American auto racing team
Copp Motorsports
was an American professional
stock car racing
team that competed in the
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
. The team was owned by
D. J. Copp
. The team fielded the No. 63
Chevrolet Silverado
part-time for
Bobby Gerhart
,
Timmy Hill
and
Scott Stenzel
. Copp purchased the assets of
Contreras Motorsports
in early 2017 to make the team.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
During the early part of 2017, D. J. Copp bought the assets of the race team an acquaintance of his,
Carlos Contreras
, owned.
[2]
Copp renumbered the trucks from the Contreras No. 71 to the traditional Copp family number, No. 83.
[3]
In the beginning of the 2017 season, Copp and his wife were the only two full-time employees of the team.
[4]
On August 6, 2019, Copp announced that the future of the team is uncertain, commenting that "some people make it hard to love the sanctioning body".
[5]
Gander Outdoors Truck Series
[
edit
]
Truck No. 36 history
[
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]
To complete the 32-truck field, Copp Motorsports field a second truck No. 36 in partnership with
MB Motorsports
for
Camden Murphy
at
Kansas
.
[6]
The truck returned at
Dover
with
J. J. Yeley
behind the wheel.
Truck No. 63 history
[
edit
]
In 2019, the team decided to run the No. 63 for the whole season in memory of Mike Mittler, who died on May 10, 2019.
[7]
Truck No. 83 history
[
edit
]
In 2017 D. J. Copp, a former dirt racer-turned-tire changer
[8]
and crew chief,
[9]
bought
Contreras Motorsports
and renumbered the No. 71 to the No. 83.
[2]
Copp's family racing history was the driving force behind changing the number to 83.
[3]
They made their first start with
Todd Peck
driving at
Daytona International Speedway
in the
NextEra Energy Resources 250
.
[10]
In their first start, they finished 18th.
[11]
Peck stayed with the team for the next race, but retired early with overheating issues.
[12]
Donnie Levister
then made his first
Camping World Truck Series
race with the team at Martinsville, but again the truck fell victim to mechanical issues.
[13]
Due to lack of sponsorship, the team started and parked in most of the races.
On March 15, 2017, it was announced that former drag racer
Salvatore Iovino
would pilot the Copp Motorsports entry full time in 2018, though the truck number may not be 83, however, the deal fell through and
Scott Stenzel
,
Bayley Currey
, and Kyle Donahue now drive the 83.
[14]
Mike Senica made one start for Copp Motorsports in June 2017 at Iowa Speedway in the M&M's 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He started 33rd and finished 21st.
Partnerships
[
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]
Early in the
2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
season, Copp formed a partnership with
MB Motorsports
, fielding the No. 36 for
Camden Murphy
with MB owner Mike Mittler as crew chief. The following week, Murphy was shuffled out of MB's No. 63 at Charlotte to make room for
Todd Peck
, who ran what appeared to be the Daytona truck renumbered to 63 and still under the MB banner in owner points.
References
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]
External links
[
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]
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Years active
| 2017?2019
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Personnel
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Former drivers
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Partnerships and affiliations
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Buyouts and mergers
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Years active
| 2012?2016
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Personnel
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Former drivers
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Partnerships and affiliations
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Buyouts and mergers
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