Walker Texas Racing
| Walker Texas Racing | |
| [[Image:|150px]] | |
| Owner | Kurt Walker Jeff Keaton |
| Series Competed In | FARC Lowe Dollar Series |
| Manufacturer(s) | Kanako |
| Race Wins | 12 |
| Championships | 1, 2018 |
| Current Drivers | #98- Maro Adachi |
| Notable Former Drivers | Kurt Walker Lance Andrews Nami Miura Seiji Daiho Jason Bates Akira Tsukari Mark Thompson Karl Hampton |
| Team | |
Walker Texas Racing (formerly Kurt Walker Motorsports and Kurt Walker Motorsports with Karl's Superstores) is a motorsports team currently competing in the FARC Lowe Dollar Series. It is co-owned by Kurt Walker, the grandson of ARLA founder Henry Walker and two-time series champion, and Jeff Keaton, crew chief and owner of Quantum Engineering.
History[edit | edit source]
Walker formed the team in 2010 after being released from his TM Master Cup Series ride with Camelot Racing; acquiring the assets of his ARLA employer Rosebud Racing, and the defunct defending champions, J-Motor. Walker competed full-time, along with his former teammate Nami Miura, with TMMC veteran Lance Andrews driving a limited schedule. Miura would be awarded her first win after Benji Flynn was disqualified from the Watkins Glen race for having a traction control device on his car.
The team failed to find much success in 2011. Street Stocks champion Matas Kazimeras joined the team full-time, but his success did not translate to the Elite Series, going winless and finishing 44th in the standings. Walker and Miura finished 34th and 43rd. Miura's longtime friend Seiji Daiho joined the team starting at Rockford after being released from MRD Motorsports.
In 2012, Walker cut back to a part-time schedule, with Miura and Daiho running full-time. Daiho finished a decent 19th in the standings, and Walker scored his first win since 2007 at Memphis, but Miura regressed to 55th in the standings.
For 2013, the team partnered with Karl's Superstores after the discount retailer shut down their ARLA team. In addition to sponsoring the team, Karl's brought in their longtime driver Jason Bates to drive on a limited schedule in the #51. Miura and Daiho shared the 39 car in a joint championship bid, with Daiho also racing the #91 in the races Miura drove. Walker competed for the Tornado Alley Trophy, and 2009 champion Akira Tsukari returned to the series, driving the #98 in the Japanese races. This would be the team's most successful season yet; Miura and Daiho's effort finished seventh in the championship, with Miura winning at Montmagny and Daiho winning Karl's home race at Riverside. The team also swept the Japanese tour, with Tsukari winning at Motegi and Suzuka and perennial bridesmaid Bates finally scoring the first win of his twelve-year career at Hokkaido. The one sour note of the team's season was Walker's suspension from the Rockford 200 after causing multiple accidents at 70/77 Speedway.
Bates and Karl's left the team for Pearson-Sweeney Motorsports at the end of the season, and the team would not be able to continue their successes in 2014. Miura and Daiho returned to their separate entries, but both went winless, with Miura missing several races after being injured at New York. Tsukari, returning for a limited schedule, scored the team's only victory at Mosport.
The team returned for 2015 as Walker Texas Racing, but cut down to three cars, none of which ran the complete schedule. With Walker running nine of twenty race weekends,and Miura and Daiho cut back to five each, the team went winless for the first time since 2011, and Miura and Daiho departed FARC at the end of the season and returned to Japan.
Walker soldiered on for the following two seasons, and returned to victory lane in 2017 at Tulsa, while announcing the team's return to full-time competition in 2018. Walker announced the signing of journeyman Mark Thompson, who broke out in 2016 with three wins on a part-time schedule for M&J Racing, before 2017 ride-hopping among the smaller teams with his RON Oil sponsorship. Thompson would take over the #98, with the exception of the events at Remembrance Field and Texas Motor Speedway, where Walker would drive while Thompson moved to a third car, #89. WTR also reunited with Karl's Superstores to field a new #99 team full-time, driven by rookie Karl Hampton IV, great-grandson of Karl's founder Karl Hampton. Hampton made his first appearance for the team in the Rockford 200, showing surprising speed before being collected in an accident in Stage 1.