M&J Racing

M&J Racing is an American racing team that competes in the FARC Lowe Dollar Series. Based in Forest Park, Illinois, it is the oldest and most decorated active team in FARC competition, having competed since the inaugural season of the ARLA Elite Series in 1973, and winning eight championships in the series to date.

1971-1999: Alan Monroe and Chuck Johaanes
M&J Racing was established by brothers-in-law Chuck Johaanes and Alan Monroe in 1971. Monroe and Johaanes competed exclusively at the Rockford Speedway, carrying the car numbers 63 and 64 respectively. The pair won a number of races, with Monroe ultimately winning the track championship in 1972.

That December, M&J Racing competed in the 13-man scrimmage race that kick-started ARLA, and the team was among the 11 cars from the scrimmage that showed up at the inaugural race at Daytona.

Despite the intentions of the new tour to provide a means for low-budget short track teams to compete on the national level, almost every team was surprised at the cost of traveling across the country. M&J Racing struggled to find sponsorship during the 1973 season, so Monroe and Johaanes, as Monroe said years later, issued an ultimatum to themselves; if they didn't win a race, they would pull out of the series and return to running exclusively at Rockford. Johaanes responded by winning the inaugural Rockford 200. There was a decent amount of publicity surrounding that race, and the team was noticed by motor oil producer Weston. Beginning with 1974, the M&J Racing cars were covered with Weston stickers, ensuring the team's survival.

M&J Racing quickly developed a reputation as the most dependable team of the 1970s. Chuck Johaanes won the 1975 championship, and Alan Monroe won consecutive titles in 1976 and 1977. However, with the rise of Andy Pearson and Paul Sweeney in the 1980s, M&J faced heightened competition, causing their win count to drop. Alan Monroe took his very last win at Colorado in 1986, but Chuck Johaanes carried the flag for the team since then, winning exactly one race every year.

2000-2008: The Next Generation
The team finally won another championship with Chuck Johaanes in 1998, and the brothers-in-law promptly announced their retirement for the end of 1999. In 2000, the team hired two unknown drivers; Harold McGee and Brad Wallace, to drive the #63 and #64 cars respectively in order to give Monroe and Johaanes' sons Kevin and Chris more time to develop.

Kevin Monroe and Chris Johaanes, then 21 and 19, were deemed to be ready for ARLA competition in 2001. Monroe put the team back in the spotlight by winning in his debut at Daytona. However, Johaanes soon overshadowed Monroe in an apparent reversal of the way their fathers drove; Johaanes adopted Alan Monroe's habit of winning several races at a time, while Monroe's results were much more consistent like Chuck Johaanes'. Johaanes captured the 2004 championship, with Monroe finishing second in the points.

Johaanes' performance was noticed by Garth McCallister's TM Master Cup Series team, and he was given the opportunity to compete in Cup full-time in 2008. Johaanes did double-duty in ARLA and Cup that year, taking the ARLA title again, but he struggled in Cup.

2009-2012: Expansion and Success
Before the 2009 season, Kevin Monroe and Chris Johaanes were given full ownership of the team by their fathers. The new owners, with high ambitions to expand the team, immediately established an ARLA Thunder Trucks team and personally scouted new drivers for those seats. Monroe signed Taylor Brillon to the #63 truck, while Johaanes signed Benji Flynn to the #64. Brillon won in her first Truck start, and she and Flynn were formidable contenders for the Truck Series title, but Brillon displayed a tendency to crash, giving Flynn a clear path for the championship. However, Brillon was elevated to the Elite Series mid-season, taking over the CeeJay Racing #34 entry on loan from M&J, taking her first Elite Series win at Grand Detour that same year.

M&J Racing ballooned to a 5-car effort in 2010 after merging with the ailing O&D Pharmaceuticals team. Chris Johaanes had to abandon his full-time driving and management duties because of his demanding Cup schedule. Fortunately for Kevin Monroe, new M&J driver and Riggs Motorsports team boss Brenda Riggs was more than willing to step up in Johaanes' place. In the meantime, Bobby Porteau took over the #64, with the rest of the lineup consisting of Taylor Brillon and Jeb Klinger. Benji Flynn found a full-time ride at Grease Burger Racing, but remained under contract with M&J. The team's Thunder Trucks operation also expanded, with the team retaining Benji Flynn and hiring Lawrence Burr, Vinnie Enzo, and Zach Gott to drive the other three trucks.

The team suffered a great embarrassment mid-season in the Elite Series when Benji Flynn was stripped of the win at Buffalo Downs after a traction control device was found on his car. Grease Burger Racing maintained that they had not installed the device, placing the blame squarely on Flynn. Flynn's contract with M&J was terminated shortly afterwards.

In the meantime, Bobby Porteau took the championship in one of the team's best seasons, as they had won 6 races. M&J Racing had a great 2011 season as well. Porteau and Klinger's replacements, Michael Madrigal and Austrian Edwin Schwarzloski, won two races each, with Kevin Monroe finally capturing his first championship.

M&J Racing also fielded a Cromwell driven by Allie Riggs in the TM Master Cup Series in an effort to win the series' Independent's Trophy.

2012 was a mixed bag for M&J. The team hired Michael White and Dale Underwood to drive in the Tornado Alley Truck Series, with White scoring the championship, but the Elite Series team suffered from mechanical failures and accidents all season, despite Brillon and Monroe bringing home a total of three wins.

