Bobby Dotter’s refusal to giving up leads to success in 626th NASCAR start as owner

Zero for 625. That’s not a track record you want in NASCAR. Bobby Dotter has been fighting for relevance in NASCAR since he debuted as a team owner in 1995. Heading into last weekend’s Xfinity Series race at Auto Club Speedway, his team hadn’t won in 625 combined starts in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. RELATED: Xfinity Series schedule | Las Vegas schedule As a driver, Dotter saw some success, winning once in the Xfinity Series in 1992 at New River Valley Speedway, competing for Ed Reizen’s No. 08 team. “I’ve never been ready to give up,” Dotter said earlier this week in a conversation with NASCAR.com. “I’ve never felt that way because this is my life.” Between 1995 and 1998, Dotter owned a part-time Xfinity Series team, competing in as many as 24 races his first year. Between 2004 and 2013, he fielded multiple entries in the Camping World Truck Series with SS GreenLight Racing, with his team earning a pair of third-place finishes with David Starr and Ross Chastain. RELATED: Driver stats for Bobby Dotter | Owner stats for Bobby Dotter In 2014, Dotter revived his Xfinity Series program, running a partial schedule before Ray Black Jr. made the move full-time from Trucks to Xfinity in 2016. The team saw some success, though Andy Lally earned a fifth-place finish in 2017 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Gray Gaulding also recorded a pair of runner-up results in 2019 and 2020 at the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega. It was during this time that Dotter struck up a friendship with Joe Custer, president of Stewart-Haas Racing. SHR would supply SS GreenLight Racing with developmental crew members to pit the team’s entries, while also allowing the team to charter to the race weekends on the SHR plane. Still, Dotter, deep down, wanted to grow his Xfinity Series program. He wasn’t content with mediocrity, competing with limited funding for all of these years. So ahead of the series’ debut at Circuit of The Americas, SHR plucked Cole Custer to drive the No. 17 Ford to get experience ahead of the Cup Series race, in a car co-owned by Dotter and Rick Ware. “When we decided we wanted to elevate our program this year, it seemed like through the friendship we had developed, we saw how SHR operated and what a top-shelf team they are,” Dotter said. Joe Graf Jr. was announced to return to the team in a full-time capacity for the 2022 season. Jeff Lefcourt, a family friend of the Grafs, bought into Dotter’s team, forming a full-blown alliance with Stewart-Haas, which includes seven chassis. For the first time, SS GreenLight Racing would have “A” engines for the duration of a season from Roush Yates Engines, while Graf would get additional experience on the Ford simulator. “The bottom line on this whole program is an effort to give a better opportunity for Joe Graf Jr.,” Dotter said. Part of the deal with SHR includes Cole Custer running a few races in the team’s second entry. Chase Briscoe is confirmed for one race as well. Sponsored by Production Alliance Group, which happened to be the sponsor of the race, Custer was confident in his ability to get the job done. After all, the last time he raced in the Xfinity Series at Fontana, he edged out 102-time series winner Kyle Busch for the checkered flag. Dotter, though, had no idea how Custer would perform, despite the No. 07 Ford being an SHR chassis. “They told us from the minute we put the deal together that we had a good chance to win that race,” Dotter said. “I’ve just never been in that position before to where I had that much confidence. But as it was all unfolding, certainly I jumped on board, seeing we were there.” In qualifying, Custer put the No. 07 Ford on the front row, starting behind only AJ Allmendinger. On Lap 49, Custer grabbed the lead for the first time, winning the second stage and putting himself in contention for the victory. But Custer had to outlast three green-white-checkered finishes, 15 laps more than the race’s scheduled distance. On the final overtime restart, he held off Noah Gragson and Anthony Alfredo, who was on fresher tires, giving SS GreenLight Racing its first series victory. RELATED: Cole Custer nets Xfinity win in third overtime Dotter could breathe a sigh of relief. “I’m a half-full type of guy, where I’m thinking this can’t be happening for me, something is going to happen because I know it’s not going to go like this all the way,” Dotter added “But it did. “I was ecstatic and happy. Knowing we had to run that car the next week (at Las Vegas), seeing him burn the tires off of it, it was like, ‘No, no, no, don’t blow a fender off the back.’ He used some common sense and had a little fun.” Custer, a student of the sport, was happy to deliver Dotter and SS GreenLight Racing its coveted first victory. “You won’t see anyone more hard-working and has been around this sport for a long time,” Custer said, “so it was really awesome to get those guys in Victory Lane and see all of their faces lit up. They were living it up and are really deserving because they work as hard as anybody.” RELATED: Cole Custer drops by 'Stacking Pennies' to talk Xfinity win What makes the triumph even more exciting for Dotter is Custer is scheduled to run a couple of upcoming races -- potentially the next being in March at COTA -- and Briscoe will be in the seat at least once. Having drivers of that caliber might not make the Auto Club win a one off. The rest of the year for SS GreenLight Racing will be aimed at progressing Graf’s performance, improving on his 22nd- and 28th-place finishes in the championship standings during his first two full-time seasons. Dotter’s ultimate goal this year is to have Graf place inside the top 20 in points, and to climb the No. 08 entry up the standings after missing the first two races. With Xfinity Series teams mandated to run the same car for the opening two races of the West Coast swing, Graf will have the equipment under him this weekend at Las Vegas, as he will pilot the exact No. 07 Ford that won at Fontana. [pickup_prop id="21024"]