Template:NASCAR former team FILMAR Racing is a former NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series team. It was owned by Fil Marcotti and crew chief Gil Martin. The team was sold in 1999 to the Pinnacle Motorsports Group and then to Davis & Weight Motorsports.
Beginnings[]
FILMAR began racing in 1990 when they fielded the #8 Oldsmobile driven by Bobby Hamilton. Originally unsponsored, they picked up sponsorship from TIC Financial Industries midway through the season. Hamilton had seven top-fives and finished eleventh in points, but departed for the Winston Cup series and was replaced by David Green. Despite missing a pair of races early in the season, Green won the pole for the season-opening Goody's 300 and won at Lanier Raceway. He finished thirteenth in points and finished runner-up to Jeff Gordon for Rookie of the Year honors. At the end of the season, Green was replaced by Jeff Burton. Burton had four top-fives, including a win at New Hampshire International Speedway, and finished ninth in points.
In 1993, Baby Ruth became the team's sponsor as they switched to Ford, and despite winning at Myrtle Beach Speedway, Burton and the team dropped to fourteenth in points. The team also made its Cup debut that year with Burton at New Hampshire, starting 6th but finishing 37th after their #0 Ford wrecked near the midway point of the race.
Kenny Wallace years[]
After Burton left to run for Stavola Brothers Racing's Cup program, Kenny Wallace was hired as the team's new driver for 1994. Wallace won a pole at Nazareth Speedway and won at Bristol, Martinsville, and Richmond late in the year and finished fourth in points. They also ran a Cup race at Michigan, finishing ninteenth in the #81 car.
In 1995, FILMAR and Wallace split time between the Cup and Busch Series. In Cup, the team ran 11 races, finishing in the top-30 three times. In Busch, the team ran fifteen races with sponsorship from Red Dog and won at Richmond and finished 27th in points. In addition to winning again at Richmond in 1996, the team moved up to the Cup series full-time with sponsorship from Square D. Wallace had a seventh place finish at North Carolina Speedway and finished 28th in points. The following season, FILMAR ran its last Busch race at Richmond as the #12 Graybar Ford, starting 27th and finishing 26th. That year, Wallace won his first two career poles in Cup at Martinsville and Bristol. Despite two top-tens, Wallace and the team dropped to 33rd in the standings.
In 1998, Wallace posted seven top-tens but failed to qualify twice, finishing 31st in points.