2013-15: Merger with Riggs Motorsports
After the 2012 season, Monroe and Brenda Riggs, who had also suffered from the mechanical problems and crashes with her team, announced that the team would merge with Riggs Motorsports. Madrigal moved to Math Motors with support from M&J, and Schwarzloski left to start his own team, Racers with Disabilities. The 2013 driver lineup would be the ever-popular Leslie Riggs, bringing her #50 to the team, Monroe in the #63, Brillon, moving to the #64, Brenda Riggs in a part-time #67, and, most surprisingly, AJ Young in a #15 entry. Young was reportedly brought in to help compensate for the team's large 2012 repair bill, and while he showed some signs of improvement from his tenure with Team Burr, he was still off the pace of his teammates and most other drivers in the field. Lawrence Burr also joined the team from the defunct Grease Burger Racing as a reserve driver.

Brillon would carry the flag for the team, winning two races and finishing fourth in points; Leslie fifth with one win; Monroe with one win but 40th in points after missing several races due to injury; Young a career best 43rd; and Brenda also bringing home a win.

For 2014, Brillon moved to a new #⑨ entry at the request of sponsor C9 Antifreeze, with Leslie moving to the #64, and Burr being brought in to drive the #67 for select races. Brillon scored two races again, but a plethora of DNFs at the beginning of the season prevented her from making a challenge for the championship. Monroe also scored two wins, coming up just short of a second championship with a fourth place finish in the points. Leslie brought home a win in the All-Star Race, and Brenda won her sprint at 70/77 Speedway in what proved to be her final season before retirement.

The team also revived their Truck team for 2014, with Osvaldo Ramirez and Burr rotating driving duties with Young, Monroe, and Brillon. Though they ran at the front all season, the team was only able to secure two wins in the series; Ramirez at Austin, and Burr at Kentucky.

For 2015, the team downsized to three cars in the Elite Series, with Young leaving for Pearson-Sweeney Motorsports and Brenda seemingly retired. The team left the Truck Tour and expanded to the new Super Series, with Ramirez and Burr as the full-time drivers. Riggs finished 7th in the standings with a win at Berlin, followed by Brillon with victories at New York and Chicagoland. and Monroe in tenth with a win at Dover.

2016-present: Sponsorship struggles and turnaround
After the 2015 season, M&J underwent another major upheaval. Brillon decided to leave the team for Motor Assault Racing, bringing the #⑨ and the C9 sponsorship with her, while Riggs decided to step back from full-time racing, taking on a new position as promoter for the ABQ Speedbowl. With the loss of two major sponsorships, M&J was forced to cut back to two full-time entries, with two additional part-time entries piloted primarily by pay drivers.

Monroe remained in his familiar #63, while the #64 would take on sponsorship from eCola, with Ashley Tucker sharing the car with road course specialist Kevin Daly. The new part-time #62 car was driven by Aaron Singer, Lawrence Burr, Mark Thompson, Mariano Zavala, Kiefer Glanville, and Ralph West, and a #61 was rolled out for two additional races for Thompson and Burr.

Surprisingly, it would be Thompson who would carry the flag for M&J; the short track veteran had a career breakthrough as he took home the victory in both of his starts in the #62, at Elko and Darlington. Despite only running part-time, these victories qualified him for championship contention under the new "FARC-Off" playoff system, which Monroe also qualified for with his points finish. Zavala also captured his first FARC victory at Mosport, but was ineligible for the FARC-Off after falling out of the top 40 in points.

Unfortunately, Thompson's feel-good story also had unexpected consequences for M&J, as they were now obligated to field a car for him for the first three races of the playoffs. For the first race at New Hampshire, Thompson took over the 64, while Tucker was moved to the 61. Still struggling with stable funding, M&J elected to release Tucker, and suspended operations for the 61 and 62 teams after that weekend.

Despite the turmoil surrounding his championship bid, Thompson was unfazed, as he scored his third victory of the year at Grand Detour to secure his place in the second round of the FARC-Off; him and Monroe were scored in second and fifth place, respectively. In the Round of 10, however, Monroe and Thompson were unable to find enough speed, and both were eliminated before the championship round at Texas World.

M&J regrouped for 2017 with Thompson signed on for two races, but making it his goal to run a full schedule "at all costs", electing to ride-hop between M&J and smaller FARC teams. Thompson would share the 64 with another 2016 breakout star, Johnson Clapp; new development driver and RaceSim competitor Xander Massey; former BlackDiamond Racing development drivers Jimmie Russell and Rick Head; and the ever-loyal Lawrence Burr. Mariano Zavala returned for a five-race schedule in the 61, and Austin Howard, crew chief of the 62 in 2016 and son of TM Master Cup and ARLA champion Joseph Howard, was given his own opportunity to race.

During the season, Monroe announced his retirement from full-time driving at the end of the year. Though he went winless for the first time since 2009, Monroe's consistency allowed him to remain in contention for the championship until he was collected in an accident in the second stage of the Rockford 200, ultimately finishing fifth in the standings. Johnson Clapp continued to impress with victories at Sayre and DuQuoin, reportedly lining him up for a potential TM Lights ride, while Zavala took home another win at Meadowdale.

M&J turned to two rookies from the Voltroxx Mudstars Dirt Late Model Series to lead the team in 2018; Noah Dalitz, the younger brother of former FARC driver Scott Dalitz, took over the #63, while Kerry Fenton, cousin to Leslie and Allie Riggs, would step into the #64 full-time. Xander Massey will drive the new #94 car for the minimum of ten races to be eligible for the championship, with Burr and Zavala filling out the schedule. Kevin Monroe is scheduled to return in a #312 car at Springfield, Chicago, and LaCrosse.