth in points. They would not be able to win in , and after the Cabela's , Hamilton left to drive for PPI Motorsports at the Nextel Cup level, and Mike McLaughlin took over for the rest of the season, finishing second at the Stacker Presented by YJ Stinger.

Ashton Lewis (&#;)

In , Rensi signed Ashton Lewis to drive the 25 car. Lewis had five top-ten finishes and a fourteenth-place finish in points. After many poor performances, however, Lewis was released and the Marines left as a sponsor.

David Gilliland and Richard Johns ()

For , credit report site signed on as sponsor, with Nextel Cup driver David Gilliland and head engineer Richard Johns originally slated to share the ride. During the weekend, Gilliland announced his departure from the No. 25, citing that he needed to focus on his Yates Racing No. 38 Cup ride. Johns drove for the remainder of the season.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. ()

The team returned Hamilton to the ride for the season in the newly renamed Nationwide Series, as his No. 35 team had folded. Smithfield Foods served as the sponsor for 30 races, and Hamilton drove to a fifteenth-place points finish with two top-ten finishes. Boris Said drove the 25 for two road course races with No Fear sponsorship.

Part-time (&#;)

The No. 25 returned for one race in , at ORP with Hamilton Jr. driving.

In , the No. 25 raced at Richmond and Charlotte with Kelly Bires behind the wheel and Raybestos as the sponsor.

For , the No. 25 team, with driver Kelly Bires, qualified for the Daytona race, but lack of funding caused them to start and park, only completing a few laps.

The last time they were seen at a racetrack was at Michigan which was going to be the Nationwide debut for Chad Finley. Unfortunately, Finley crashed the car in practice and the team did not have a backup, so they were forced to withdraw.

Car No. 25 results

Craftsman Trucks

Team Rensi began fielding a Craftsman Truck team in , after purchasing equipment from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Driver Jimmy Hensley drove the mostly unsponsored No. 16 Chevrolet Silverado to a 13th-place finish in points. In , Donohue began running the No. 16, but after three races, the team shut down due to sponsorship issues. Randy Tolsma drove the No. 61 that year and was tenth in points when his team closed as well due to financial problems. He ran one final Truck race for Rensi in (driven by Butch Miller), finishing 18th in a Marine-sponsored truck at Martinsville Speedway, the last race for Rensi's truck program.

References

External links