David Starr is back in the NASCAR Cup Series. On Tuesday, Starr announced on social media that he has joined Rick Ware Racing for Wednesday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He will drive the #53 Chevrolet Camaro, for which he will start thirty-third.
He posted, “I am so excited to personally announce I will be driving the no. 53 Chevy Camaro for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series race tomorrow evening at Martinsville Speedway!”
“I can’t wait to see what this opportunity brings for the rest of the season- this is only the beginning! Thank you to RWR for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel and to my sponsors, fans, friends and family for the kind words and support during this off time. I hope y’all are staying safe and will be tuning in tomorrow night on FS1 at 7:00PM/EST, we’re starting P33! I’m so excited to be back on the track and to be doing what I love! LET’S GO RACING!”
Starr began 2020 racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JD Motorsports, his first season with the team. However, he lost his ride in May after his sponsorship dried up due to COVID-19, which had also forced the season into a pause in March. At the time, he was twentieth in points with a best finish of eighteenth in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
The Texas native has nine career Cup starts, most recently a thirty-ninth-place run at his home track Texas Motor Speedway in fall 2018 with Obaika Racing. Earlier in the year, he finished thirty-ninth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Ware’s #51. His best premier series finish is twenty-seventh at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2011 with Leavine Family Racing, with whom he attempted eight races and qualified for four.
Although Wednesday’s race will be Starr’s first Cup date at Martinsville, he has enjoyed success at the short track in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. In twenty-four Truck starts at Martinsville between 1999 and 2013, he scored a win in 2006 with nine top-ten finishes.
RWR has fielded a litany of drivers in its arsenal. Joey Gase is running the full schedule for the team, while J.J. Yeley is on a full-time campaign with the team and others like Tommy Baldwin Racing and Spire Motorsports. Other RWR drivers in 2020 include David Ragan, B.J. McLeod, Gray Gaulding, Josh Bilicki, Garrett Smithley, and Bayley Currey. The #53 is currently thirty-fifth in the owners’ points.
Gase and Yeley will serve as Starr’s team-mates for Martinsville. The former, driving the #51, starts thirty-sixth while the latter, in the #27, is twenty-sixth.
