Midwest Transit Racing

{{short description|Former NASCAR team}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox NASCAR team | name = Midwest Transit Racing | logo =Midwest_Transit_Racing_logo.png | owners = Hal Hicks Mike Witter | base = Daytona Beach, Florida Mooresville, North Carolina | series = Winston Cup Series | drivers = Rich Bickle, Ricky Craven, Ron Hornaday Jr., Rick Mast, Dan Pardus, Billy Standridge | manufacturer = Chevrolet | opened = 1998 | closed = 2001 | debut = 1998 Pepsi 400 (Daytona) | final = 2001 Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis) | races = 38 | drivers_champ = 0 | wins = 0 | poles = 0 }} '''Midwest Transit Racing''' is a disbanded NASCAR Winston Cup Series team owned and operated by Hal Hicks and Mike Witter. They were originally based in Daytona Beach, Florida, near NASCAR's headquarters, but would eventually move their operations to Mooresville, North Carolina.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://au.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/midwest-transit-race-team-moves-to-north-carolina/1739640/ |title=MidWest Transit Race Team Moves To North Carolina |date=May 8, 2001 |publisher=Motorsport.com |accessdate=January 19, 2026}}</ref> It was formed in 1998 as No. 03 with Dan Pardus driving and Midwest Transit as the sponsor. Before the car hit the track however, NASCAR changed the car number to 07 for unspecified reasons. The team planned to run as many races as possible, but several starts led to nothing but DNQ's until the Pepsi 400, where Pardus finished 36th after a crash. The team tried again in 1999, they would switch their car number again, this time to No. 50, and right before attempting Talladega, they would hire Lake Speed as their general manager.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jayski.com/1999/04/22/pardus-returns/ |title=Pardus Returns |date=April 22, 1999 |publisher=Jayski.com |accessdate=January 19, 2026}}</ref> When Pardus did not qualify for any of his attempts, he was replaced by Ricky Craven. At first, the combination seemed to work, but in 2000, the team began to fail to qualify for races again as well as having problems finishing races. After Craven quit the team, Rick Mast drove the car briefly, attempting races on a limited schedule, before Rich Bickle took over for one race at Indianapolis.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jayski.com/2001/07/31/bickle-in-the-50-at-indy-after-that/ |title=Bickle in the #50 at Indy, after that? |date=July 31, 2001 |publisher=Jayski.com |accessdate=January 19, 2026}}</ref> After that, the team laid off all their employees and suspended operations, ending a brief but tumultuous run in NASCAR.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jayski.com/jayski-archives/october-2001-news-archives/ |title=October 2001 News Archives |date=October 18, 2001 |publisher=Jayski.com |accessdate=January 19, 2026}}</ref>

== Car No. 50 results == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%" |- !colspan=45| NASCAR Winston Cup Series results |- ! Year ! Driver ! No. ! Make ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 15 ! 16 ! 17 ! 18 ! 19 ! 20 ! 21 ! 22 ! 23 ! 24 ! 25 ! 26 ! 27 ! 28 ! 29 ! 30 ! 31 ! 32 ! 33 ! 34 ! 35 ! 36 ! {{Abbr|Owners|Owners Points classification}} ! Pts |- ! 1998 ! rowspan=2| Dan Pardus ! 07 ! rowspan=8| Chevy | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAY DNQ | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | MAR | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| TAL DNQ | CAL | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CLT DNQ | DOV | RCH | MCH | POC | SON | NHA | POC | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| IND DNQ | GLN | MCH | BRI | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| NHA DNQ | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | CLT | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| TAL DNQ | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DAY 36 | PHO | CAR | ATL | colspan=3| ! 52nd ! 160 |- ! rowspan=4| 1999 ! rowspan=7| 50 | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAY DNQ | style="background:#DFC484;"| CAR Wth† | colspan=6| | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| TAL DNQ | CAL | RCH | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CLT DNQ | DOV | MCH | POC | SON | colspan=20| ! rowspan=4| 46th ! rowspan=4| 855 |- ! Billy Standridge | colspan=1| | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CAR DNQ | colspan=34| |- ! Ron Hornaday Jr. | colspan=2| | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| LVS DNQ | ATL | DAR | TEX | BRI | MAR | colspan=28| |- ! rowspan=2| Ricky Craven | colspan=16| | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DAY 43 | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NHA 13 | POC | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| IND 34 | GLN | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MCH 30 | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BRI 42 | DAR | RCH | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NHA 43 | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| DOV 40 | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MAR 24 | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CLT 43 | TAL | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CAR 41 | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| PHO 30 | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| HOM 32 | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| ATL DNQ | colspan=2| |- ! 2000 | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAY DNQ | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CAR DNQ | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| LVS 40 | ATL | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAR DNQ | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| BRI DNQ | TEX | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MAR 31 | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| TAL 29 | CAL | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| RCH 40 | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CLT 42 | DOV | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| MCH DNQ | POC | SON | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| DAY 29 | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NHA 17 | POC | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IND 41 | GLN | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MCH 37 | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| BRI DNQ | DAR | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| RCH 26 | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NHA 36 | DOV | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| MAR 20 | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CLT DNQ | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| TAL 30 | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| CAR 15 | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| PHO 18 | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| HOM DNQ | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ATL 30 | colspan=2| ! 45th ! 1393 |- ! rowspan=2| 2001 ! Rick Mast | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAY {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CAR {{small|32}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| LVS {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| ATL {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAR {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BRI {{small|36}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| TEX {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MAR {{small|41}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| TAL {{small|DNQ}} | CAL | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| RCH {{small|20}} | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CLT {{small|32}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DOV {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#FFCFCF;"| MCH {{small|DNQ}} | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| POC {{small|22}} | SON | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| DAY {{small|34}} | CHI | style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NHA {{small|14}} | POC | colspan=16| ! rowspan=2| 45th ! rowspan=2| 890 |- ! Rich Bickle | colspan=20| | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| IND 32 | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MAR | TAL | PHO | CAR | HOM | ATL | NHA |- | colspan=42|† - Replaced after first round qualifying by Billy Standridge |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Racing-Reference owner|Hal_Hicks_Mike_Witters}}

Category:Auto racing teams established in 1998 Category:Auto racing teams disestablished in 2001 Category:Defunct NASCAR teams Category:American auto racing teams Category:Long stubs with short prose