Leavine Family Racing

Leavine Family Racing (formerly Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing and originally Leavine Fenton Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Owned by Sharon and Bob Leavine, the team is headquartered in Tyler, Texas, but operates its racing team from a shop in Concord, North Carolina. In 2016, longtime NASCAR team owner Joe Falk became part of the ownership group, merging his Circle Sport operation with Leavine Family Racing, however as the 2016 season came to an end, Falk left the team securing his charter, and causing Leavine Family Racing to purchase a charter from Tommy Baldwin Racing.

Leavine Family Racing
Owner(s)Bob Leavine
Sharon Leavine
BaseTyler, Texas
Concord, North Carolina
SeriesNASCAR Cup Series
Race drivers95. Christopher Bell (R)
Sponsors95. Procore, Rheem, JBL, Toyota, Germania Insurance
ManufacturerToyota
Opened2011
Closed2020
Career
DebutNASCAR Cup Series:
2011 Samsung Mobile 500 (Texas)
Xfinity Series:
2013 Dollar General 300 (Charlotte)
ARCA Racing Series:
2011 Prairie Meadows 200 (Iowa)
Latest raceNASCAR Cup Series:
2020 Season Finale 500 (Phoenix)
Xfinity Series:
2013 Dollar General 300 (Charlotte)
ARCA Racing Series:
2012 Kansas Lottery 98.9 (Kansas)
Races competedTotal: 267
NASCAR Cup Series: 256
Xfinity Series: 1
ARCA Racing Series: 10
Drivers' ChampionshipsTotal: 0
NASCAR Cup Series: 0
Xfinity Series: 0
ARCA Racing Series: 0
Race victoriesTotal: 0
NASCAR Cup Series: 0
Xfinity Series: 0
ARCA Racing Series: 0
Pole positionsTotal: 0
NASCAR Cup Series: 0
Xfinity Series: 0
ARCA Racing Series: 0

Leavine Family Racing had a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, with Christopher Bell driving the No. 95 Toyota Camry.[1] The team previously fielded Fords with a technical alliance with Team Penske from 2011 to 2015, and Chevrolets with a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing from 2016 to 2018.

On July 23, 2020, it was reported that Bob Leavine solicited bids for the team due to the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] On August 4, Leavine confirmed that his team has been sold and will cease operations at the end of the 2020 season, with its fleet of Toyotas to be returned to Joe Gibbs Racing.[3] One week later, the team's assets were purchased by Spire Motorsports.[4]

NASCAR Cup Series

Car No. 59 history
Main article: Hillman-Circle Sport LLC
Michael McDowell in the No. 59 at Daytona International Speedway in 2016.

In 2016, Circle Sport - Leavine Family Racing, as part of the Circle Sport merger, agreed to have Ty Dillon drive the No. 95 for the 2016 Daytona 500. Michael McDowell would attempt the race in a second entry, the No. 59 Thrivent Financial / K-Love Chevy. McDowell qualified the 500 by finishing 14th in his Can-Am Duel race. McDowell had a commendable finish in the car during the Daytona 500, finishing 15th. This was the only start in 2016 for the No. 59 other than the season finale at Homestead. Before the weekend, the team acquired a charter from the No. 7 team of Tommy Baldwin Racing, which guaranteed the No. 59 a spot in the race. The car finished 10th in the race, after avoiding a big crash that took out the teammate's No. 95 car with just a few laps left in the race.

Car No. 59 results
Year Driver 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 Owners Pts
2016 Michael McDowell 59 Chevy DAY
15		 ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN DOV CLT POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN BRI MCH DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT KAN TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM
10		 32nd1 4941

Car No. 95 history
David Starr (2011)
The team's 2011 car

Founded as Leavine Fenton Racing by Bob Leavine and Lance Fenton in early 2011, the team planned to compete on a limited basis in the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series, with David Starr competing in the former for six events and Fenton driving in the latter for three.[5] Based in Tyler, Texas but with its race shop in Concord, North Carolina,[6] the team made its debut in the Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway in April of that year;[7] Starr qualified for the race, his first in Sprint Cup competition, and finished 38th following an accident.[8]

Following competing in the Sprint Showdown and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway,[9] the team announced that Fenton's share in the team had been acquired by Leavine and his wife, Sharon; the team was renamed as Leavine Family Racing. Fenton had not attempted any Truck Series events before leaving the team.[10] After failing to qualify at Kentucky Speedway, the team next raced at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, scoring its best finish and Starr's career-best in the series, 27th; Leavine Family Racing and Starr would fail to qualify for events at Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway and in the fall at Texas Motor Speedway over the remainder of the year, only making one further race, at Atlanta Motor Speedway where they posted a 29th-place finish.[11]

