Sharp Gallaher Racing (formerly known as Eddie Sharp Racing) is a disbanded NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina that competed in the ARCA Racing Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team fielded the No. 6 Chevrolet Silverado for Justin Lofton and various other drivers and the No. 8 Chevrolet for Max Gresham.

History ARCA The team was formed by former driver and crew chief Eddie Sharp in 2005, who had formerly fielded his own ASA team and was the crew chief for Bill Baird during his championship-winning 1999 ARCA season. The team made its debut in 2006 with former Grand-Am driver Michael McDowell running a limited schedule. McDowell and Sharp ran full-time in 2007, running the No. 2 Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge. McDowell grabbed four wins in his rookie season but finished second in the championship to Frank Kimmel. ESR also fielded the No. 22 Dodge, with Josh Wise and Ken Butler III sharing the ride, with Butler winning at Toledo Speedway. With McDowell moving on to Michael Waltrip Racing, Sharp expanded to three teams and switched to running Toyotas, hiring former Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Scott Speed to drive the No. 2, while retaining Butler for the full season and fielding a third car (No. 93) in a number of races for Canadian NASCAR driver Pierre Bourque. The team soon changed numbers to the No. 20 with Justin Lofton for the rest of the year. ESR dominated the season, with Speed winning four races en route to a second-place finish in the championship and Lofton won at Michigan.

With Speed heading to the Sprint Cup Series, ESR gained a reputation of fielding championship-caliber drivers. In 2009, Lofton stayed on with ESR for the full season as the team expanded to a fourth car, the No. 81 for Camping World Series East driver Craig Goess. The No. 2 would be driven by another Grand-Am driver, Tim George Jr., and the No. 20 would be driven by Canadian Steve Arpin on a part-time basis. Lofton won ESR's first ever championship that season, grabbing an impressive four wins, while Goess and Arpin impressed many. Like his predecessors, Lofton moved to Red Horse Racing to run for the Camping World Truck Series title in 2010, while Goess returned for the full season. ESR ran only Goess' 81 for the full season, while continuing to field the 6 for a bevy of drivers, including another former F1 driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., Blake Koch, Brandon McReynolds (son of Fox broadcaster Larry McReynolds), and others. Goess had a solid season, winning only once at Pocono but finishing second in points to Patrick Sheltra.

NASCAR Truck Series 2006: Woodard & Sharp Racing ESR made its first foray into NASCAR in 2006, when he partnered with co-owner Rick Woodard to field a full-time Truck Series team that year with former Hendrick Motorsports development driver Boston Reid running full-time in the No. 25. Woodard did not join Sharp's existing ARCA team as a co-owner, and their Truck team was operated separately from it. After the first four races of the season, Sharp left WSR, leaving Woodard as the team's only owner. Reid would be replaced by ARCA driver Damon Lusk as the team's driver with five races to go in the season. Although the team supposedly was preparing to return for at least the Daytona season-opener, Woodard Racing closed down before the start of the 2007 season.

Truck No. 25 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 Owners Pts 2006 Boston Reid 25 Dodge DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI NHA LVS TAL 27th 2262 Damon Lusk MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM

2010: Sharp-Hartman Racing Sharp would not be an owner in the Truck Series again until 2010, where he returned to the series with another co-owner, Carl Hartman, to field a No. 41 Toyota Tundra for Steve Park in two events.

Truck No. 41 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 Owners Pts 2010 Steve Park 41 Toyota DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTY IRP POC NSH DAR BRI CHI18 KEN25 NHA LVS MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 55th 197

2010–2013: Eddie Sharp Racing

Late in the season, ESR had purchased the assets of Team Gill Racing No. 46 and had intended to run Craig Goess for Rookie of the Year in 2011. After only 9 races, Goess was released from the team and Sharp was reunited with Lofton, who had sponsorship from CollegeComplete.com and a new crew chief in Daniel Bormann.

