Willie_Allen_(racing_driver)

Willie Allen (racing driver)

Willie Allen (racing driver)

American racing driver and team owner

This article is about the American truck series racing driver. For the American dirt modified racing driver, see Willie Allan.
For other people with the same name, see Willie Allen.

William A. Allen (born June 15, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is the co-owner of Rackley WAR, a team that competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and in late model racing.[1] Allen previously competed as a driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Truck Series (including a full season in 2007 where he won the Rookie of the Year award), and the ARCA Menards Series.

Quick Facts Born, Awards ...

Racing career

Driving career

Allen made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2005, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Silverado for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway, starting 21st and finishing sixth. He made one more start in 2005 for SS-Green Light Racing.

Allen ran the first two races of the 2006 ARCA Racing Series season in the No. 75 for Bob Schacht Motorsports, finishing 38th at Daytona and finishing fifth at Nashville.[2] Towards the end of the year, he made his Busch Series debut, driving the No. 14 Dodge for FitzBradshaw Racing at Memphis, where he finished 28th, and Phoenix, where he finished 35th.[3] He also ran the final race of the 2006 Truck Series season for ThorSport Racing in a part-time third truck for the team, the No. 87. This led to his running full-time with the team in 2007, where he replaced Kerry Earnhardt in the team's No. 13 truck. It was his first full season in NASCAR. After finishing the season 15th in the standings, with his only top ten of the season being a sixth-place finish at Talladega, Allen was replaced by Shelby Howard for the 2008 season.

In 2008, Allen started the season in the renamed Nationwide Series, running two races (Daytona and Nashville) in the Sadler Brothers Racing No. 95, with a best finish of 29th at Daytona.[4] Later in the year, returned to Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the Truck Series to drive three races in the No. 46 at Memphis, Kentucky and Nashville. In those three races, Allen was sponsored by the band Rascal Flatts, who were promoting their new album Still Feels Good on the truck. Shortly after rejoining the team, Morgan-Dollar was bought by New England Patriots player Randy Moss, who renumbered the truck to the No. 81 to match his jersey number in the NFL. However, Allen's plans were not affected by the change in ownership.[5]

Allen attempted six Nationwide races in 2009 in the Nos. 92 and 96 for Whitney Motorsports, but failed to qualify for one race and started and parked in the other five races that he did qualify for. He returned to the Truck Series in 2010 for Team Gill Racing to drive their No. 46 in the race at Nashville, starting 36th and finishing 29th.[6]

The No. 05 car for Day Enterprise Racing, which Allen would drive part-time in 2010 and 2011

In the Nationwide Series, Allen drove the No. 05 31-W Insulation/CertainTeed/Cash America car for Day Enterprise Racing in 2010. In the 24th race at Bristol that same year, Allen qualified the car in 7th place, his best career start infront of Cup Series regulars Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, and Carl Edwards. Allen would finish 11th in that race. Allen ran 18 races in 2010 with a best finish of 11th. Allen also failed to qualify for four additional races. He returned to the team for two more races in 2011 before he was without a ride in any NASCAR series in 2012 and 2013.[7][8]

The No. 76 car for Martins Motorsports, which Allen would drive in two races in 2014

Allen found a ride for 2014 in the Nationwide Series, driving multiple races with hopes of a full season in the No. 76 for the upstart Martins Motorsports team.[9] Team owner/driver Tommy Joe Martins (who drove the team's other car, the No. 67) stated that the plan at the start of the season was for Allen to run full races in the No. 76, while Martins would start and park the No. 67. These plans fell apart after both Martins Motorsports cars failed to qualify for the spring race at Bristol,[10] For the remainder of the season, the No. 67 would no longer be fielded (except for at Michigan) and Martins would drive the No. 76 himself instead of Allen.[11] After not racing in the Truck Series for the previous three years, Allen drove Jennifer Jo Cobb's No. 0 start and park truck at Charlotte.

In 2021, Willie returned for the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Talladega, his first NASCAR sanctioned race since 2014. He drove the #25 for Rackley WAR.[12]

Team owner

After several years out of NASCAR, it was announced that Allen would return to the sport as an owner and would start a full-time team in the Truck Series in 2021 with Curtis Sutton, the owner of Rackley Roofing, which was the primary sponsor of the No. 68 Clay Greenfield Motorsports truck in 2020. With their co-ownership, they named the team Rackley WAR (Rackley for Sutton's company and WAR standing for "Willie Allen Racing"). The team currently fields the No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado for Matt DiBenedetto with sponsorship from Rackley Roofing and Chad Kendrick as crew chief.[13][14]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

More information NASCAR Nationwide Series results, Year ...

Camping World Truck Series

More information NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results, Year ...

1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

More information ARCA Re/Max Series results, Year ...

References

  1. [1]
    Organ, Mike (May 30, 2020). "After his NASCAR Truck team struggled Willie Allen won at Nashville Fairgrounds". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Willie Allen Nashville preview". Motorsport.com. April 13, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  3. [3]
    "BUSCH: Phoenix II: Willie Allen preview". Motorsport.com. November 7, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  4. [4]
    "Sadler-Hamilton Racing sign Willie Allen". Motorsport.com. March 21, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  5. [5]
    "Patriots' Moss hauls in a truck team". The Seatle Times. July 4, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  6. [6]
    "Willie Allen – 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  7. [7]
    "Willie Allen – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  8. [8]
    "Willie Allen – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  9. [9]
    "Martins Motorsports Set to Debut Nationwide Team at Daytona International Speedway". Speedway Digest. January 16, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  10. [10]
    Martins, Tommy Joe (August 15, 2016). "Bristol - Tommy Joe Martins Blog". Tommy Joe Martins.com. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  11. [11]
    "Nashville team plans to race in NASCAR's Nationwide Series". The Tennessean. January 18, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  12. [12]
    Srigley, Joseph (September 7, 2021). "Willie Allen Returning to NASCAR Competition with Rackley W.A.R. at Talladega Superspeedway". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  13. [13]
    "Willie Allen, Curtis Sutton form new Truck team". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  14. [14]
    "Rackley W.A.R. Going Truck Racing With Peters". Speed Sport. January 25, 2021. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Willie Allen – 2006 NASCAR Busch Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  16. [16]
    "Willie Allen – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  17. [17]
    "Willie Allen – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  18. [18]
    "Willie Allen – 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  19. [19]
    "Willie Allen – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  20. [20]
    "Willie Allen – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  21. [21]
    "Willie Allen – 2010 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  22. [22]
    "Willie Allen – 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  23. [23]
    "Willie Allen – 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  24. [24]
    "Willie Allen – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  25. [25]
    "Willie Allen – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
More information Achievements ...
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Willie_Allen_(racing_driver), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.