Welcome to 2009 Team News! The best place for the most up to date Stellar-Quest Racing Team information all season long.

 

Stout/SQR Head to Chicago

July 8, 2009: Castile, NY: JC Stout and his dedicated volunteer Stellar-Quest Racing Team rolled out of their Castile-based headquarters before dawn today headed for Chicagoland Speedway. This will be Stout’s third bid in the family owned #19 car in the NASCAR® Nationwide Series this season.

Coming off a bitter disappointment in Kentucky last month, Stout is determined to redeem his excellent qualifying reputation and start the Dollar General 300 Friday night. The challenge is again great as Stout will be one of 52 entries that include multiple Cup level drivers. Only the top 43 cars will take the green flag.

Adding to the challenge is the fact that Stout has never set a wheel to this race track before. "There’s no doubt that the pressure is on. He’s a young driver that is still learning his new race car and must learn a new track in only a few laps before he must qualify in on time. He must also do all this in the shadow of drivers like Wallace, Harvick, Leffler and Edwards. There’s no back up cars, no second engine, no second chances for us", Crew Chief Don Roberts said.

Stout himself adds, "I live for this opportunity. Yes, it will be tough, but nothing worth having is easy to achieve. My crew will give me the best car they can and I will give them the best laps I can. Hopefully in the end it will be enough to be in the big show."

Along for the ride will be NASCAR® fan William Morgan of Ireland. William is a young boy fighting for his life against a rare liver tumor. His older brother Brian reached out to the team some time ago explaining William’s love of racing and of JC Stout. William and JC have different types of challenges, but both know the odds and share a fierce determination to overcome them. To honor William and his courageous fight, a photograph of William is perched on the dashboard of the #19 Chevy. It will remain there for the entire race season.

The event schedule places tech and practice on Thursday July 9th with the final practice session being aired live on ESPN2 at 7pm EST. NASCAR® Nationwide Series qualifying will also air live on the same channel at 3pm EST on Friday July 10th. Race coverage begins at 7:30pm EST on ESPN on Friday.

 

June 13, 2009: Expectations and preparations for tonight's race were in high gear when sudden disappointment hit the SQR team. Qualifying did not go well enough to secure a spot in the starting grid. The lock-in rules, provisionals and a blink of time sent JC and the #19 team home.

This was the first time in four years JC failed to qualify in any racing series for any team and the very first in the Nationwide Series.

JC's reputation as a good qualifier will take him to The Milwaukee Mile on June 20th to serve as driver for the #0 Nationwide Series SponsorDavis.com Chevy team.

The Stellar-Quest Racing Team will prepare for their next Nationwide Series bid at Chicagoland Speedway on July 10th.

 

June 12, 2009: The #19 team was hard at work at Kentucky Speedway today passing technical inspections and turning practice laps in preparation for tomorrow's qualifying attempt. JC will again have to beat out a several cars for the right to take the green flag Saturday night.

Practice round one found the #19 Chevy 30th fastest among 44 cars but the set up was not comfortable to JC. After a few changes, JC's time fell to 38th fastest but he was feeling more secure. So the quest for the middle ground is underway.

You'll notice the the Nationwide Dash4Cash logo is in the hood of the Stout car. This is by special invitation from Nationwide for the Meijer 300 only. JC will also be participating in an autograph session under the Nationwide tent in the infield Saturday afternoon. The Stellar-Quest Racing Team will additionally be represented in a live radio broadcast interview trackside on the KOI Auto Parts Show on Kentucky's local 700WLW station Saturday just before qualifying.

Tomorrow will be a very busy exciting day for Stout and his team as well as for their fans. Tune in and enjoy the ride!!

 

Stout Heads to Kentucky

June 9, 2009 Castile, NY: Driver of the #19 NASCAR® Nationwide Series race car JC Stout, will load his single car with the help of his all volunteer crew and head to Kentucky Speedway this week. Before first light Thursday morning, the team will begin it’s second journey of the year in the Nationwide Series hoping for a smoother ride than they experienced at Lowe’s Motor Speedway a couple weeks ago.

The Stellar-Quest Racing Team, headquartered in Castile, NY, learned a great deal from their Lowe’s experience. The crew will be more prepared for the intense level of technical inspections preformed in this second highest level of NASCAR® racing so as to allow them to utilize all the practice time allowed. Stout, now with just shy of 200 laps in his new vehicle, will be more prepared to convey what changes need to be made to his car and how the car will likely respond.

Stout pulled off an amazing qualifying lap at Lowe’s in May despite the deck being heavily stacked against him. He started 31st in a field of 43 and an entry list of 51 cars with experienced drivers and support staff. He and his crew fought through a tremulous race to formally finish 37th with body and chassis damage.

