Josh Bilicki

Joshua M. Bilicki (born June 3, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver from Richfield, Wisconsin.[1] He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing.

Josh Bilicki
Bilicki at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2019
BornJoshua M. Bilicki
(1995-06-03) June 3, 1995
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
NASCAR Cup Series career
35 races run over 4 years
Car no., teamNo. 52 (Rick Ware Racing)
2020 position49th
Best finish49th (2020)
First race2017 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Last race2020 Season Finale 500 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
68 races run over 5 years
2020 position34th
Best finish33rd (2018)
First race2016 Road America 180 (Road America)
Last race2020 Drive for the Cure 250 (Charlotte Roval)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
9 races run over 2 years
2020 position88th
Best finish88th (2020)
First race2019 Digital Ally 250 (Kansas)
Last race2020 SpeedyCash.com 400 (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of January 19, 2021.

He has also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series, and in sports car racing.

Racing career

Early years

Starting with kid-karts at age four, Bilicki quickly moved through the ranks and into the next classes.[2] After several years in kid-karts and the Yamaha 100cc engine class, he moved to 80cc Shifter Karts. Bilicki showed his dominance quickly by winning many regional and national races, including the 2008 Road America SKUSA Super-Nationals, which brought competition from across the globe. Several times he even competed against and beat faster 125cc Shifter Karts. In 2011, Bilicki made the jump to 125cc Shifter Karts, and in 2012 Bilicki was recognized and brought on board the Andrew Chase Racing-PCR team, competing in the Midwest Shifter Kart Series in a brand new PCR Shifter Kart.[3]

Sports cars

After racing Shifter Karts at a top level for nearly five years, Bilicki made the transition to sportscars at age fifteen in 2011, beginning with Spec Miata and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Within his first year of sportscar racing, he proved himself once again by earning two pole positions, four top-five finishing positions, and three podiums. After earning his national racing license in 2012, Bilicki began racing the SCCA Majors Tour and has qualified for the famed SCCA National Championship Runoffs every attempt tried. 2012 also marked his debut in an Area Sportsman Stock Car at a local circle track, Jefferson Speedway.

After several successful years of racing Spec Miata nationally, 2015 marked Bilicki's first year of professional sportscar racing in the IMSA Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge. He also raced a Spec Miata in the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour.

NASCAR
2016 Xfinity Series car for Obaika Racing

Bilicki debuted in the Xfinity Series with Obaika Racing at Road America in 2016. In a blog post, he said that he got his ride by contacting teams that had "TBA" on the entry list the week of the race, and he got a call back from Obaika, offering him a spot.[4] Unfortunately, a crash in qualifying and a dead battery during the race derailed his weekend at his home track, and he finished 38th.[5] Bilicki returned to Obaika Racing, albeit this time in the No. 97, for the Ticket Galaxy 200, his first oval start since 2012.[6] Starting last in the 40-car field, he avoided trouble and worked his way up to 28th position. He continued his stint with Obaika for the Ford EcoBoost 300, staying in the 97 car alongside Ryan Ellis in Obaika's other entry, the No. 77.[7] Bilicki started 37th and finished 34th.

Bilicki returned to the No. 77 in 2017, along with other races planned with Obaika.[8] In April, Bilicki announced he would make his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in June's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, driving the No. 51 for Rick Ware Racing.[9] After starting 33rd, he finished 36th.[10] Bilicki also drove an Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway for MBM Motorsports,[11] finishing 27th. He ran another race for Rick Ware Racing in Cup, but it was not the second road course race as planned. Instead, Bilicki made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series oval debut at New Hampshire.[12] Later in the season, he signed a deal to run all three of the Xfinity road courses for B. J. McLeod Motorsports, running the organization's No. 8 entry.[13] After pit road speeding penalties at Watkins Glen and a crash at Mid-Ohio, Bilicki ran down Elliott Sadler in the final green flag run to finish twelfth at his home track, Road America.[14] He continued his relationship with McLeod a couple weeks later, driving the team's flagship No. 78 at Chicagoland Speedway.[15]

Bilicki's No. 45 in 2018 at Road America

On February 5, 2018, it was announced that Bilicki would attempt the full Xfinity season for startup team JP Motorsports, bringing with him previous sponsor Prevagen to the No. 45.[16]

