DeGarmo Enterprises

From TM Pedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
DeGarmo Enterprises
DeGarmo Enterprises.png
Owner Owen DeGarmo
Series Competed In TM Master Cup
TM Lights
Manufacturer(s) Lenard
Race Wins 1? (TMMC)
7+ (TMLT)
3? (TMJS)
Championships 1? (TMLT)
Current Drivers #81- Craig Jonser
#87- Zack Webster
TBA
Notable Former Drivers Louis Kingston
Zelda Ashby
Yamino Tenchi
Cyrus LaTerza
Tom Moore
Mike Whitmore
Tom Delgado
Jim Hayes
Brandon Lareau
Clair Auxier
Saul Fischel
Team


DeGarmo Enterprises is an American racing team competing in the TM Master Cup Series and TM Lights, owned by Owen DeGarmo.

The team originally competed in the defunct TM Junior Series before moving to Master Cup in 2011, partnering with Juneau Automotive for their debut in the series. They hired popular young stars Louis Kingston and Zelda Ashby to drive their cars; Ashby scoring the team's first win in Quebec, and finished sixth in the championship, while Kingston was 16th in the standings with a runner-up finish in the tragic Round of Brazil.

Kingston would depart for Star Team Nemoto in 2012, swapping seats with Yamino Tenchi, racing alongside her countrywoman Ashby. The team joined the Master Cup Manufacturers' Association in an effort to secure provisional spots on the grid for special events, along with other street car manufacturers participating in Master Cup. They participated in the boycott of the Round of Michigan, and were consequently stripped of their place on the full-time grid for 2013. Ashby and Tenchi finished 7th and 20th in the standings, respectively, but went winless; Ashby signed with FPO, Inc. for 2013, Tenchi joined the experimental Clockwork Racing team, and Juneau shifted their alliance to Mitchell & Sons Racing.

After taking 2013 off, DeGarmo made a big splash when announcing their 2014 plans. They announced their return to Master Cup in a partnership with Tom Delgado, branded as DeGarmo-Delgado Enterprises. Independent's Trophy standouts Tom Moore and Brandon Lareau were signed as full-time drivers, with Delgado returning to the series in the third car. However, the year-old Lycoia Brutes the team elected to develop and campaign proved to be off the pace, much to the frustration of Delgado. After Lareau and Moore were fired and replaced with Derrike Chaiter, Mike Whitmore, and TM Lights call-up Kurt Reynolds, Delgado spent a few races in the third car for Lenard International instead, and his partnership with DeGarmo was dissolved at the end of the year.

DeGarmo also returned to fielding a team in the developmental series with a four-car TM Lights team, fielding cars for Brad Dwyer, elder son of the legendary Benny Dwyer; Reynolds; and Master Cup veterans Joel Rodriguez and Craig Jonser. The team went winless, but showed far more speed than the Master Cup side of the operation.

DeGarmo has continued to compete in both series, holding steady in the midfield in Master Cup but emerging as a frontrunner in TM Lights. Jonser became the Lights team's anchor, and was rewarded with a return to Master Cup in 2019, partnered with Power Steering, Inc. development driver Zack Webster. Meanwhile, in 2018, 18-year old phenom Saul Fischel won the championship despite being ineligible for the first three races of the season, and was quickly signed to Lenard International.