Scott Speed (2012-2013)
The team's 2013 car at Martinsville

Starr left Leavine Family Racing following the 2011 season; for 2012, Leavine hired Scott Speed to drive the team's No. 95 Fords in the Sprint Cup Series, with Wally Rogers as crew chief;[12] a 15-race schedule in NASCAR's premier series was planned for the season.[13] The team qualified for races with Speed at Richmond International Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway with Speed, starting and parking, before finishing 25th at Sonoma Raceway.[14] The team also posted a 14th-place finish in the Sprint Showdown, a non-points event.[12] At the 2012 Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen, Speed finished 17th.

In August 2012 Leavine Family Racing announced that it had re-signed Speed for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season, intending to run 28 events on the 36 race schedule.[15] The team had its best finish at the 2013 Aaron's 499 with a ninth-place finish, however, they started and parked most other events. Speed left the team after the Atlanta race, citing his frustration with the team's starting and parking and hinting that the plan had been to run more full races. He was replaced on an interim basis by Reed Sorenson.[16]

Michael McDowell (2014-2017)
Michael McDowell in the No. 95 during the 2017 Toyota Owners 400

In October 2013, Leavine Family Racing announced that Michael McDowell would drive the team's No. 95 Ford Fusion Cup Series entry in 2014.[17] They ran 20 of the 36 races. On January 28, 2014, Leavine announced that KLOVE, Thrivent Financial, and several other sponsors would sponsor all 20 scheduled races in the 2014 Sprint Cup season. The sponsorship meant the team would be able to run full races, and enabled it to ally with Team Penske.

At the 2014 Coke Zero 400, McDowell and Leavine Family Racing finished their career-best with a 7th-place finish in the rain-shortened event. The team's performance was much improved with the Penske alliance, and additional sponsorship allowed the team to run seven of the final eight events and 22 in total. The team finished 43rd in owners' points.

McDowell returned in 2015, as did K-LOVE and Thrivent. The team once again planned to run at least 20 races and maintained its Penske alliance. McDowell was able to make the Daytona 500, a race he had failed to qualify for in 2014. The team posted four DNQs in 2015, three of which were due to rainouts and an increase in full-time entries. In early summer, the team made the news in unfortunate fashion after part of their shop burned down. This forced them to take refuge on the Team Penske campus, inside their former sports car shop, until their facility was repaired enough for them to return.[18] The team ultimately slipped slightly to 44th in owner points but did finish ahead of the No. 62, a team that attempted all 36 races.

In January 2016, longtime NASCAR team owner Joe Falk became an investor in Leavine Family Racing and the team switched to Chevrolet. Falk brought a charter granted to him, to the No. 95 team, guaranteeing the 95 its first full season of racing. The team formed an alliance with Richard Childress Racing. The No. 95 attempted all 36 races, with McDowell returning to run in at least 26 events with sponsorship from K-Love and Thrivent, and Ty Dillon driving in at max 10 races, with sponsorship from General Mills and AstraZeneca. McDowell ran the majority of the events,[19][20][21] and ran the Daytona 500 in a second entry, the No. 59.

Kasey Kahne (2018)
Kasey Kahne in the 95 at Sonoma Raceway in 2018

On September 19, 2017, Leavine Family Racing announced former Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne would be replacing McDowell in the No. 95 for the 2018 season.[22] On August 16, 2018, Kahne announced that he will step away from full time competition at the end of the year.[23][24] On September 6, 2018, after heat exhaustion from the Southern 500, Kahne announced that he would sit out the Brickyard 400, which became the first race he missed since he began his full-time Cup Series career. Regan Smith took the wheel of the No. 95 car in Kahne's absence.[25] On October 9, Kahne announced that he will miss the rest of the season due to lingering medical conditions.[26]

Matt DiBenedetto (2019)
Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 95 during the 2019 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

