Erik Darnell
Erik Darnell | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Darnell at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 2008 | |||||||
Born | Erik Louis Darnell December 2, 1982 Beach Park, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||
Achievements | 2003 Wisconsin Challenge Series Champion | ||||||
Awards | 2006 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year | ||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
9 races run over 2 years | |||||||
2011 position | 51st | ||||||
Best finish | 47th (2009) | ||||||
First race | 2009 Pep Boys Auto 500 (Atlanta) | ||||||
Last race | 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 (Pocono) | ||||||
| |||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
52 races run over 5 years | |||||||
2012 position | 17th | ||||||
Best finish | 17th (2012) | ||||||
First race | 2008 Corona México 200 (Mexico City) | ||||||
Last race | 2012 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead) | ||||||
| |||||||
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
77 races run over 5 years | |||||||
2021 position | 66th | ||||||
Best finish | 4th (2008) | ||||||
First race | 2004 Black Cat Fireworks 200 (Milwaukee) | ||||||
Last race | 2021 LiftKits4Less.com 200 (Darlington) | ||||||
First win | 2007 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas) | ||||||
Last win | 2008 Cool City Customs 200 (Michigan) | ||||||
| |||||||
Statistics current as of December 30, 2021. |
Erik Louis Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the grandson of former USAC and NASCAR driver Bay Darnell, who also started three NASCAR races (including one for Holman Moody).[1] Darnell formerly drove for Roush Fenway Racing, joining the team in 2005 after being a co-winner on the Discovery Channel program Roush Racing: Driver X, along with David Ragan.
Racing career
[edit]Early career
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Johnny_Benson.jpg/220px-Johnny_Benson.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Erik_Darnell_Michigan.jpg/220px-Erik_Darnell_Michigan.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/ErikDarnellFordMilwaukeeMile2009.jpg/220px-ErikDarnellFordMilwaukeeMile2009.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Erik_Darnell_Pocono_2011.jpg/220px-Erik_Darnell_Pocono_2011.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/40_Erik_Darnell_2012_Road_America_Sargento_200.jpg/220px-40_Erik_Darnell_2012_Road_America_Sargento_200.jpg)
Darnell began racing at the age of 12 in the River Valley Kart Club. He won the championship in the purple plate class in his second year of competition, later racing Allison Legacy Series cars after go karts. His first year of super late models was at Illiana Motor Speedway, with Erik finishing 3rd in the final standings with 1 win. Erik beat the best Wisconsin super late model drivers to win the 2003 Wisconsin Challenge Series championship. At that time his five wins were the most in the series' history.[2] He set the super late model track record at Lake Geneva Raceway in 2004.[3]
2004–2012: NASCAR and ARCA
[edit]Darnell drove in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Milwaukee in 2004, finishing 26th. He also raced in numerous NASCAR touring series races.
Darnell drove in several NASCAR touring series and six ARCA races in 2005.
Darnell raced full-time in the Truck Series in 2006. He had twelve top-10 finishes in 25 events, and he was the series' Rookie of the Year. He continued to drive for the team in 2007, as well as testing the team's Busch Series cars. On April 28, 2007, Darnell won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway for his first Truck Series win.
Darnell started the 2008 season by capturing the pole position at the Daytona International Speedway. He won his second career CTS race in June 2008 at Michigan International Speedway by .005 of a second over Johnny Benson.
For 2009, Darnell planned to compete in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series races, sharing the car with Cup Series driver David Ragan, and would also run for Rookie of the Year. The first race on his schedule was at Richmond International Raceway where he finished 12th. Also, Darnell competed in seven of the final 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He ran the car at Atlanta, Loudon, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead. Darnell competed in the No. 96 Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford for the Atlanta, Talladega, and Texas races. He alternated the ride with Bobby Labonte.
In 2010, Darnell found himself without a ride for most of the season due to the lack of sponsorship. He continued to stay on at Roush Fenway Racing as a practice-qualifying driver for Carl Edwards at the standalone Nationwide Series races. Darnell did a 3 race deal to drive Roush's No. 16 Ford in the Nationwide Series. His best finish was 14th at Dover and Texas.
In 2011, Darnell returned to the Cup Series, driving for Whitney Motorsports in several races. In 2012, he competed for The Motorsports Group (formerly Key Motorsports) in the Nationwide Series.
