Identity Ventures Racing
| Owner(s) | Jay Robinson Nat Hardwick Mark Bailey James Hamilton |
|---|---|
| Base | Monroe, North Carolina |
| Series | Sprint Cup Series |
| Car numbers | 49, 66 |
| Race drivers | 66. Michael Waltrip Joe Nemechek Jeff Burton Brett Moffitt Tomy Drissi Timmy Hill Mike Wallace 49. Mike Wallace |
| Sponsors | Landcastle Title PEAK Motor Oil Testoril Royal Teak Collection Farm Bureau Insurance Vydox ASM |
| Manufacturer | Toyota |
| Opened | 2014 |
| Closed | 2014 |
| Career | |
| Debut | 2014 Daytona 500 (Daytona) |
| Latest race | 2014 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead) |
| Races competed | 30 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
Identity Ventures Racing was an American professional team that last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The team was founded by Identity Ventures Owners James Hamilton and Mark Bailey, Atlanta-based investor Nat Hardwick and Jay Robinson, longtime owner of a Nationwide Series team. IVR formed before the 2014 NASCAR season, and was run out of Robinson's Nationwide Series shop using NEMCO Motorsports's Cup Series equipment. The team operated as a satellite team of Michael Waltrip Racing to handling that organization's research-and-development operations. Following lawsuits against Hardwick in August and September 2014, his ownership stake in the team passed back to Hamilton, Bailey and Robinson. The team was sold after one season to Premium Motorsports. Robinson moved the equipment and owner's points to Premium Motorsports.
The No. 66 was originally the No. 56 for Michael Waltrip Racing; its current incarnation had its beginnings in an incident during the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, in which MWR was charged with fixing the outcome of the race to get Martin Truex, Jr. into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. As a result, Truex was booted from the Chase, sponsor NAPA Auto Parts left the team for JR Motorsports, while Truex departed for Furniture Row Racing. This left MWR's No. 56 team without a driver or sponsor for 2014.
For 2014, MWR initially planned to run a part-time car out of their shop for owner Michael Waltrip and veteran Jeff Burton. However, on January 30, 2014, MWR announced a deal with team owner Jay Robinson, spinning off the No. 66 into a satellite team.Identity Ventures Racing was formed when Robinson partnered with the two owners of Identity Ventures and Atlanta-based Nat Hardwick. Joe Nemechek's Toyota Camry fleet was purchased by IVR in preparation for the MWR alliance, and in return Nemechek was named the team's primary driver. Burton only ended up running two races in the car, with MWR development driver Brett Moffitt taking over most of Burton's schedule. One of Nemechek's starts was replaced by another young driver, Timmy Hill, while Nemechek ran the truck race in Texas. At the Sonoma road course, Tomy Drissi ran the car as a road course ringer. Mike Wallace ran several fall races after Nemechek left the team. Waltrip ran all four restrictor plate races.
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