Erik Darnell | |||||||
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Darnell in 2008
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Born |
Beach Park, Illinois, United States |
December 2, 1982 ||||||
Achievements | 2003 Wisconsin Challenge Series Champion | ||||||
Awards | 2006 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year | ||||||
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
9 races run over 2 years | |||||||
2011 position | 51st | ||||||
Best finish | 47th - 2009 | ||||||
First race | 2009 Pep Boys Auto 500 (Atlanta) | ||||||
Last race | 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 (Pocono) | ||||||
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NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
52 races run over 5 years | |||||||
2012 position | 17th | ||||||
Best finish | 17th - 2012 | ||||||
First race | 2008 Corona México 200 (Mexico City) | ||||||
Last race | 2012 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead) | ||||||
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
76 races run over 4 years | |||||||
Best finish | 4th - 2008 | ||||||
First race | 2004 Black Cat Fireworks 200 (Milwaukee) | ||||||
Last race | 2008 Ford 200 (Homestead) | ||||||
First win | 2007 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas) | ||||||
Last win | 2008 Cool City Customs 200 (Michigan) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of February 23, 2013. |
Erik Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American driver. He is the grandson of former USAC and NASCAR driver Bay Darnell, who also started three NASCAR races (including one for Holman Moody). Darnell former ran for Roush Fenway Racing, joining the team in 2005 after being a co-winner on the Discovery Channel program Roush Racing: Driver X, along with David Ragan.
Erik began racing at the age of 12 in the River Vally Kart Club. He won the championship in the purple plate class in his second year of competition, later racing Allison Legacy Series cars after go karts. His first year of super late models was at Illiana Motor Speedway, with Erik finishing 3rd in the final standings with 1 win. Erik beat the best Wisconsin super late model drivers to win the 2003 Wisconsin Challenge Series championship. At that time his five wins were the most in the series' history. He set the super late model track record at Lake Geneva Raceway in 2004.
Darnell drove in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Milwaukee in 2004, finishing 26th. He also raced in numerous NASCAR touring series races.
Darnell drove in several NASCAR touring series and six ARCA races in 2005.
Darnell raced full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series (CTS) in 2006. He had twelve Top-10 finishes in 25 events, and he was the series' Rookie of the Year. He continued to drive for the team in 2007, as well as testing the team's Busch Series cars. On April 28, 2007 Darnell won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway for his first Craftsman Truck Series win.