On February 4, 2019, it was announced that Bilicki would join RSS Racing to pilot the team's No. 38 Chevrolet Camaro for the full 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.[17] In May, he made his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut in the Digital Ally 250 at Kansas Speedway, driving the No. 34 for Reaume Brothers Racing.[18] He also returned to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in June, driving for Rick Ware Racing at Michigan.[19] Later in the month, he drove Ware's No. 53 at Chicagoland.[20] Before the Kansas Lottery 300 in October, he announced he would drive for B. J. McLeod Motorsports for the remainder of the 2019 season.[21]

On May 11, 2020, Bilicki and Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that they would partner for the 2020 The Real Heroes 400.[22] He also drove sporadically for B. J. McLeod Motorsports, and tied his career-high finish in the Xfinity Series with a 12th-place finish at the Daytona International Speedway road course.[23]

On January 19, 2021, Bilicki announced he would compete full-time in the Cup Series for RWR.[24]

Snowmobile

Bilicki won the Outlaw 600 division race at the 2019 World Championship Snowmobile Derby in his home state.[25]

Personal life

Bilicki works as a driving coach and instructor when he is not behind the wheel. He is close friends with fellow NASCAR driver Camden Murphy.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs
YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
2012Road AmericaMazda MiataMazdaSpec Miata1620Running
2013Road AmericaMazda MiataMazdaSpec Miata3439Running
2015DaytonaMazda MiataMazdaSpec Miata5543Running

NASCAR

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

Cup Series
NASCAR 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 NCSC Pts Ref
2017 Rick Ware Racing 51 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON
36		 DAY KEN NHA
36		 IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 65th 01 [26]
2018 Ford DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH SON CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN
36		 MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 72nd 01 [27]
2019 52 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH
33		 SON GLN
32		 MCH 58th 01 [28]
53 CHI
33		 DAY KEN NHA POC
35		 BRI
35		 DAR CLT
38		 DOV TAL
Ford IND
29		 LVS RCH KAN
36		 MAR
51 Chevy TEX
30		 PHO
52 Ford HOM
36
2020 Tommy Baldwin Racing 7 Chevy DAY LVS CAL PHO DAR
34		 DAR CLT CLT
36		 BRI POC
32		 POC
34		 IND
25		 MCH
33		 DAY DAY
38		 DAR
32		 RCH BRI
39		 KAN
35		 TEX
29		 MAR
32		 49th 01 [29]
Rick Ware Racing 27 Ford ATL
34		 MAR
53 Chevy HOM
37		 TAL TEX
31		 KAN
25		 NHA MCH DOV
32		 DOV
32
Ford LVS
36		 TAL
Spire Motorsports 77 Chevy KEN
32		 PHO
35
Rick Ware Racing 51 Ford CLT
33
2021 52 DAY
 DAY HOM LVS PHO ATL BRI MAR RCH TAL KAN DAR DOV COA CLT SON NSH POC POC ROA ATL NHA GLN IND MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL CLT TEX KAN MAR PHO
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
2021 Rick Ware Racing Ford

Xfinity Series
NASCAR Xfinity 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 NXSC Pts Ref
2016 Obaika Racing 77 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA
38		 DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX 62nd 23 [30]
97 PHO
28		 HOM
34
2017 77 DAY ATL LVS
DNQ		 PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL CLT DOV POC 44th 63 [31]
MBM Motorsports 40 Chevy MCH
27		 IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW
B. J. McLeod Motorsports 8 Chevy GLN
28		 MOH
29		 BRI ROA
12		 DAR RCH
78 CHI
34		 KEN DOV
30		 CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM
2018 JP Motorsports 45 Toyota DAY
DNQ		 ATL
DNQ		 LVS
28		 PHO
32		 CAL
32		 TEX
24		 BRI
32		 RCH
33		 TAL
28		 DOV
29		 CLT
25		 POC
29		 MCH
27		 IOW
36		 CHI
35		 DAY
40		 KEN
28		 NHA
34		 IOW
40		 GLN
32		 MOH
20		 BRI
35		 ROA
30		 DAR
28		 IND
38		 LVS
27		 RCH
30		 CLT
24		 DOV
31		 KAN
20		 TEX
Wth		 PHO
34		 HOM
DNQ		 33rd 202 [32]
2019 RSS Racing 38 Chevy DAY
23		 ATL
34		 NHA
DNQ		 IOW 92nd 01 [33]
93 LVS
36		 PHO
26		 CAL
29		 TEX
30		 BRI
36		 RCH TAL
33		 DOV
38		 CLT
36		 POC
34		 MCH
21		 IOW
38		 CHI
DNQ		 DAY KEN
32		 GLN
26		 MOH
17		 BRI ROA
20		 DAR IND
21		 LVS RCH CLT
26		 DOV
Rick Ware Racing 17 Chevy CHI
35
B. J. McLeod Motorsports 99 Toyota KAN
29		 TEX
21		 PHO
23		 HOM
2020 DAY
21		 LVS CAL
29		 PHO DAR CLT BRI ATL HOM HOM TAL POC IND
23		 KEN KEN TEX KAN ROA
17		 DAY
12		 DOV DOV DAY DAR RCH RCH BRI LVS TAL
18		 34th 140 [34]
78 CLT
13		 KAN TEX MAR PHO

