Germain Racing


Germain Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was owned by Bob Germain, whose family owns many car dealerships across the United States as Germain Motor Company. The team last fielded the No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE full-time for Ty Dillon. It previously fielded the No. 03, No. 9, No. 30, No. 62 and No. 77 Toyota Tundras in the Camping World Truck Series and the No. 7 and No. 15 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Previously, the team had been affiliated with Arnold Motorsports, a former Cup Series team, until the 2005 season as Germain-Arnold Racing.
After fielding Toyotas for most of its history, the team fielded Ford Fusions in 2012 and 2013. Then in 2014, the team switched to Chevrolet, ending a two-year partnership with Ford, and formed a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.
Following the announcement that longtime sponsor GEICO would not renew their partnership after the 2020 season, Germain Racing sold their charter to Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan on September 21, 2020. Jordan and Hamlin would use the charter for their team 23XI Racing starting in 2021.

NASCAR Cup Series

Car No. 13 history

;Max Papis
File:P1010754.jpg|thumb|left|Max Papis' No. 13 car at the 2010 Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Germain entered into Sprint Cup racing through a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing beginning with two races during the 2008 season, with MWR supplying Toyota Camrys and technical support for Germain and driver Max Papis. Papis had previously driven for MWR vice president Cal Wells in the CART series.
In 2009, Germain Racing attempted to run a limited schedule in the Sprint Cup Series with Papis driving the No. 13 with sponsor GEICO. The team qualified for 15 races in 21 attempts. Germain planned to run full-time in 2010, but it was required to start and park some events due to its limited sponsorship from GEICO and lack of additional sponsorship.
In the first event of the 2010 season, Papis qualified for the Daytona 500, where he was involved in an early wreck before finishing 40th due to engine woes. After Watkins Glen, the team announced that Papis would be replaced and reassigned to the Camping World Truck Series. Max Papis ran the following week Michigan in a start and park effort, the following week Casey Mears took over as the full-time driver at Bristol in another start and park effort. Papis ran 17 races in 2010, with 10 DNFs and 5 DNQs. Mears then finished out the 2010 season starting and parking in some events.
;Casey Mears
File:Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford Richmond April 2013.jpg|thumb|left|Casey Mears in the No. 13 at the 2013 Toyota Owners 400.
For 2011, Germain Racing announced that Mears would take over the ride full-time for the 2011 season. Mears and the team missed the Daytona 500, but no other events. The team finished 32nd in owners points.
On January 6, 2012, Germain Racing announced that Mears would return as the driver of the No. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion. GEICO is signed with the team through 2014. Mears led during the middle portions at Talladega, but crashed out. He finished 29th in points.
The team had a rebound year in 2013 with 1 Top 10 at Daytona and 7 Top 15s. Mears also improved to 24th in the standings, his best finish in the points since 2009. GEICO also plans to sponsor the team full season next year as well.
In 2014, Germain formed a partnership with Richard Childress Racing to field Chevrolets. Mears had previously driven for RCR in 2009. The team started the new season off with a top-10 when Mears finished 10th in the 2014 Daytona 500. Mears eventually recorded fourteen top-20s and three top-10s during the season, and finished 26th in driver points, although on a much more competitive landscape than the 24th place in 2013.
Mears began 2015 with a 6th-place finish in the Daytona 500. It was the team's 4th consecutive top-10 finish at Daytona. In 2016, it was announced that Ty Dillon would replace Mears in the No. 13 starting in 2017. Mears found a ride by driving part-time with Biagi-DenBeste Racing in the 98 GEICO Military car.
;Ty Dillon
File:Ty Dillon Indianapolis 2018.jpg|thumb|Ty Dillon in the No. 13 at the 2018 Brickyard 400.
On November 28, 2016, Ty Dillon was named the new driver for the No. 13 car for the 2017 season. In the 2017 offseason, Twisted Tea came on board for four races, the first time Germain had two sponsors on the same car in a year. After running solidly in 2017, Dillon's best runs included Dover, where he was fourth on a late restart, only to be taken out by his teammate by alliance Ryan Newman. He also led very late in the 2017 Coke Zero 400, where he got shuffled and finished 16th. Dillon's 2018 season was mediocre at most, with sixth place at the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 being his highest finish.
Dillon started his 2019 season with a sixth-place finish at the 2019 Daytona 500. He also scored his first stage win at the spring Bristol race.
On August 26, 2019, crew chief Matt Borland was indefinitely suspended for violating NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy. Germain Racing confirmed that Justin Alexander, who serves as crew chief for the part-time No. 21 Xfinity Series car for Richard Childress Racing, served as interim crew chief beginning at Darlington and until Borland's suspension was lifted. On September 24, NASCAR reinstated Borland after he completed the Road to Recovery Program. In Germain Racing's final season, the No. 13 managed to score a third-place finish in the fall Talladega race and ended up 26th in the points standings.

