Kevin Grubb

Kevin Grubb (April 19, 1978 – May 6, 2009) was an American race car driver from Mechanicsville, Virginia. He was the younger brother of former race car driver Wayne Grubb.[1] He was under suspension from NASCAR competition due to two violations in NASCAR's substance abuse policy at the time of his death.

Kevin Grubb
Grubb at an autograph signing in 2002
Born	April 19, 1978 Mechanicsville, Virginia
Died	May 6, 2009 (aged 31) Richmond, Virginia
Cause of death	Suicide
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
174 races run over 8 years
Best finish	13th (2000)
First race	1997 United States Cellular 200 (Loudon)
Last race	2006 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 32 1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
8 races run over 3 years
Best finish	45th (2006)
First race	1996 Fas Mart Supertruck Shootout (Richmond)
Last race	2006 Toyota Tundra 200 (Nashville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0

Sprint Cup Series

Grubb's only attempt in the NASCAR Sprint Cup came in 2002 when he attempted the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond. He drove the #54 Toys "R" Us Chevy for Team Bristol Motorsports, but was unable to get into the race. During his qualifying attempt he spun out on his second lap and without any owner points was the only car not to make the race. The team was supposed to attempt the 2003 season full-time, with Grubb running for rookie of the year, but the plans fell through.

Busch Series

Grubb's stint in NASCAR's junior series begin in 1997,[2] with four starts with his father's team Grubb Motorsports.[1] His first start came in the #82 Virginia is for Lovers Chevy where he finished 38th at New Hampshire. His first three starts ended in accidents. In his final start of the year, he finished his fourth start in the 21st position at Dover. In 1998, he ran 16 Busch series races for Grubb Motorsports.[1] He ran well in many of those races with a top finish of second at Dover after getting his first pole.[1] His teammate was his brother Wayne Grubb who also raced for his father's team.[1] After a very successful year, Grubb was offered a ride at Brewco Motorsports in 1999. Grubb raced for Brewco through 2001. He would amass 18 top tens in those three years, with his best points finish of 13th in the 2000 season.[1] Early in the 2002 season, he was tabbed to race for Team Bristol Motorsports, replacing Kelly Denton.[3] The team was plagued by failures, and Grubb was released by the end of the season. In 2003, he signed a partial season deal with Carroll Motorsports. He ran well, but had a series of engine problems and got caught in accidents not of his making. Carroll Motorsports folded at the conclusion of the 2003 season. While heading into the 2004 season, he was scheduled to compete in a handful of races for Team Rensi Motorsports, but failed a substance abuse test in March 2004 (below).[1]

Following reinstatement in June 2006, he appeared on an entry list for a Busch Series race at Nashville Speedway as the driver of the #56 Mac Hill Motorsports Chevy. There was some initial doubt as to whether or not he was officially reinstated; however, multiple reports stated that a NASCAR official confirmed that he was reinstated. He drove the car in non-companion events the team entered; however, Kevin Lepage was still the driver most race weekends. He participated in five Busch events before being suspended indefinitely on September 11, 2006.

Camping World Truck Series

Grubb began his career in the NASCAR Truck Series running for the family owned Grubb Motorsports. In 1996, he had two starts in the #55 Virginia is for Lovers Chevy finishing his first start on the lead lap in 18th after starting the race in the 8th position. In his second start, an accident brought his race to an end after just 48 laps. He returned to the series in 1997 for one more start where he finished 13th in an unsponsored Grubb Motorsports Chevy at Nazareth.

In August 2006, he took over the 15 truck for Billy Ballew Motorsports after Kyle Krisiloff left due to a dispute with Kyle's dad over sponsorship. However, that effort ended with the drug suspension in September 2006.

Substance abuse test

NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy allows NASCAR to administer drug tests virtually any time, anywhere, based only on "reasonable suspicion."

Grubb failed a substance abuse test in March 2004, and was inactive until June 2006 when he was reinstated by NASCAR. One of the conditions of his reinstatement was random, unannounced drug tests, a condition to which he agreed. He participated in five Busch events before being suspended indefinitely on September 11, 2006, when he refused to take a drug test following a second-lap crash at Richmond.[1] Failure to take the test resulted in automatic suspension.[1]

The next day, Grubb claimed that his failure to take the test was a result of confusion following a concussion suffered during the race,[1] and offered to take a drug test at that time. He was cleared by the infield hospital following the crash, but was diagnosed with a concussion the next day at a local hospital. He claimed no memory of the refusal to submit to a drug test.[1]

In a comparable situation, NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel was offered a chance at reinstatement after a second such infraction, under condition that he submit to medical and psychological reviews, and frequent drug testing before reinstatement. In February, 2007, Hmiel failed a drug test, and was banned for life.

