FANTASY NASCAR Racin

RON DEVINE - ?/?/? -
Ron started his career with a Fortune 500 computer manufacturer eventually becoming an award winning sales executive. Ron began building and operating Burger King Restaurants in the northern Virginia area in 1983; owning and operating 26 units at his peak. Ron has also been involved in commercial and residential real estate development for over 30 years, as well as a finance company for over 20 years. BK Racing is owned by a couple of investors who were formerly involved in the ownership of TRG Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team, which closed after the 2011 season. Burger King franchise owner Ron Devine and tomato grower Wayne Press joined Thomas Uberall, former race director of the Red Bull Racing Team, to acquire the assets and race shop of the former Red Bull operation, which also closed after the 2011 season, for around $10 million. Like Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins principal owner; Devine's many Burger King franchises allow him to advertise the brand on the cars when there is no outside sponsor. The

Burger King partnership includes the branding of Dr Pepper, a soft drink served at Burger King restaurants. Dr Pepper has appeared as the primary sponsor of the team on various occasions (typically the 93 car), and expanded to a newly renumbered 23 car for 2014 (signifying the drink's 23 flavors). In May 2014, the team expanded to three cars. The team used engines from Triad Racing Technologies upon inception. In 2014, the team started an in-house engine program while using Triad engines on occasion. For 2016, the team purchased equipment from the recently closed Michael Waltrip Racing, and hired

several former MWR employees, with increased manufacturer support from Toyota. What is now the 23 began as the 93, with David Reutimann driving in the 2012 Daytona 500. Travis Kvapil took over the #93 after Daytona and the remainder of the 2012 season, with the exception of one race at Darlington where Reutimann returned to the #93. Kvapil had a best finish of eighth for the new team. It came at Talladega. BK Racing also fielded a second car in 2012 with Landon Cassill driving. He finished a season's best 18th on three separate occasions. 2013 saw David Reutimann replace Cassill; but with little improvement. Neither of the two teams posted a top ten finish this season with both having a season best finish if 16th. Kvapil's came at Bristol while Reutimann's came at Daytona. BK Racing brought in Alex Bowman to wheel the

#23 car in 2014 to run for Rookie of the Year. He finished a season best 13th at Daytona in the July race. Meanwhile Ryan Truex and Cole Whitt were the primary drivers behind the wheel of the other two cars and neither of those guys were having much luck either. Bowman's 13th place finish was the best any of the teams could produce that season. Driver changes were made across the board in 2015 looking for some major improvement. Now Jeb Burton was wheeling the #26 car; Matt DiBenedetto drove the #83 and JJ Yeley drove the #23. Yeley posted a seasons best 14th place finish; one of only two top 20 finishes for any of the three teams. SO after racing for four seasons; the team still only had the one career top ten finish way back in

2012 that Kvapil earned at Talladega. 2016 saw BK racing cut back to two teams, partly due to the new "Charter" system started by NASCAR and they didn't get enough Charters to assure three teams of a starting spot each week. DiBenedetto was kept on as one driver while David Ragan replaced Jeb Burton and Landon Cassill was released. With a two car operation BK Racing showed some improvement. They did add one additional top ten finish as DiBenedetto finished sixth at Bristol; and Ragan and DiBenedetto combined to produce four top 20 finishes. Not great: but a step in the right direction. It was announced that neither DiBenedetto nor Ragan would return to BK Racing for the 2017 season. The team used a

mix matched series of drivers in their line up. Cory LaJoie ran the most races while Gray Gaulding wheeled the #83 to a best finish for the team with a ninth place finish at Talladega. As the start of the 2018 season BK Racing filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy to keep Union Bank & Trust from taking control of the team’s charter and selling it. In March a judge ordered a trustee (Matt Smith) to assume control of BK Racing; meaning Ron Devine has no financial or managerial control of the team. As the 2018 season kicked off the team continued to race with Gray Gaulding as the main driver; but used various drivers throughout the season. On July 13, 2018 the trustee in charge of BK Racing asked the bankruptcy court to set an Aug. 21 hearing for the approval of the sale of the team and its charter. In a legal filing Friday, the trustee said a "handful"

of bidders, not disclosed in the motion, could potentially serve as the stalking horse (the minimum bid for the team's assets and charter). If there are competitive bids, the trustee would then meet with the bidders Aug. 20 to determine the buyer to be approved by the court Aug. 21. On July 21, it was announced that Mike Beam president of GMS Racing, had bid to purchase the charter and some assets of BK Racing for $1.8 million, according to bankruptcy court documents. Beam started his career as a Cup crew chief in 1981 at Petty Enterprises for Kyle Petty. The other drivers whom he has worked with as crew chief include Sterling Marlin, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Ricky

Craven and Carl Edwards. Elliott finished fourth in the standings in 1990 with Beam as his crew chief. Identified in court documents as MBR LLC, Beam's bid is the proposed stalking horse bid -- the minimum bid for the sale of the team. the Trustee, Matt Smith; proposes any competitive bids must be at least $2.1 Beam said he would be the owner and the team would be an affiliate of GMS Racing, whose owner Maury Gallagher has toyed with moving to the Cup series. Just before the deadline; Bob Jenkins owner of Front Row Motorsports submitted a bid of 2.08 million dollars; and when the deadline arrived the judge approved the sale. Jenkins acquired BK Racing's charter

and most of the teams equipment; including race cars, equipment and haulers. At the time BK Racing filed for bankruptcy they were over 10 million dollars in debt. Ron Devine was indicted Wednesday (10/18/23) of four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. The 67-year-old Devine was the primary owner of BK Racing, which fielded a Cup entry from 2012-18. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the team 72 hours before the 2018 Daytona 500. Later that year, the bankruptcy court sold his team’s charter and assets for $2.08 million. Front Row Motorsports purchased the charter and assets.To find out more about Front Row Motorsports go here.