| Arnold Motorsports | |
| Owner: | Don Arnold |
| Series: | Nextel Cup Series |
| Drivers Champ: | 0 |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Numbers: | 50, 79 |
| Drivers: | Derrike Cope, P. J. Jones, Todd Bodine, Jimmy Spencer, Jorge Goeters |
| Sponsors: | Arnold Development Companies, Allied Steel Buildings, U.S. Micro Corporation, Thrifty Rent A Car, Melling |
| Manufacturer: | Dodge |
| Base: | Concord, North Carolina |
| Opened: | 2003 |
| Closed: | 2006 |
Arnold Motorsports was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team operated by Don Arnold, owner of Arnold Development Companies and Arnold & Arnold Real Estate.[1] 1983 Winston Cup champion Bobby Allison was the Vice President of operations and also served a consultant. From 2004 to 2005, the team formed a partnership with then-Craftsman Truck Series team Germain Racing as Germain-Arnold Racing, although Germain fielded Toyota Tundras in the Truck Series while the Cup Series team fielded Dodges.[2]
Arnold Motorsports was formed in 2003 after the purchase of the race shop and equipment of Melling Racing. The team debuted as the No.79 Arnold Development Companies Dodge, with Pro Cup Series driver Billy Bigley Jr. driving. The team originally planned to run 34 races, but eventually scaled back its plans. After Bigley failed to qualify for the three events he attempted, he was released. Derrike Cope attempted the season finale at Homestead, but also failed to qualify.
The team returned full-time in 2004 with Derrike Cope at the wheel. Cope co-owned the team and merged his Quest Motor Racing team with Arnold's. The team briefly received sponsorship from Redneckjunk.com (unrelated to a RacingJunk.com that sponsored Carl Long during this same time frame), but was forced to remove its decals by NASCAR[3] because the sanctioning body didn't believe it "projected the proper image of [the] sport."[4] After twelve starts, Cope was replaced by Mike Wallace at Dover. Wallace, along with P. J. Jones, Jeff Fuller and Todd Bodine, finished out the year.
In 2005 Jimmy Spencer drove the car[5] in what was a limited schedule due to lack of sponsorship. The team announced Allied Buildings as the sponsor for the rest of 2005 and all of 2006 at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arnold also owned a share of a Craftsman Truck Series team with Germain Motor Company as the No.30 Toyota. But Arnold sold the interest in that team to focus on Cup. The team's only attempt in 2006 came at the Daytona 500 with Larry Foyt as driver, but the team missed the race. In May 2006, the team announced it was shutting down. The shop later housed Spraker Racing in the ARCA Re/MAX Series. Team founder Don Arnold died in December 2015.
The team's 50 car is featured in the video game driven by Cope, and in driven by Jimmy Spencer. Germain Racing's truck series cars in the latter game were listed under Arnold Motorsports.
(key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)| NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 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 | Pts | ||||
| 2003 | Billy Bigley | 79 | Dodge | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | TAL | MAR | CAL | RCH | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | CHI | NHA | POC | IND DNQ | GLN | MCH | BRI DNQ | DAR | RCH DNQ | NHA | DOV DNQ | TAL | KAN | CLT | MAR | ATL DNQ | PHO | CAR | 58th | 147 | ||||
| Derrike Cope | HOM DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 50 | DAY 30 | CAR 30 | LVS 33 | ATL 38 | DAR 25 | BRI 26 | TEX 37 | MAR 33 | TAL 38 | CAL 31 | RCH 29 | CLT 34 | 37th | 1958 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Wallace | DOV 35 | DAY 41 | NHA 32 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| P. J. Jones | POC 22 | MCH 25 | SON 39 | CHI 39 | POC 43 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Todd Bodine | IND 41 | GLN 41 | MCH 43 | BRI 23 | RCH 43 | NHA 23 | KAN 39 | MAR 43 | ATL 39 | PHO 43 | DAR 39 | HOM DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeff Fuller | CAL 43 | DOV 43 | TAL | CLT 42 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Jimmy Spencer | DAY | CAL | LVS | ATL 29 | BRI 21 | MAR | TEX | PHO | TAL | DAR | RCH | CLT 42 | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | CHI | NHA | POC | IND DNQ | BRI 28 | CAL | RCH 36 | NHA 39 | DOV | TAL | KAN | CLT DNQ | MAR | ATL DNQ | TEX 39 | PHO 36 | HOM 31 | 47th | 674 | |||||||
| Jorge Goeters | GLN 35 | MCH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Larry Foyt | DAY DNQ | CAL | LVS | ATL | BRI | MAR | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | CHI | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL | RCH | NHA | DOV | KAN | TAL | CLT | MAR | ATL | TEX | PHO | HOM | 74th | 10 | |||||