JP Motorsports

JP Motorsports
Owner(s) Jerry Hattaway
Phyllis Hattaway
Base Escalon, California
Series NASCAR Xfinity Series
Car numbers 45, 55
Race drivers 45. Josh Bilicki
55. Stephen Leicht, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brandon Hightower, Bayley Currey, Dylan Murcott, James French, Peter Shepherd III
Sponsors 45. Prevagen
55. Jani-King (Leicht), Swampdaddy Crawfish (Cobb), Premier Recycling, Timmons Truck Center, Cane River Brewing Co. (Hightower), Prevagen (Currey, French, Shepherd), national Exhaust Systems (Shepherd)
Manufacturer Toyota
Opened 2018
Career
Debut 2018 PowerShares QQQ 300 (Daytona)
Latest race 2018 Bar Harbor 200 (Dover)
Races competed 53
Drivers' Championships 0
Race victories 0
Pole positions 0

JP Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and is owned by Jerry and Phyllis Hattaway. The team currently fields the No. 45 Toyota Camry full-time for Josh Bilicki, and the No. 55 Camry full-time for Stephen Leicht, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brandon Hightower, Bayley Currey, Dylan Murcott, James French and Peter Shepherd III. JPM was formed in early 2018 from the assets of TriStar Motorsports' Xfinity Series program.

The Hattaways, before forming their own team, and previously has alliances with Derrike Cope Racing and MBM Motorsports.

Pre-ownership=

The team first became involved in NASCAR when they became partners in Derrike Cope Racing at the beginning of 2016. The partnership dissolved by the end of the season with Cope closing his team. The team then partnered with MBM Motorsports for Iowa's summer race in 2017 with Bobby Dale Earnhardt as the driver, though he failed to qualify.

Car No. 45 history

On February 5, 2018, it was announced that Josh Bilicki would drive a second full time car, the No. 45, for JP with sponsorship coming from previous Bilicki partner Prevagen.[1] The deal with Bilicki came after the team acquired an old Joe Gibbs Racing car to complement its original stable of TriStar Motorsports cars. The team failed to qualify for the PowerShares QQQ 300 and the Rinnai 250, but has run every race since.

Car No. 55 history

In 2018, JP Motorsports announced that Stephen Leicht would drive the No. 55 car for the full 2018 season, with Jason Houghtaling as his crew chief.[2] Jennifer Jo Cobb replaced Leicht in the No. 55 at Talladega.[3] After Leicht returned to run at Dover, the team and driver parted ways. Brandon Hightower stepped in as driver starting at Charlotte Motor Speedway.[4] Hightower later left the team after Kentucky following a dispute about asset ownership; Bayley Currey stepped in as a last-minute replacement at Loudon. Sports car driver Dylan Murcott drove the car at Mid-Ohio but was relegated to last after a first-lap crash.[5] Currey then became the team's oval driver, with Wisconsin native James French taking over the seat at Road America.[6]

References

  1. "Josh Bilicki joins JP Motorsports". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  2. "JP Motorsports plans full 2018 XFINITY schedule". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. "Jennifer Jo Cobb to drive No. 55 JP Motorsports entry at Talladega Superspeedway". Catchfence. April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  4. "Brandon Hightower joins JP Motorsports; Leicht leaves team". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  5. Beard, Brock. "XFINITY: Dylan Murcott's NASCAR debut ends in China Beach after only four corners". LASTCAR.info. Blogger. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  6. Kallman, Dave. "Katherine Legge, Conor Daly step outside comfort zone into NASCAR". Journal-Sentinel Online. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
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