2013–present: Post-NASCAR career
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Erik_Darnell_wins_2013_Dick_Trickle_99.jpg/220px-Erik_Darnell_wins_2013_Dick_Trickle_99.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Erik_Darnell_victory_lane_Dells_Raceway_Park_2016.jpg/220px-Erik_Darnell_victory_lane_Dells_Raceway_Park_2016.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/ErikDarnell2018LaCrosseOktoberfest.jpg/220px-ErikDarnell2018LaCrosseOktoberfest.jpg)
Darnell didn't race in NASCAR during 2013. He won the Dick Trickle 99 Super Late Model Oktoberfest race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in October 2013.[4] He has made occasional starts in various Midwest series since. Darnell led much of the second half of the 2019 Oktoberfest ARCA Midwest Tour race at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway before finishing third behind Ty Majeski.[5]
2021: Return to NASCAR
[edit]On May 3, 2021, it was revealed through the release of the entry list for the Truck Series race at Darlington that Darnell would drive the No. 45 for Niece Motorsports in that race with sponsorship from his former sponsor at Roush, Northern Tool + Equipment. This would be his first start in NASCAR since 2012 and first in the Truck Series since 2008.[6]
Motorsports career results
[edit]NASCAR
[edit](key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Sprint Cup Series
[edit]NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | NSCC | Pts | Ref |
2009 | Hall of Fame Racing | 96 | Ford | DAY | CAL | LVS | ATL | BRI | MAR | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | NHA | DAY | CHI | IND | POC | GLN | MCH | BRI | ATL 30 | RCH | NHA 30 | DOV | KAN 29 | CAL | CLT | MAR | TAL 37 | TEX 30 | PHO 31 | HOM 36 | 47th | 472 | [7] |
2011 | Whitney Motorsports | 46 | Chevy | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | MAR | TEX | TAL | RCH | DAR | DOV | CLT | KAN | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | KEN | NHA 39 | 51st | 2 | [8] | |||||||||||||||||
Ford | IND DNQ | POC 42 | GLN | MCH DNQ | BRI | ATL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Max Q Motorsports | 37 | Chevy | RCH DNQ | CHI | NHA | DOV | KAN | CLT | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM |
Nationwide Series
[edit]Camping World Truck Series
[edit]NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | NCWTC | Pts | Ref |
2004 | MRD Motorsports | 06 | Ford | DAY | ATL | MAR | MFD | CLT | DOV | TEX | MEM | MLW 26 | KAN | KEN | GTW | MCH | IRP | NSH | BRI | RCH | NHA | LVS | CAL | TEX | MAR | PHO | DAR | HOM | 100th | 85 | [15] |
2006 | Roush Racing | 99 | DAY 6 | CAL 11 | ATL 8 | MAR 11 | GTY 31 | CLT 10 | MFD 13 | DOV 25 | TEX 35 | MCH 12 | MLW 27 | KAN 26 | KEN 9 | MEM 2 | IRP 10 | NSH 12 | BRI 18 | NHA 9 | LVS 17 | TAL 19 | MAR 3 | ATL 3 | TEX 9 | PHO 10 | HOM 3 | 12th | 3136 | [16] | |
2007 | Roush Fenway Racing | DAY 12 | CAL 13 | ATL 24 | MAR 18 | KAN 1* | CLT 30 | MFD 15 | DOV 18 | TEX 32 | MCH 26 | MLW 6 | MEM 9 | KEN 29 | IRP 7 | NSH 9 | BRI 13 | GTW 7 | NHA 2 | LVS 5 | TAL 29 | MAR 25 | ATL 26 | TEX 14 | PHO 35 | HOM 24 | 12th | 2875 | [17] | ||
2008 | DAY 21 | CAL 11 | ATL 12 | MAR 5 | KAN 28 | CLT 4 | MFD 11 | DOV 25 | TEX 24 | MCH 1 | MLW 4 | MEM 2 | KEN 29 | IRP 3 | NSH 2 | BRI 15 | GTW 6 | NHA 4 | LVS 2* | TAL 12* | MAR 19 | ATL 6 | TEX 18 | PHO 7 | HOM 11 | 4th | 3412 | [18] | |||
2021 | Niece Motorsports | 45 | Chevy | DAY | DAY | LVS | ATL | BRI | RCH | KAN | DAR 17 | COA | CLT | TEX | NSH | POC | KNX | GLN | GTW | DAR | BRI | LVS | TAL | MAR | PHO | 66th | 20 | [19] |
ARCA Re/Max Series
[edit](key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Re/Max Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ARMC | Pts | Ref |
2005 | Roulo Brothers Racing | 39 | Ford | DAY | NSH | SLM | KEN | TOL | LAN | MIL 4 | POC | MCH | KAN | KEN | BLN | POC | GTW 5 | LER | NSH 8 | MCH 20 | ISF | TOL | DSF | CHI 32 | SLM | TAL 13 | 38th | 980 | [20] |
2007 | Roush Fenway Racing | 99 | DAY | USA | NSH | SLM | KAN 2 | WIN | KEN 1* | TOL | IOW | POC | MCH 1* | BLN | KEN | POC | NSH | ISF | MIL | GTW | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL | TOL | 47th | 700 | [21] |
References
[edit]- ^ Bay Darnell's NASCAR driver statistics at racing-reference.info, Retrieved March 8, 2007
- ^ May 21, 2006; "Haseleu goes for second WIR spring win"; The Post-Crescent,
- ^ Lake Geneva Raceway Checkered Flag Final Season (2006)
- ^ Brown, Jeff (October 5, 2013). "Trickle would have enjoyed Darnell's victory". La Crosse Tribune. La Crosse, WI. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
- ^ Marotta, Karley (7 October 2019). "Majeski crowned 2019 Oktoberfest champion". WXOW. WXOW. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ Carey, Michael (May 3, 2021). "Erik Darnell Returning To Truck Series With NIECE Motorsports For Darlington". TobyChristie.com.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ^ "Erik Darnell – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Erik Darnell driver statistics at Racing-Reference