Midwest Transit Racing is a disbanded NASCAR Winston Cup Series team owned and operated by Hal Hicks and Mike Witter. They were originally based in Daytona Beach, Florida, near NASCAR's headquarters, but would eventually move their operations to Mooresville, North Carolina. It was formed in 1998 as No. 03 with Dan Pardus driving and Midwest Transit as the sponsor. Before the car hit the track however, NASCAR changed the car number to 07 for unspecified reasons. The team planned to run as many races as possible, but several starts led to nothing but DNQ's until the Pepsi 400, where Pardus finished 36th after a crash. The team tried again in 1999, they would switch their car number again, this time to No. 50, and right before attempting Talladega, they would hire Lake Speed as their general manager. When Pardus did not qualify for any of his attempts, he was replaced by Ricky Craven. At first, the combination seemed to work, but in 2000, the team began to fail to qualify for races again as well as having problems finishing races. After Craven quit the team, Rick Mast drove the car briefly, attempting races on a limited schedule, before Rich Bickle took over for one race at Indianapolis. After that, the team laid off all their employees and suspended operations, ending a brief but tumultuous run in NASCAR.
Car No. 50 results NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts 1998 Dan Pardus 07 Chevy DAYDNQ CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TALDNQ CAL CLTDNQ DOV RCH MCH POC SON NHA POC INDDNQ GLN MCH BRI NHADNQ DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TALDNQ DAY36 PHO CAR ATL 52nd 160 1999 50 DAYDNQ CARWth† TALDNQ CAL RCH CLTDNQ DOV MCH POC SON 46th 855 Billy Standridge CARDNQ Ron Hornaday Jr. LVSDNQ ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR Ricky Craven DAY43 NHA13 POC IND34 GLN MCH30 BRI42 DAR RCH NHA43 DOV40 MAR24 CLT43 TAL CAR41 PHO30 HOM32 ATLDNQ 2000 DAYDNQ CARDNQ LVS40 ATL DARDNQ BRIDNQ TEX MAR31 TAL29 CAL RCH40 CLT42 DOV MCHDNQ POC SON DAY29 NHA17 POC IND41 GLN MCH37 BRIDNQ DAR RCH26 NHA36 DOV MAR20 CLTDNQ TAL30 CAR15 PHO18 HOMDNQ ATL30 45th 1393 2001 Rick Mast DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY CHI NHA POC 45th 890 Rich Bickle IND32 GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MAR TAL PHO CAR HOM ATL NHA† - Replaced after first round qualifying by Billy Standridge
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