FANTASY NASCAR Racin

JAMES FINCH - ?/?/1950 -
Phoenix Racing was a former motor sports team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Nationwide Series. Owned by Florida businessman James Finch, the team fielded entries from 1989 through 2013 in both the Xfinity series and the CUP series. Beginning in 1989 Finch fielded a car in various races he thought his team could be competitive in. Jeff Purvis drove the car from 1989 - 2001. They ran a total of 35 races and was only able to finish 11 of them; mostly due to mechanical failures. Purvis wheeled the car to a 12th place finish at Daytona in 1996 - the only top 20 finish prior to 2002. In 2002 Phoenix racing only ran five races and Geoff Bodine drove the car. He was able to finish third in the Daytona 500 almost pulling off a major upset. It seems the team had a knack for fielding great race cars on restrictor plate tracks. Bodine also finished in the top ten at the July race at Daytona in the 2002 season. Mike Wallace drove the car in 2003 and once again posted one top ten finish at Daytona and one at Talladega. Phoenix racing began to run more races in 2004 and used a variety of drivers. Joe Ruttman drove in the most races (7), but Mike Wallace had a best finish of seventh for the team that season. The organization continued year after year

to run select races when they had a shot to win. In 2009 the team achieved it's high water mark. Brad Keselowski drove the famous Miccosukee Resorts and Gaming Chevy to the win at Talladega. Keselowski had run up front with the leaders all day; but had failed to lead a lap, Late in the late Ryan Newman was leading; but as the took the white flag; Carl Edwards took the lead pushed there by Keselowski. As they came out of turn four headed to the checkers Keselowski got a run on Edwards and got up next to his inside quarter panel coming through the tri-oval. Edwards was determined to keep Keselowski behind him and cut down across the nose of Brad's #09 Chevy. Keselowski didn't lift and the two made contact; Edwards spun and flew into the outside catch fence as Keselowski went on to claim the win; the only Cup win Phoenix Racing would ever record. After getting their first win, the team decided to race full time and reach for higher results. In 2010 Bobby Labonte drove the majority of the races; while in 2011 Landon Cassill drove full time and 2012 saw Kurt Busch race the full season in the car. Cassill only posted a couple top 20 finished; with a best of 12th. Kurt Busch's talent elevated the team to a higher level as Busch was able to make the team competitive at more and different type tracks. Busch posted a third place finish at Sonoma in 2012 while adding a ninth at Fontana, CA. He also added a 13th at Atlanta and Texas while getting a 15th at Phoenix. But Busch was involved in many accidents trying to get the most out of his equipment. He was

also suspended for the June race at Pocono after expletives aimed at a reporter after a Nationwide Series race at Dover. David Reutimann replaced Busch in that race, and Busch was welcomed back following a vote by team members. Busch would leave the team following the fall Talladega race for Furniture Row Racing, and was replaced by AJ Allmendinger. It was clear that Busch had been having to use talent to make up for a lack of performance in the car when after he went to Furniture Row Racing he posted three top ten finishes in the final six races of 2012. Phoenix Racing tried to re-group in 2013 and went back to using a variety of drivers to run the CUP races. Nine different drivers drove the car that season with Allmendinger running nine times. Only Regan Smith was able to post a top ten finish as he finished seventh (Daytona) and sixth (Talladega) once again showing they

could still be competitive on restrictor plate tracks. In spite of early success (the team was ranked 9th in owners points after the fifth race of the season) and a more affordable car model in the Gen 6 Chevy SS, lack of long-term funding continued to plague the team. Citing this recurring lack of stable sponsorship, Finch announced in May 2013 that he would close operations after the 2013 Brickyard 400. In late June, Finch announced that he was selling his team. The team found a buyer July 17 and Finch stopped sponsoring the team after Indianapolis. He would continue

to own the team through Labor Day weekend, providing assistance in the transition to new ownership. It was announced on August 28 that Harry Scott, Jr. of Turner Scott Motorsports had bought the team. Finch's last race as a Cup owner was the Labor Day race at Atlanta, where Mike Bliss drove the #51 Phoenix Construction Chevrolet to a 33rd-place finish, running six laps down at the checkered flag. While running part-time in the Cup Series; Finch also fielded cars in the Xfinity Series. Like in the Cup Series Jeff Purvis was his driver from 1989-1994 (but ran a total of only 10 races over that span). In 1996 Finch took Purvis full time Xfinity Series racing. He pulled off a win at Richmond in March beating Joe Nemechek for the win. He also visited victory lane at Michigan in August giving Finch his first NASCAR wins Purvis would go on to finish seventh

sponsored car in victory lane on three occasions. Spencer would post another win in 2002. Other wins would come for Phoenix Racing with Jamie McMurray behind the wheel (twice in 2003); with the final three wins coming via Johnny Sauter (2005); Mike Bliss (2009) and Kurt Busch winning the July race at Daytona in 2012 (photo at left). As mentioned above Finch would get out of racing after 2013. He fielded cars for the two races at Daytona and one at Talladega. Kurt Busch drove the car these final three races and posted fourth place finishes in the Spring Talladega race and July Daytona race. In the Xfinity Series results he had cars than ran 543 starts. Posting 13 wins; 64 top fives and 155 top ten finishes.