Jimmy Means Racing

Jimmy Means Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, having last fielded the No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for Harrison Rhodes, Gar Robinson, and Brennan Poole. It was owned by former driver Jimmy Means, who was the team's primary driver upon the team's founding in 1978 as a Winston Cup team known as Means Racing.

After 44 starts driving for Bill Gray (and one for Rod Osterlund), Means made his debut as an owner in 1978 when he fielded the No. 52 Chevrolet. He had two top-tens and finished sixteenth in points. He expanded to a multi-car team briefly, fielding the No. 25 for Charlie Chamblee at Nashville, the No. 53 for Cecil Gordon at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and the No. 50 for Baxter Price at Texas World Speedway. His best years driving his car were from 1980 to 1983, when he finished no worse than 18th in the standings and had an average finish of 20th or better in all 4 seasons.

While remaining the primary driver of his car, in 1983, he stepped aside for Lennie Pond at Michigan International Speedway, who finished 22nd. In 1984, Means was injured and was replaced by Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Morgan Shepherd, Roy Smith and Bobby Wawak, and Means drove the No. 52 solely for the next six years. In 1991, Means gave up the No. 52 on two occasions; Bobby Hillin Jr. drove at Dover and Sears Point (finishing 19th and 21st), and Mike Wallace (finishing 31st and 39th) at Phoenix and Atlanta. In the early 1990s he frequently handed the wheel over to other drivers, including Hillin Jr, road racing ace Tommy Kendall; future IRL champion Scott Sharp; and future Craftsman Truck Series champ Mike Skinner. He also fielded occasional second entries for other drivers, including John McFadden, Mike Potter, and Brad Teague.

Means secured new sponsorship from NAPA for the 1993 season, but he was injured at Daytona. His temporary replacement was new NASCAR Rookie of the Year Jimmy Hensley. Means returned to finish 22nd at Atlanta. In what proved to be his final year as a driver, he was later 16th in the spring race at Bristol, 18th in Bristol's fall race, and 17th at Dover in September before his final race at Rockingham that fall. Besides Means' performances, the team's best result was 25th at Rockingham in February by Hensley. In 1994, the team's primary driver was Brad Teague, whose best finish in 8 starts was 22nd at Bristol in the summer. 4 other drivers competed once each in the No. 52 NAPA Ford in 1994. Mike Skinner finished 31st at Rockingham in February, Kirk Shelmerdine (former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt) was 26th at Talladega in May, Bob Keselowski was 41st at Pocono in June, and Gary Bradberry came home 30th in the season-ending Hooters 500 at Atlanta. In 1995, NAPA moved to the new NASCAR SuperTruck Series to sponsor Ron Hornaday Jr. and therefore did not return to sponsor Means Racing. The team picked up some sponsorship from Advance Communications/Race Page, but failed to qualify in all of their attempts with Bradberry, Teague, and Randy MacDonald sharing the car. The team attempted every race to start the year but then scaled back to part-time after the numerous DNQs, only running at the fall Darlington race with Teague, but again failing to make the field. The team closed down in 1996.

In 2012, the team announced that they would be returning to the Cup Series for the first time since 1995, fielding the No. 52 Toyota part-time for Scott Speed and Mike Skinner in a partnership with Dell Hamilton, running as Hamilton Means Racing. After many problems acquiring equipment and preparing cars, Speed attempted Martinsville but didn't qualify. The team made their debut at Darlington. The team picked up some sponsorship from Crusader Staffing. Skinner start and parked the car in their first race after 20 laps. Skinner attempted again at Kentucky but did not qualify. In 2013, Means sold his owner points to Brian Keselowski Motorsports.

In 2001, Means Racing returned to NASCAR in the Busch Series with a partnership with Moy Racing. They began the season with Jason Rudd, who ran the first race for the team, and Brad Teague, who ran five races total for them that season, his best finish a 38th at Watkins Glen International. Gaylord also returned to run two races, both resulting in 42nd-place finishes. Kertus Davis, Ricky Sanders and Andy Kirby also drove for the team that year. In 2002, Teague drove eleven races for the team, his best finish 38th at Nazareth Speedway. Jimmy Kitchens, Phil Bonifield and Eric Jones drove part-time as well for the team that year. Teague made 11 starts for Means in 2003, with Donnie Neuenberger running an additional two races.

In 2004, Bruce Bechtel joined as another driver to the team. He made several attempts but only made one race, at Pikes Peak. Teague continued to run with the team, his best finish being a 26th at Bristol. The next season, Shane Hall was the team's original driver but was soon released. Eric McClure began running with the team, with a best finish of 30th at Texas Motor Speedway, but was released in favor of Neuenberger. At the Dover 200, Neuenberger flipped over the Plan B Technologies Ford Taurus on Lap 2. He was uninjured, but as that was the team's only car, the team did not run again for a year.

The No. 52 returned for the 2007 Orbitz 300 at Daytona but failed to qualify with Brad Teague at the wheel. Teague, Neuenberger, Kevin Lepage, Jamie Mosley and Ian Henderson had driven throughout the season, with Scott Gaylord driving at Montreal, Phoenix, and Watkins Glen. Chris Lawson attempted but did not qualify at Memphis. Neuenberger drove four races with Royal Farms' sponsorship.