CJM Racing: The Good, The Bad, and The Middle

CJM RACING: The Good, The Bad, and The Middle

The story of the team known as CJM Racing in the Nationwide Series is quite a complicated tale. This team is a rare instance of stepping back to become more successful. 

  In 2006, businessmen Bryan and Tony Mullet purchased the equipment of what was veteran Morgan Shepherd’s Cup Series team. Then known as Faith Motorsports, the acquisition would see a name change to Victory Motorsports. Shepherd, who stayed with the team post-purchase as the driver, failed to qualify for the first nine races of the season in the No. 89 Dodge. 

Following the slow start for the newly formed team, Shepherd and the Mullets would go their separate ways. The split, causing yet another name change, would now see the team be known as CJM Racing. 

The Return:

For the 2006 Coca-Cola 600, the team would make its return. Now known as CJM Racing, the team had high hopes for their No. 72 Dodge, but they would continue to struggle…only making 4 races the entire season. After Kertus Davis and Brent Sherman were unsuccessful in their attempts (Davis missing the team’s debut in Charlotte), David Gilliland was brought in, finally making the show in Sonoma, and finishing 32nd in his Cup debut. 

After again missing the July Daytona race with Davis, and Watkins Glen with Dale Quarterley, the team would take a break to re-assess, and return in October at Charlotte. This time they would be fielding Chevrolets with Mike Skinner and Brandon Whitt behind the wheel, but the struggles and missing races would continue. Skinner and Whitt only made 3 combined starts the rest of the season, with a best finish of 39th by Skinner at Martinsville.

2007 saw CJM announce that Brandon Whitt would return, however he would fail to make the first 3 races of the season with the No. 72 Dutch Quality Stone Chevrolet. 

The Nationwide Series Rise and Fall:

Following the miserable start to the 2007 season in the Cup Series, the team would make a bold move. CJM would shut down the Cup team…and start a Nationwide Series team instead, hiring veteran Jason Keller who only had a part-time ride that season, and signing Force Protection for the debut at Darlington in April.

The team would find almost immediate success with Keller behind the wheel of the No. 11 Chevrolet, finishing 14th. Keller would go on to run 15 races for the team that season with multiple sponsors and scoring (4) Top 10 finishes. ARCA standout Marc Mitchell would also start for the team at Milwaukee, coming home 20th.

With the unexpected success of the Nationwide Series campaign, the 11 returned in 2008, with Keller behind the wheel once again. What started as a one race deal in Las Vegas with America’s Incredible Pizza Company, grew to a full season sponsorship, with Keller scoring (1) Top 5 and (4) Top 10’s in 28 starts, before leaving the team after Richmond. Chip Ganassi Racing development driver Scott Lagasse, Jr. would run the final 7 races of the season, with a best finish of 13th at Charlotte.

Change and instability would plague the team in 2009, despite switching to Toyota and aligning themselves with Joe Gibbs Racing. Lagasse, along with America’s Incredible Pizza, would return, but performance would surprisingly suffer for the 11 team. Lagasse would only score (4) Top 10 finishes before leaving after race 21 in Iowa, and the sponsor leaving with him.

The departure of both sponsor and driver late in the season led to a scramble to fill in the void. The 11 saw a revolving door of drivers including Trevor Bayne, Denny Hamlin, Mike Bliss, Kelly Bires, Andrew Ranger, and Brian Scott behind the wheel. The same could be said for sponsors, with toy customizing company RideMakerz filling in the bulk of the schedule. Bliss would be the most successful for the team, making 5 starts and scoring (3) Top 5’s and (5) Top 10’s. Hamlin and Ranger would also score a combined (2) Top 5’s and (2) Top 10’s before the season was over. 

The team also fielded a second Toyota at Michigan for Justin Lofton. Lofton would drive the No. 14 Lofton Cattle Toyota to a respectable 16th-place finish, after starting 19th.

In December 2009, the team officially announced that they would be suspending operations, ending the story of CJM Racing.