| Team Name: | Washington-Erving Motorsports |
| Owner Names: | Julius Erving, Joe Washington |
| Base: | Lexington, North Carolina |
| Series: | NASCAR Busch Grand National Series |
| Numbers: | 50 |
| Drivers: | Stanton Barrett, Joe Buford, Nathan Buttke, Jimmy Foster, Jeff Green, Mark Green, Andy Houston, Jimmy Kitchens, Dave Rezendes, Tony Roper, Dennis Setzer, Mike Wallace |
| Sponsors: | Dr. Pepper |
| Manufacturer: | Chevrolet, Ford |
| Opened: | 1997 |
| Closed: | 2000 |
| Debut: | 1998 Sam's Town Las Vegas 300 (Las Vegas) |
| Final: | 2000 Touchstone Energy 300 (Talladega) |
| Races: | 56 |
| Drivers Champ: | 0 |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Poles: | 0 |
Washington-Erving Motorsports is a defunct American stock car racing team. It was owned by former NFL running back Joe Washington and former NBA player Julius Erving. Washington and Erving fielded cars in the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) from 1998 to 2000.[1] [2]
Washington first piqued his interest in NASCAR by attending the 1997 Daytona 500. He then convinced Erving to come on board, and they formed a team in the summer of 1997. The feelings were split about the new team, which at one time planned to field Winston Cup cars for Rich Bickle.[3] Owner-driver Geoff Bodine was against the team, but others, like Washington's former coach Joe Gibbs and owner-driver Ricky Rudd were in support of the team.[4] The team was only the third fully minority owned team, after Wendell Scott owned his own team and Thee Dixon owned Mansion Motorsports.[5] Before the 1998 season started, the team secured number 50 in honor of that anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier. WEM hired the first female team president in NASCAR, Kathy Thompson.[6]
In 1998, the team failed to qualify for the first two races of the season with Jimmy Foster. Foster managed to qualify for four of the next five races, plus the Milwaukee race.[7] The team then rotated through nine more drivers. Andy Houston, Dennis Setzer, Jimmy Kitchens, Nathan Buttke, and Joe Buford each made one start.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Stanton Barrett made two starts for the team, while Jeff Green and Mike Wallace made three apiece.[13] [14] [15] Dave Rezendes made five starts for the team.[16] The team recorded no wins, top five or top ten finishes during that season.
In 1999, Mark Green drove the entire schedule for the team. He failed to qualify for two races. Green failed to finish seven races, two due to crashes and five due to mechanical mishaps. He recorded one top ten finish, a tenth at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Green and the team parted ways after the 1999 season.[17]
In 2000, the team started out with plans to run the entire season with Tony Roper. However, the team disbanded after Dr Pepper pulled its sponsorship after Roper qualified for only three of the first twelve races.[18] [19]
| NASCAR Busch 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 | Pts | |||||
| 1998 | Jimmy Foster | 50 | Ford | DAY DNQ | CAR DNQ | LVS 41 | style='background:#CFCFFF;" | NSV 25 | DAR DNQ | BRI 42 | TEX 37 | MLW 39 | MYB DNQ | 38th | 1629 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Andy Houston | HCY 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rick Wilson | TAL DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanton Barrett | NHA 34 | HOM 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeff Green | NZH 13 | CLT 13 | RCH 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dennis Setzer | DOV 41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jimmy Kitchens | PPR 32 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dave Rezendes | GLN 14 | SBO 30 | IRP 26 | MCH 35 | BRI 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Wallace | CAL 21 | DAR 35 | CLT 20 | CAR DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Casey Atwood | RCH DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nathan Buttke | DOV 39 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Buford | GTY 42 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ken Bouchard | ATL DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | DAY 24 | CAR 23 | LVS 32 | ATL 10 | DAR 33 | TEX 31 | NSV 30 | BRI 17 | TAL 37 | CAL 36 | NHA 27 | RCH 21 | NZH 22 | CLT 16 | DOV 29 | SBO 26 | GLN 37 | MLW 26 | MYB DNQ | PPR 23 | GTY 32 | IRP 19 | MCH 41 | BRI 42 | DAR 33 | RCH 19 | DOV 22 | CLT 40 | CAR 28 | MEM 17 | PHO 31 | HOM DNQ | 25th | 2466 | |||||||
| 2000 | Tony Roper | DAY DNQ | CAR 37 | LVS DNQ | ATL DNQ | DAR DNQ | BRI DNQ | TEX DNQ | NSV 31 | TAL 24 | CAL DNQ | RCH DNQ | NHA DNQ | 59th | 370 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanton Barrett | CLT DNQ | DOV | SBO | MYB | GLN | MLW | NZH | PPR | GTY | IRP | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | CLT | CAR | MEM | PHO | HOM | |||||||||||||||||||||