Death

Grubb was found dead at Alpine Motel on May 6, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. according to Henrico County authorities.[1] The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.[1]

The police reported no indications of any illegal substances inside the hotel room.[1]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston 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	NWCC	Pts
2002	Team Bristol Motorsports	54	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH DNQ	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	NA	-

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch 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	NBSC	Pts
1997	Grubb Motorsports	82	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH DNQ	ATL	LVS	DAR	HCY DNQ	TEX	BRI	NSV	TAL	NHA 38	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO 32	GLN	MLW	MYB	GTY	IRP 36	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH DNQ	DOV 21	CLT	CAL	CAR	HOM						79th	171
1998		52		DAY	CAR 22	LVS	NSV	DAR 15	BRI 24	TEX	HCY 26	TAL	NHA 8			DOV 20	RCH 9	PPR 30	GLN	MLW	MYB 32	CAL	SBO 27	IRP	MCH	BRI 25	DAR 32	RCH 38	DOV 2			CAR 4	ATL 6	HOM					35th	1660
	Akins-Sutton Motorsports	8	Ford											NZH 43	CLT
	Curb Agajanian Performance Group	43	Chevy																											CLT DNQ	GTY 40
1999	Brewco Motorsports	37	Chevy	DAY 8	CAR 16	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR DNQ	TEX 25	NSV 27	BRI 7	TAL 30	CAL 40	NHA 17	RCH 27	NZH 18	CLT 42	DOV 6	SBO 14	GLN 31	MLW 29	MYB DNQ	PPR 17	GTY 36	IRP 28	MCH 20	BRI 37	DAR 20	RCH 5	DOV 39	CLT 39	CAR 38	MEM 8	PHO 21	HOM DNQ				17th	2607
	Grubb Motorsports	83	Chevy					DAR 18
2000	Brewco Motorsports	37	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR 7	LVS 12	ATL 5	DAR 12	BRI 11	TEX 14	NSV 14	TAL 15	CAL 17	RCH 37	NHA 38	CLT 28	DOV 36	SBO 37	MYB 8	GLN 24	MLW 12	NZH 9	PPR 16	GTY 31	IRP 30	MCH 34	BRI 43	DAR 25	RCH 5	DOV 7	CLT 18	CAR 41	MEM 13	PHO 17	HOM 41				13th	3124
2001			Pontiac	DAY 39								TAL 8																											14th	3533
			Chevy		CAR 12	LVS 19	ATL 25	DAR 21	BRI 35	TEX 18	NSH 34		CAL 26	RCH 15	NHA 20	NZH 18	CLT 33	DOV 33	KEN 8	MLW 3	GLN 13	CHI 9	GTY 3	PPR 8	IRP 22	MCH 13	BRI 13	DAR 32	RCH 3	DOV 20	KAN 22	CLT 20	MEM 28	PHO 23	CAR 15	HOM 29
2002	Team Bristol Motorsports	54	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS 41	DAR 32	BRI 12	TEX 24	NSH 16	TAL 11	CAL 19	RCH 5	NHA 10	NZH 32	CLT 8	DOV 10	NSH 39	KEN 35	MLW 30	DAY 9	CHI 16	GTY 3	PPR 11	IRP 30	MCH 31	BRI 20	DAR 14	RCH 33	DOV 35	KAN	CLT	MEM 29	ATL 25	CAR 31	PHO 13	HOM 35		24th	2885
2003	Carroll Racing	26	Dodge	DAY 30	CAR 7	LVS 17	DAR 11	BRI 26	TEX 13	TAL 25			RCH 33	GTY 32	NZH 31	CLT 34	DOV 35	NSH	KEN	MLW 35	DAY 15	CHI 18	NHA 29	PPR 8	IRP 15	MCH	BRI 13	DAR 13	RCH	DOV 19	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO 15	CAR 20	HOM		19th	2498
	Curb Racing	43	Dodge								NSH 12
	Carroll Racing	90	Dodge									CAL 22
2006	Mac Hill Motorsports	56	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH 25	KEN 25	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR 33	GTY 10	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH 43	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	73rd	413

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman 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	26	NCTC	Pts
1996	Grubb Motorsports	55	Chevy	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	TUS	CNS	HPT	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	I70	IRP	FLM	GLN	NSV	RCH 18	NHA	MAR 35	NWS	SON	MMR	PHO	LVS			81st	167
1997			Ford	WDW	TUS	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	I70	NHA 11	TEX	BRI																	63rd	301
			Chevy											NZH 13	MLW	LVL	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	NSV	GLN	RCH DNQ	MAR DNQ	SON	MMR	CAL	PHO	LVS
2006	Billy Ballew Motorsports	15	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	GTY	CLT	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	KAN	KEN 21	MEM 14	IRP 33	NSH 24	BRI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM		45th	376

See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

1. Newton, David (2009-05-07). "Grubb, 31, found dead at hotel". ESPN. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
2. "Ex-NASCAR driver Kevin Grubb found dead in Va". Yahoo!. 2009-05-07. Archived from the original on 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
3. "Grubb To Stay In 54 Car". Motor Racing Network. March 13, 2002. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2016.

• AP Obituary in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

External links

• Kevin Grubb driver statistics at Racing-Reference