Car No. 13 results

Cars No. 35,60,27 history

The No. 60 Toyota Camry debuted in 2011 with Todd Bodine driving and received sponsorship from Tire Kingdom for the Daytona 500. Bodine and team did not qualify for the event. For the rest of 2011, Landon Cassill and Mike Skinner ran the car with sponsorship from Big Red as a start and park ride to gain enough funds for the No. 13 to race on weekends that GEICO is not the sponsor. From Atlanta No. 60 has switched to Chevrolet. In October 2011, Germain Racing parked the No. 60 ride for the remainder of the season after running 20 races, but never finishing better than 38th.
The team's second car returned as the No. 27 for the 2019 Daytona 500 with Casey Mears as the driver. As a result of an accident on lap 104, Mears finished 40th in the race.

Car No. 27 results

Nationwide Series

Car No. 03 history

Germain debuted in the Nationwide Series in 2007 with the No. 03 Germain Toyota Camry with Todd Bodine driving. He finished in the top-ten in his first two attempts, and ran three more races after that. The car did not run again until 2008, when Bodine drove to a fourth-place finish. Michael Annett made the next attempt at the season-ending race at Homestead, where he finished 36th after a crash.

Car No. 03 results

Car No. 15 history

;Mike Wallace
Germain Racing fielded its first full-time entry in the Nationwide Series in 2008, with Mike Wallace driving. Wallace brought his car number, 7, and his sponsor, GEICO, with him from Phoenix Racing. The team purchased the legal assets of the former Busch Series team of Yates Racing for purposes of an exemption as part of NASCAR's all-exempt tour policy in the three national series. Wallace finished eighth in his first and only season with Germain with 1 top-5 and 8 top-10s. After the end of the 2008 season, GEICO moved to the Cup Series due to a conflict of interest with series sponsor Nationwide.
;Michael Annett
At the start of the 2009 season Germain changed the No. 7 team to No. 15 and hired Michael Annett for the season. Annett drove the No. 15 full-time in 2009, with HYPE Energy and Pilot Flying J sponsoring. Annett went on to finishing third in the Rookie of the Year battle and 10th in the overall driver points. He collected 4 top-10 finishes in his first full-time season.
In 2010, Annett continued driving for the team. Pilot Travel Centers continued their sponsorship of Annett and the team. Annett finished the year with 2 top-10s en route to a 13th-place finish in the final standings.
;Transfer to Rick Ware Racing
For 2011 Annett moved to Rusty Wallace Racing's No. 62 for 2011, bringing Pilot Travel Centers with him. Todd Bodine drove the No. 15 at Daytona with Tire Kingdom as the sponsor, as rookie driver Timmy Hill was under 18 and not eligible to run in a national touring series. After Daytona, the No. 15 owner points were sold to Hill's team Rick Ware Racing.

Car No. 15 results

  • Includes points scored after Rick Ware Racing took over the entry but only results scored by Germain Racing are shown.

    Camping World Truck Series

Truck No. 9 history

;Shigeaki Hattori
The No. 9 Toyota Tundra debuted at Daytona in 2005 with rookie Shigeaki Hattori behind the wheel in a partnership with Arnold Motorsports, the team was called Germain-Arnold Racing. Although he had two seventh place starts, Hattori struggled in his transition to stock cars, and was released towards the end of the season, and replaced by Justin Hobgood, whose best finish was a 20th at Phoenix.
;Ted Musgrave
2005 champion Ted Musgrave, whose team, Ultra Motorsports, had shut down only days before preseason testing, came to the team with a sponsor in Team ASE. He went the entire 2006 season without a win, before picking up a win at Texas in 2007. Musgrave, in 2007, was also suspended for one race for intentionally running into Kelly Bires under a caution flag, which resulted in Germain putting Brad Keselowski in the #9 truck, ultimately launching Keselowski's career off the ground.
;Justin Marks
ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Justin Marks replaced Musgrave in the No. 9 with sponsorship from Construct Corps/Crocs. Marks had one pole and an eighth-place finish but he was replaced later in the year. The No. 9 truck was filled for the rest of the year by Chrissy Wallace, Michael Annett, David Reutimann, Paul Tracy, and Sean Caisse.
;Max Papis
The No. 9 only ran a limited number of races in 2009 and 2010 with Max Papis, and sponsor GEICO.
Papis drove the No. 9 full-time in 2011 with GEICO sponsoring, but only managed two top-10 finishes and finished 18th in points. For 2012, Germain shut down their truck operations and GEICO moved up to the Sprint Cup Series with Mears.