Mario Gosselin (racing driver)

Mario Gosselin
Born (1971-10-20) October 20, 1971
Sainte-Marie, Quebec, Canada
Achievements 1997 Hooters Pro Cup Series Champion
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish 80th (2004)
First race 2004 Subway 500 (Martinsville)
Last race 2004 Southern 500 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
21 races run over 4 years
Car no., team No. 90/92 (King Autosport)
2015 position 29th
Best finish 29th (2015)
First race 1998 Myrtle Beach 250 (Myrtle Beach
Last race 2016 Sparks Energy 300 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
47 races run over 4 years
2012 position 66th
Best finish 16th (2010)
First race 2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Last race 2012 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0
Statistics current as of April 30, 2016.

Mario Gosselin (born October 20, 1971) is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. In 2004, he became the second native of the Province of Quebec to start in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race after Superbike legend Yvon Duhamel. He currently drives the No. 90 Chevrolet Camaro for King Autosport in the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis.

Racing career

Gosselin (center) at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015

Gosselin is a multiple winner on the ARCA Racing Series and 2-time CARS Pro Cup Series Champion. He began his racing career in 1990 at Hialeah, Florida by winning the Pure Stock Division Championship.[1]

He moved into Late Models the very next year and has multiple championships and many wins to his credit at various speedways. In 1998, Gosselin made his NASCAR debut at Myrtle Beach Speedway in his #71 Chevrolet, finishing sixteenth. He also qualified on the pole and won his very first ARCA RE/MAX Series start in 1999. That first ARCA victory came at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C..[1] He has since competed in several part-time ARCA schedules since then, and has won two additional races.

In 2004, Gosselin ran a two-race schedule late in the Nextel Cup Series season in the #80 Hover Motorsports Ford, finishing 41st in both of his starts. He rejoined NASCAR competition in 2008 as the driver and crew chief of the #12 Crashedtoys.com Chevrolet Silverado in the Craftsman Truck Series, which was owned by his wife Michelle. He and Scotty Crockett shared the driving duties of the truck and made six starts with the team. After the season, attorney James Carter became a sponsor and co-owner of the team, allowing Gosselin and his wife to open a second truck team. Gosselin made fifteen starts in 2009 and finished six of them. His best finish and first ever NASCAR top-10 came at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall where he ended up 6th in a very wild race. Starting at Talladega, Gosselin picked up sponsorship from TireMonkey.com. With sponsorship in place, he ran the full 2010 season, but was forced to sell his owners points to Johanna Long and her Panhandle Motorsports team for 2011. Gosselin took a new role as a crew chief for Truck Series driver Russ Dugger.

Gosselin returned to the Busch Series, now the Xfinity Series, in 2015, racing the #90 King Autosport Chevy at Daytona International Speedway.[2]

Personal life

Gosselin is a native of Sainte-Marie, Quebec. He lived there before moving with his family to Florida in 1981. He settled in Lake Wales, Florida a few years ago.[3]

On March 15, 2012, Gosselin was arrested in Lakeland, Florida, and charged with soliciting prostitution in a sting operation run by the Polk County Sherriff's Office.[4][5]

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.)

Nextel Cup Series

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Mario Gosselin's bio on his official page".
  2. ↑ "KING AUTOSPORT FIELDING TWO XFINITY CARS AT DAYTONA". NASCAR. February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  3. ↑ Le Soleil (August 30, 2005) Le rêve à plein gaz
  4. ↑ Malagon, Elvia (March 13, 2012). "Race Car Driver Arrested In Online Sex Ad Sting". The Ledger. Lakeland, FL. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  5. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (March 15, 2012). "Former NASCAR driver Mario Gosselin charged with soliciting prostitution". Sporting News. Retrieved 2012-05-31.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Inaugural		 Hooters Pro Cup Series Champion
1997 		Succeeded by
Jeff Agnew
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