Red Bull Racing Team, also known as Team Red Bull, was a NASCAR team owned by Red Bull founders Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina in the United States and was managed by Jay Frye. The team suspended operations on December 8, 2011 and their cars were sold to BK Racing.
History
Origins
After moving to a newer location, Roger Penske decided to sell his old facility. Then, on January 26, 2006, the newly formed team said that they would purchase the facility, and would hire 75 workers. However, the team was not allowed to race in the 2006 season because their manufacturer, Toyota, was not cleared to race, so the team decided that they would drive Dodges during the season. The team didn't have any materials to make their race cars, so they purchased multiple cars from Bill Davis Racing.
2006 season
The team was officially started in January, but they would not choose a driver until June 25, 2006, when Brian Vickers announced his decision to drive for the team on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. A couple months later, the team made their first NASCAR appearance with Bill Elliott as the driver, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the No. 83 Victory Junction Gang Dodge, but they failed to qualify for the race. On October 24, 2006, the team chose former Champ Car driver A. J. Allmendinger as the second driver. They also made two other appearances at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, which like their first, they failed to qualify for both races. Then, announced on December 6, 2006, former Cup Series champion crew chief Doug Richert would serve as the crew chief for Vickers.
2007 season
During the 2007 season, the team moved to Toyota as the manufacturer. Both Vickers and Allmendinger failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500. Allmendinger, in the first duel race, crashed with fellow competitor Robby Gordon on lap 24, causing heavy damage to both their race cars. Vickers blew a right rear tire on lap 51 in the second duel race, ending his chances of making the Daytona 500. One week later, Vickers qualified for the 2007 Auto Club 500, which resulted in the team receiving their first top-ten. After failing to qualify for four consecutive races, Allmendinger qualified for the 2007 Food City 500 held at Bristol Motor Speedway. During the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, Vickers was able to finish in the top-five. On October 5, 2007, the team's development driver, Scott Speed finished seventh in an ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway. Allmendinger's team had a forty-third-place finish in the final owners' standings and had 19 DNQ's. Despite Vickers ending the season with five top-ten finishes with one being a top-five in the Coca-Cola 600, where he led seventy-six laps and finished 5th, Vickers still failed to qualify for 13 races. Vickers' team ended the season with a 38th owners' standings position.