On October 10, 2018, Matt DiBenedetto signed a two-year contract with Leavine Family Racing to drive the No. 95 starting in 2019. Also, Leavine Family Racing will switch from Chevrolet to Toyota while entering a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.[1] At the 2019 Daytona 500, DiBenedetto led an impressive 49 laps before Paul Menard spun him from behind, triggering "The Big One" that claimed 21 cars and resulting in DiBenedetto finishing 28th. DiBenedetto scored a career-high fourth-place finish at Sonoma. DiBenedetto then scored four more top 10s in the summer months including an eighth at Daytona, a fifth at Loudon, a sixth at Watkins Glen, and a career-high second for both DiBenedetto and Leavine Family Racing at the Bristol Night Race.[27]

Christopher Bell (2020)
Bell's No. 95 Toyota at Daytona International Speedway in 2020

On September 24, 2019, Leavine Family Racing officially announced Christopher Bell as the new driver of the No. 95 for the 2020 season.[28] Prior to the Las Vegas race, the team was docked 10 driver and owner points for an L1 level penalty during pre-race inspection.[29] In LFR's final season, the No. 95 finished 20th in the points standings.[30]

Car No. 95 results
Year Driver 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 Owners Pts
2011 David Starr 95 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX
38		 TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT
36		 KAN POC MCH SON DAY KEN
DNQ		 NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI
27		 ATL
29		 RCH CHI
DNQ		 NHA DOV KAN
DNQ		 CLT TAL MAR TEX
DNQ		 PHO HOM 47th 47
2012 Scott Speed DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX
43		 KAN RCH
43		 TAL DAR CLT
37		 DOV POC MCH SON
25		 KEN
39		 DAY NHA IND
38		 POC GLN
17		 MCH BRI
DNQ		 ATL
37		 RCH CHI
41		 NHA
38		 DOV
40		 TAL CLT
40		 KAN
34		 MAR
37		 TEX
30		 PHO HOM 43rd 121
2013 DAY
23		 PHO
41		 LVS
41		 BRI
40		 CAL MAR
41		 TEX
DNQ		 KAN RCH TAL
9		 DAR
41		 CLT
43		 DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY
28		 NHA IND
DNQ		 POC GLN MCH
41		 BRI
40		 ATL
43		 44th 126
Reed Sorenson RCH
42		 CHI
42		 DOV
41		 KAN
42		 MAR
40		 TEX PHO
37		 HOM
Scott Riggs NHA
43
Blake Koch CLT
38		 TAL
2014 Michael McDowell DAY
DNQ		 PHO
33		 LVS
43		 BRI
37		 CAL MAR
37		 TEX
30		 DAR RCH
DNQ		 TAL
36		 KAN CLT
30		 DOV POC MCH SON
24		 KEN DAY
7		 NHA IND
26		 POC GLN
42		 MCH BRI
18		 ATL
DNQ		 RCH CHI
32		 NHA DOV KAN
35		 CLT
29		 TAL
41		 MAR TEX
30		 PHO
31		 HOM
21		 42nd 255
2015 DAY
31		 ATL
27		 LVS
30		 PHO CAL MAR TEX
31		 BRI
22		 RCH TAL
DNQ		 KAN
36		 CLT
30		 DOV POC MCH SON
34		 DAY
DNQ		 KEN
DNQ		 NHA IND
31		 POC GLN
20		 MCH BRI
31		 DAR RCH
42		 CHI
DNQ		 NHA DOV CLT
31		 KAN TAL
28		 MAR TEX
34		 PHO HOM
33		 44th 213
2016 Ty Dillon Chevy DAY
25		 TEX
20		 POC
21		 MCH
24		 KEN
25		 DOV
32		 HOM
33		 30th 552
Michael McDowell ATL
33		 LVS
29		 PHO
26		 CAL
31		 MAR
24		 BRI
29		 RCH
31		 TAL
21		 KAN
28		 DOV
20		 CLT
34		 SON
39		 DAY
10		 NHA
39		 IND
23		 POC
23		 GLN
17		 BRI
19		 MCH
31		 DAR
27		 RCH
12		 CHI
37		 NHA
26		 CLT
14		 KAN
22		 TAL
16		 MAR
18		 TEX
23		 PHO
34
2017 DAY
15		 ATL
29		 LVS
18		 PHO
24		 CAL
33		 MAR
26		 TEX
23		 BRI
26		 RCH
29		 TAL
34		 KAN
13		 CLT
19		 DOV
19		 POC
24		 MCH
23		 SON
14		 DAY
4		 KEN
23		 NHA
26		 IND
18		 POC
18		 GLN
12		 MCH
27		 BRI
20		 DAR
19		 RCH
16		 CHI
30		 NHA
23		 DOV
27		 CLT
35		 TAL
30		 KAN
18		 MAR
19		 TEX
21		 PHO
22		 HOM
24		 27th 542
2018 Kasey Kahne DAY
34		 ATL
21		 LVS
19		 PHO
24		 CAL
24		 MAR
24		 TEX
17		 BRI
34		 RCH
29		 TAL
17		 DOV
17		 KAN
21		 CLT
20		 POC
36		 MCH
23		 SON
20		 CHI
27		 DAY
4		 KEN
25		 NHA
19		 POC
30		 GLN
21		 MCH
26		 BRI
15		 DAR
24		 27th 515
Regan Smith IND
20		 LVS
12		 RCH
31		 CLT
15		 DOV
21		 TAL
10		 KAN
28		 MAR
28		 TEX
27		 PHO
22		 HOM
39
2019 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota DAY
28*		 ATL
26		 LVS
21		 PHO
28		 CAL
18		 MAR
20		 TEX
26		 BRI
12		 RCH
24		 TAL
31		 DOV
20		 KAN
36		 CLT
39		 POC
17		 MCH
21		 SON
4		 CHI
27		 DAY
8		 KEN
16		 NHA
5		 POC
17		 GLN
6		 MCH
20		 BRI
2*		 DAR
8		 IND
18		 LVS
21		 RCH
14		 CLT
11		 DOV
7		 TAL
30		 KAN
15		 MAR
16		 TEX
14		 PHO
13		 HOM
20		 22nd 699
2020 Christopher Bell DAY
21		 LVS
33		 CAL
38		 PHO
24		 DAR
24		 DAR
11		 CLT
9		 CLT
21		 BRI
9		 ATL
18		 MAR
28		 HOM
8		 TAL
29		 POC
4		 POC
39		 IND
12		 KEN
7		 TEX
21		 KAN
23		 NHA
28		 MCH
13		 MCH
17		 DAY
21		 DOV
22		 DOV
27		 DAY
13		 DAR
34		 RCH
15		 BRI
28		 LVS
24		 TAL
39		 CLT
24		 KAN
10		 TEX
3		 MAR
15		 PHO
17		 20th 678

