Max Q Motorsports had a very short history when you compare it to other NASCAR Cup Series teams. MQM operated between 2009 and 2013 and was mainly a backmarker team.
The team was owned and operated by former driver Larry Gunselman and would have both Toyota and Chevrolet as the manufacturer over their six years.
MQM ran two different cars that sported the numbers 37 and 64. The cars had a combined total of 21 drivers throughout the years, notables include Todd Bodine, Bobby Labonte, Scott Speed and owner Larry Gunselman.
MQM 64
All things started with No.64 on the racetrack, an unsponsored Toyota Camry that would not make the 2009 Daytona 500 despite Geoff Bodine’s effort. MQM would make the field at Las Vegas for the team’s first start. Driven by Todd Bodine, he would finish the race p37, 58 laps down.
Out of a field of 43 cars, that 37th inaugural race finish would end up being the best finish with that car number throughout the three years it raced. A lot of DNQs and 40th-to-last finishes would mark the 64 era for MQM.
It’s last official race that the car competed in was the 2010 Homestead race where Landon Cassill would only complete 35 laps for a p40 finish. MQM would attempt to
make the 2011 Daytona 500 with Derrike Cope, but would fail to make the field of 43.
MQM 37
After the failure to qualify for the 2011 Daytona 500, Max Q Motorsports got a deal with Front Row Motorsports to acquire the No.37 car. The 37 would have Tony Raines driving and the team inheriting the owners points from 2010. The car would become the primary car and was guaranteed a spot through the first five races of the season. Raines would get multiple top 25 finishes at p25, that would be the best finishes for both that car and in the team’s history.
MQM 37 And The End
2012 featured the team with plans to run full-time with an alliance with Rick Ware Racing, but multiple DNQs would change things and a failed buyout by RWR would be the cherry topping in what was a very rough year.
J.J Yeley would leave the team after 2012, going to Tommy Baldwin Racing, where he was given the opportunity to actually race instead of doing start-and-parks. With the loss of Yeley, Max Q Motorsports would effectively shut down prior to the 2013 season.
The No.37 would run at Sonoma in alliance with TBR and Yeley driving, but that was the only action that MQM saw. 2014 would mark the official end to the team with TBR acquiring the No.37 outright.
Comments