Frank Stoddard

Frank Stoddard
Personal information
Nationality American
Occupation NASCAR team owner
Crew chief
Years active 2011–present
1998–2013
Sport
Sport NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Team Go FAS Racing

Franklin Stoddard is a NASCAR crew chief and owner from Haverhill, New Hampshire.[1] He is the owner of Go FAS Racing, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. He began his career with Dana Patten in the Busch Series.[2] Later, he worked with Jeff Burton and Roush Racing,[2] and won seventeen races together. Late in the 2002 season, he switched to Bill Davis Racing and served as crew chief for Ward Burton. In 2005, he joined MB/Sutton Motorsports as the crew chief for a lifelong friend Boris Said in the No. 36 Chevrolet, making nine starts with one top-five finish.

In 2006, Said and Stoddard teamed with Mark Simo to field the No. 60 No Fear Ford. That team finished three top-tens and one pole position.

Roush Racing

In 1998, Stoddard was hired by Jack Roush as a crew chief for Jeff Burton driving in #99 Ford replacing Buddy Parrott.[3] Stoddard would guide Burton to 14 wins including the Coca-Cola 600 in 2001. In 2002, Stoddard left Roush Racing to go to Bill Davis racing with Ward Burton, Jeff's brother, as the driver and then rookie Scott Wimmer.

2005–present: Reunited with Boris Said

In 2005, Stoddard reunited with a lifelong friend of his, Boris Said, who was driving for NASCAR on part-time schedules mostly on road course races. They formed a race team with PepsiCo's Sobe Energy Drink called No Fear Racing in which Pepsi, Stoddard, and Boris Said would buy cars from Roush Fenway Racing and have a campaign called "Sell more cases so we can run more races." In 2006, they finished in 9th place at Sonoma after qualifying in fourth spot for their first race. The next week in one of Daytona's biggest upsets, Boris Said and Stoddard won the team the pole spot for the 2006 Pepsi 400. In the race, Boris drove through the top ten nearly all day and during a caution, took the lead by not pitting for tires. They led nine laps about to win one of NASCAR's biggest events ever. As the final restart occurred with 3 laps left, the fans roared believing that Boris would win the event. With 2 laps left, Tony Stewart stunned Boris and everybody when he got by Boris Said for the lead after briefly losing some ground, and seconds later Kyle and Kurt Busch drove by Boris Said who held on for 4th place; the team's best finish that point at Daytona. Boris Said and Stoddard emotionally said in post-race ceremonies that although they did not win, Said's performance and finish felt like a win to him.

In 2007 in the Daytona 500, Said and Stoddard posted a good finish for them when taking advantage of a final lap big one to finish in 15th place. Had the crash not occurred Said would have finished in 26th place. Boris Said and Frank Stoddard nearly won the pole spot for the 2007 Pepsi 400 again for a second consecutive time but they ended up being knocked out of the race by a rainshower when they were about to conclude qualifying and take the pole. This is one of Boris Said and Frank Stoddard's most heartbreaking parts of their career. After Boris Said ended up failing to qualify for a race at Watkins Glen because of rain, he gave up on their slogan and decided to continue his part-time career.

After 2007's season Said and Stoddard found themselves being separated due to issues on the teams. Stoddard would rarely work for Said until 2010 when they were reunited again this time driving for a part-time different team.

2010

In 2010, Stoddard was reunited with Said at new upstart team Latitude 43 Motorsports.[2] They raced together for the first four races, posting a top-25 run in the Daytona 500. At Sonoma, Stoddard was furious with Tony Stewart for contact on the final lap. Said took control of Stoddard and apologized for Stoddard's behavior. Stoddard was released from his team after 2010, and Said also left the team refusing to let Stoddard go by himself as close friends.

2011

On February 3, 2011 Said and Stoddard announced the formation of FAS Lane Racing. The team will field the No. 32 with Ford as the manufacturer, with cars from Roush-Fenway Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports and a Doug Yates engine. U.S. Chrome sponsored the team at Daytona with Terry Labonte driving, a move that guaranteed the 32 an entry into the Daytona 500, since Labonte was the most recent former champion in a team not in the Top 35 owner's points. The team ran the full season with a variety of drivers including Ken Schrader, Said and Mike Skinner. The team finished 34th in owner's points, despite not qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway.

2012

The team competed in 2012 with a variety of drivers, including Labonte, Schrader, Timmy Hill, Mike Bliss, Reed Sorenson, and two-time K&N East champion Mike Olsen. Boris Said one of the team's co-owners, also raced part-time driving at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

2013

FAS Lane Racing ran 2013 with three drivers: Labonte, Schrader, and ROTY candidate Hill. Boris Said would race at Sonoma and Watkins Glen again.

2014

FAS Lane Racing merged with Go Green Racing for the 2014 season, forming Go FAS Racing.[4] Labonte (superspeedways), Said (road courses), Blake Koch, J.J. Yeley, Travis Kvapil, Joey Gase, Kyle Fowler, and K&N East driver Eddie MacDonald drove the 32 during the season.

2015

Similar to previous seasons, Go FAS Racing will employ a variety of drivers. Bobby Labonte will run the four superspeedway events with Said running the road courses and a rotating lineup of drivers for the remaining races. Mike Bliss will drive the majority of the season. The team also used Joey Gase (two races), Will Kimmel (Kentucky), Eddie MacDonald (Loudon), and Josh Wise (3 races), and Jeffrey Earnhardt (Fall Richmond).

2016

Earnhardt plans to run the majority of the season, with Labonte running the restrictor plate races.

References

  1. ↑ Myers, Bob (Feb 2009). "NASCAR Crew Chief Frank Stoddard". Circle Track. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Frank Stoddard Biography". NASCAR. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  3. ↑ http://racing-reference.info/crewchiefs?id=stoddfr01
  4. ↑ Albert, Zack (26 January 26 2014). "SPRINT CUP TEAM PREVIEW: GO FAS RACING". NASCAR. Retrieved 17 February 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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