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors 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 NGTC Pts Ref
2019 Reaume Brothers Racing 34 Chevy DAY ATL LVS MAR TEX DOV KAN
18		 CLT
DNQ		 TEX IOW GTW KEN
20		 POC ELD MCH BRI MSP LVS TAL MAR PHO 90th 7 [35]
33 CHI
19		 HOM
30
2020 34 DAY LVS
32		 CLT ATL HOM POC KEN TEX KAN KAN MCH DAY DOV GTW DAR 88th 01 [36]
33 Toyota RCH
25		 KAN
28
00 BRI
26		 LVS TAL TEX
19		 MAR PHO

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References
  1. Josh Bilicki gets his break as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  2. "Slinger High School graduate Josh Bilicki races with the nation's best". FOX6Now.com. 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  3. "10 Questions with Josh Bilicki – SCCA US Majors driver". 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  4. "Behind the Wheel – Josh Bilicki Blogs About His Xfinity Series Debuet". 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  5. "Josh Bilicki 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  6. "NASCAR Xfinity: Josh Bilicki makes series oval debut at Phoenix | Maximum Sports Channels". Maximum Sports Channels. 2016-11-12. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  7. "Drivers announced for Obaika Racing in NASCAR XFINITY Series Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway". Catchfence. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  8. "Kallmann: With debut set, Ty Majeski's NASCAR plans taking shape". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  9. "Josh Bilicki joins Rick Ware Racing Cup program for Sonoma, Watkins Glen". Josh Bilicki. April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  10. "2017 Toyota / Save Mart 350". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  11. "The Podium Finish: Josh Bilicki Strives NASCAR Career". The Podium Finish. 2017-06-17. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  12. "Driver Josh Bilicki 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  13. Bioscience, Quincy. "Prevagen To Sponsor Josh Bilicki And B.J. McLeod Motorsports For NASCAR XFINITY Series Road Courses". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  14. "Clements wins 1st career NASCAR race at Road America". www.gmtoday.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  15. "Prevagen Extends Josh Bilicki Sponsorship; Celebrates Ten Years of Prevagen at NASCAR Chicagoland 300". Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  16. "Josh Bilicki joins JP Motorsports". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  17. Catanzareti, Zach. "Josh Bilicki Ready For Step Up With RSS Racing". Kickin The Tires. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  18. "Bilicki to make NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut at Kansas". Josh Bilicki Racing. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  19. Nguyen, Justin. "Josh Bilicki, Kyle Weatherman join Rick Ware for Michigan double duty". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  20. "Bilicki set for triple duty at Chicagoland". Josh Bilicki Racing. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  21. "Bilicki partners with Furniture Mall of Kansas and joins BJ McLeod Motorsports for remainder of 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Season". Josh Bilicki Racing. October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  22. Gillispie, Zach (May 11, 2020). "Tommy Baldwin Racing, Josh Bilicki Team Up for Darlington". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  23. Catanzareti, Zach (August 16, 2020). "Josh Bilicki Ties Best Xfinity Finish at Daytona Road Course". Kickin The Tires. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  24. "Josh Bilicki Running Full 2021 Cup Schedule with Rick Ware Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 19, 2021.
  25. "Session". www.race-monitor.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  26. "Josh Bilicki – 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  27. "Josh Bilicki – 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  28. "Josh Bilicki – 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  29. "Josh Bilicki – 2020 NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  30. "Josh Bilicki – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  31. "Josh Bilicki – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  32. "Josh Bilicki – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  33. "Josh Bilicki – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  34. "Josh Bilicki – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  35. "Josh Bilicki – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  36. "Josh Bilicki – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
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