Xfinity Series

Car No. 95 history

In October 2013, Leavine Family Racing announced that they would be adding a Nationwide Series team to the team's operations, with the No. 95 Ford Mustang being driven by Reed Sorenson in selected races late in the 2013 season, with a full-time driver for the 2014 season to be announced.[31] However, the team has since withdrawn from the Nationwide series after 2013.

Car No. 95 results
Year Driver 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 Owners Pts
2013 Reed Sorenson 95 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV IOW MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT
37		 TEX PHO HOM 65th 7

ARCA Racing Series

Car No. 95 history
Michael Leavine at Pocono Raceway in 2011

For the 2012 season, Leavine Family Racing added an ARCA Racing Series team to its racing efforts, with Michael Leavine, grandson of the team's owners, racing as a development driver.[32] A six-race schedule was planned for Leavine in the series for 2012;[33] In his first two races of the 2012 season, Leavine crashed in both, with a best finish of 26th at Pocono Raceway;[34] he withdrew following practice at his third attempted race at Michigan International Speedway.[35][36]

Car No. 95 results
Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Owners Pts
2011 Michael Leavine 03 Chevy DAY TAL SLM TOL NJ CHI POC MCH WIN BLN IOW
20		 IRP 33rd 880
95 POC
28		 ISF MAD DSF SLM KAN
26		 TOL
2012 Ford DAY MOB
31		 SLM TAL TOL ELK POC
26		 MCH
Wth		 WIN NJE IOW
15		 CHI
14		 IRP
15		 POC
31		 BLN ISF MAD SLM KAN
17		 73rd 75

References
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  12. Linesburgh, Scott (June 24, 2012). "Still feeling need for Speed". The Record. Stockton, CA. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  13. Bromberg, Nick (December 13, 2011). "Scott Speed to drive for Leavine Family Racing in 2012". From the Marbles. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
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  17. DiZinno, Tony (2013-10-28). "NASCAR notes: McDowell switches teams, Schrader to retire from Cup". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
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  22. Mayer, Matthew (September 19, 2017). "NASCAR playoff driver Kasey Kahne to drive for Leavine Family Racing in 2018". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
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  24. "Kasey's personal announcement of retiring". August 16, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
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  28. Page, Scott (September 24, 2019). "Christopher Bell joins Leavine Family Racing for 2020". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
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