Team Saar USA
| Team Saar USA | |
| Owner | Bill Barclay |
| Series Competed In | American Stock Car Championship TM Master Cup (formerly) TM Lights (formerly) TM Junior Series |
| Manufacturer(s) | Saar |
| Race Wins | ? |
| Championships | 5 (TMMC) 1? (ASCC) |
| Current Drivers | #2- Jason Richardson #49- Karl Hampton TBA |
| Notable Former Drivers | David Durbin George Dennis Steve Marshall Ian Cooper Paul Lyons Ryan Nawrocki Drew Eisenman Brian Sendack Mike Whitmore Anthony Griffith Ethan Everett Tony Durbin Tom Delgado Bill Calhoun Frank Azure Joe Olenick Garth McCallister, Jr. Cameron Taylor Tom Moore |
| Team | |
Team Saar USA (formerly National Racing) is the Saar Motor Company's factory stock car team, founded by Peter and Dennis Keyes.
The team competed full-time in the TM Master Cup until 2013, winning five Master Cup championships with five different drivers, before losing their full-time grid spot due to their involvement with the Master Cup Manufacturers' Association during the 2012 season. At the same time, the team expanded into the revived American Stock Car Championship, citing concerns with the future plans of TMMC management. Former TMMC champion and long-time TSUSA driver Tony Durbin notably defected to the series with the team, along with former hot prospect Ethan Everett, Travis Marshall, and the much-heralded Nikki Curtis.
For 2013, the team merged their ASCC operations with McCallister Motorsports, and went on to win the championship with Garth McCallister, Jr.. The team also made one-off attempts in the TMMC at Indianapolis and Decatur, debuting the Saar Eagle MS chassis.
2014 saw another shake-up in the team's operations. With the series' future uncertain, the team's ASCC operations were sold back to McCallister Motorsports. The team then received a full-time entry to return to the Master Cup Series, but with former Master Cup team owner Bill Barclay at the head. Rookies Joe Olenick and Cameron Taylor were hired to lead the team into the new season. It soon became clear that Saar was no longer a frontrunner in this iteration; Olenick's 5th place finish in New York City was one of their few high points. Tom Moore replaced Taylor midseason, with little noticeable effect for Team Saar USA, while Taylor quickly showed improvement when he was tapped to join Lenard International for the rest of the season.
The team has since left Master Cup and returned to ASCC again. Series veteran Jason Richardson and young FARC race winner Karl Hampton are on tap to drive for the team in 2019, with a third full-time driver to be announced.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Team Saar USA has been known for most of their history to prefer to hire American men as their drivers. The only exceptions have been Israeli driver Kyle Schmulewitz, who drove for the team in TM Lights, and Nikki Curtis.