NASCAR Cup Series: Obaika Racing to compete full-time in 2019
By Asher Fair
After competing in three races this past season, Obaika Racing are set to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis in the 2019 season.
The NASCAR Cup Series is losing one of their full-time teams from the 2018 season, as Furniture Row Racing shut down following the season finale. However, the series is set to add a new full-time team as well.
Obaika Racing, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team owned by African entrepreneur Victor Obaika, are set to compete in the Cup Series on a full-time basis beginning in the 2019 season. They are set to field the #97 Toyota in each of the 36 races on next year’s schedule.
This past season, Obaika Racing competed in their first three Cup Series races with David Starr and Tanner Berryhill as their drivers. Starr competed in one race while Berryhill competed in two.
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The three races in which these drivers competed were the final three races of the season. Starr competed in the round of 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway while Berryhill competed in the round of 8 race at ISM Raceway as well as the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Starr finished the 337-lap race at Texas Motor Speedway in 39th place after starting in 40th (last), and he finished it 50 laps off the lead lap. Berryhill, meanwhile, finished the 312-lap race at ISM Raceway in 31st after starting in 36th, but he crashed with 29 laps remaining. He finished the 267-lap race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 38th after starting in 37th, and he finished 13 laps off the lead lap.
Before entering their first three Cup Series race this past season, Obaika Racing’s only experience in NASCAR was in the Xfinity Series. From the 2015 season through the 2017 season, the team competed in a total of 78 Xfinity Series races with several different drivers.
Berryhill is set to be the team’s full-time driver of the #97 Toyota next season.
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How will Obaika Racing perform in their first season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series team next year? The Daytona 500 is set to get the 36-race 2019 season underway on Sunday, February 17, 2019 from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, so be sure not to miss it.