M&J Racing

M&J Racing is an ARLA Elite Series team. It is the oldest active team in ARLA competition, having competed since the series's inaugural season in 1973.

History
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.

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.

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 Tornado Alley Truck Series 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 suffered a great embarrassment mid-season 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.