For 2012, Eddie Sharp purchased the spun-off assets of Kevin Harvick Incorporated that were not acquired in the race team's merger with Richard Childress Racing, specifically the 8 and 33 trucks driven by Piquet and Ron Hornaday. Cale Gale drove the 33 in 2012 with sponsorship from Rheem, and a technical alliance with Childress. The 8 truck was driven by Mike Skinner at Daytona, but he wrecked early alongside Gale. In Martinsville, Eddie Sharp sold the No. 8 Truck's owners points to Jennifer Jo Cobb, who swapped manufacturers and numbers (Cobb had the No. 8 as a Dodge, while Chris Lafferty drove the No. 10 Chevrolet). Sharp then gave the owners points to Cobb for the rest of 2012 in order to allow the truck to eventually be used part-time if a third driver was necessary. On May 18, 2012, Justin Lofton won his first race in the No. 6 truck. Gale would win the season finale at Homestead in a photo finish.

For 2013, Lofton would reduce his schedule to only a few races, while Gale and Rheem departed for Turner Scott Motorsports. Max Gresham would run the full schedule for the team, with Truck Series veteran crew chief Gary Showalter.

2013: Sharp Gallaher Racing In August of that year, Eddie Sharp announced a partnership with California businessman Bill Gallaher, changing the team name to Sharp Gallaher Racing. Soon after this, it was also announced that the team would relocate from Denver, North Carolina to the stock car racing hotbed of Mooresville, North Carolina. On December 17, 2013, reports arose that the team had shut down with immediate effect until later in the day when it was confirmed that the team had shut down with the remaining staff being laid off.

Truck No. 6 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 Owners Pts 2010 Craig Goess 46 Toyota DAY ATL MAR NSH KAN DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTW IRP POC NSH DAR BRI CHI KEN NHA LVS MAR TAL10 HOM12 21st 2445 Jason Bowles TEX28 Steve Park PHO19 2011 Craig Goess DAY16 PHO23 DAR19 MAR24 NSH9 DOV24 CLT22 KAN23 TEX18 16th 684 Justin Lofton KEN15 IOW12 6 NSH15 IRP20 POC16 MCH15 BRI7 ATL26 Chevy CHI15 NHA13 KEN11 LVS19 TAL11 MAR17 TEX10 HOM18 2012 DAY3 MAR4 CAR10 KAN7 CLT1 DOV10 TEX9 KEN14 IOW5 CHI21 POC9 MCH12 BRI10 ATL14 IOW31 KEN7 LVS20 TAL24 MAR19 TEX22 PHO10 HOM9 9th 710 2013 DAY4 MAR CAR KAN CLT10 DOV TEX KEN IOW BRI14 IOW19 CHI15 LVS18 TAL20 TEX5 22nd 437 Jared Landers ELD12 POC MCH Mike Skeen MSP13 Daniel Hemric MAR32 PHO13 Austin Dillon HOM20

Truck No. 8 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 Owners Pts 2012 Mike Skinner 8 Chevy DAY33 MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW CHI POC MCH BRI 37th 150 Max Gresham ATL22 IOW KEN23 LVS TAL MAR11 TEX12 PHO HOM23 2013 DAY24 MAR30 CAR16 KAN25 CLT3 DOV28 TEX22 KEN31 IOW15 ELD10 POC13 MCH18 BRI15 MSP24 IOW13 CHI19 LVS10 TAL8 MAR11 TEX18 PHO15 HOM22 18th 579

Truck No. 33 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 Owners Pts 2012 Cale Gale 33 Chevy DAY32 MAR15 CAR17 KAN11 CLT19 DOV5 TEX8 KEN25 IOW26 CHI6 POC14 MCH20 BRI28 ATL15 IOW5 KEN19 LVS7 TAL10 MAR35 TEX15 PHO7 HOM1 14th 634 2013 John King DAY18 MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW ELD POC MCH BRI MSP IOW CHI LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 59th 26

Truck No. 45 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 Owners Pts 2011 Mike Skinner 45 Toyota DAYDNQ PHO24 62nd 20 Chad McCumbee DARDNQ MAR NSH DOV CLT KAN TEX KEN IOW NSH IRP POC MCH BRI ATL CHI NHA KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX Tim George Jr. Chevy HOMDNQ

References

External links