"It has taken a huge effort on everyone’s part to get our car prepared for this next race in Kentucky," Stout commented. "We only have one car, limited resources and limited time to turn out a race ready car. There’s engine work, body work and sophisticated chassis set ups to be done all before we can load up. The dedication and perseverance I see in the shop everyday astounds me!"

Kentucky Speedway is a track Stout is familiar with having raced in the now NASCAR® Camping World Truck Series there more than once. He hopes to draw on those experiences and produce an even better outcome in the Meijer 300 to be aired live on ESPN2 at 8pm EST on Saturday June 13th.

 

June 8, 2009: The Stellar-Quest Racing Team is working feverishly to get the #19 ready to compete in Kentucky this weekend. Very long hours are being put in by all members of this volunteer effort. It will come down to the wire. The plan is to depart New York on Thursday June 11th before daybreak. Check back to this page for further updates.

 

May 23 2009: The Lowe’s Lowdown: Thursday May 21st was a very trying day for the new #19 NASCAR® Nationwide car and crew. Tech at this new level was grueling all day. It was all the repeated trips required to "the room of doom" that kept JC off the race track for the first practice session and hindered the second session. Stout was only able to log 16 practice laps and found his race car to be excessively tight. The stats showed only one car slower than his. That wasn’t good enough to make the starting field with 51 cars entered in the event. Somehow the team needed to find 6-7 more mph before qualifying and there would be no more practice opportunities to test any changes.

Things were looking grim for the SQR team, but they’ve been in this position before. No one was ready to go home yet. The volunteer crew put nose to grindstone and were determined to give it their best attempt. Resources were utilized and years of combined experiences finalized a new set up. The biggest problem for Stout was not knowing how the #19 would react to the radical changes. Those 16 practice laps were the only laps he’s ever driven this car, but the next 2 laps were the ones that mattered. And, he had a whole day to think about them as Friday there were no track activities at all.

Finally in the line up for qualifying on Saturday, JC tries to surmise his competition. He recalls his last words with his father and Team Manager before firing the engine for those do or die laps. "How fast do I need to be?" "I don’t know." Don replied. "Just drive it faster than you’ve ever driven anything in your life!" JC had no choice but to push this run to the edge of ridiculous and hope it stuck. And thank goodness it did.

From out of nowhere JC laid down a lap that was 29th fastest! Simply amazing! When the starting grid was finalized, JC secured the 31st starting position ahead of notable drivers Dennis Setzer, Joe Nemechek ( a former winner at this track), Brad Keselowski and Derrike Cope. Shutting out longtime drivers Kevin LePage, Casey Atwood and Morgan Shepherd. No small feat for sure.

No sooner was JC out of the cockpit than he had to report to the mandatory driver and crew chief meeting. A brief breather then driver introductions were underway. The anthem, the flyover and the exhilarating roar of 43 engines coming to life. No time to reflect on the significance of the moment. Only time to react to the green flag command.

JC found his #19 much too loose early on in the race. He was sliding back in the field when a caution on lap 23 allowed the crew to pull a spring rubber out of the right rear hoping it would be enough to tighten the #19 up. The change wasn’t enough to allow for proper handling and the fight for the right combination continued throughout the race. Huge changes were made when possible and even had to be done under green flag conditions which attributed to falling a few laps behind.

On lap 102, Stout brushed the outside wall and ended up with a right front tire flat by lap 104. In he came and got his fender beat back out and 2 new tires put on. Back on the track, JC was dealing with a right front tire rub that refused to go away. Back in the pits a few laps later, the crew tried to further clear the sheet metal from the tire. Several more laps down and the problem not resolved, the decision was made to go to the garage for more extensive repairs. It turns out the bolt on the sway bar arm mount was rubbing the tire because the toe in had been compromised by the contact with the wall.

This team did not come all this way and fight so hard to let this finish their race. Despite being insurmountably behind, they made the repairs and sent JC back out on the track. He was determined to complete the race but settled to the fact that he was just turning laps and gaining experience. However, once back up to speed, the #19 Chevy started running faster and faster lap times and began passing some of the cars he was racing with. Another caution on lap 151 allowed for a four tire swap and a track bar adjustment. When the race restarted on lap 159, Stout was 27 laps down but more competitive than he had been all night.

The final caution was for rain just a few laps later. The fight, ended by mother-nature, officially left JC and his hard working crew in the 37th position on the board, but much higher than that in terms of respect.

 

May 21 2009: Rochester D & C Newspaper links to article and video

 

Stout Plans for Nationwide Debut

May 17, 2009 Castile, NY: JC Stout and the volunteers of the Stellar-Quest Racing Team will be making their team debut in the NASCAR® Nationwide Series in the upcoming Charlotte, NC race in their #19 Chevrolet. They bought the car this winter from Rusty Wallace Racing and have been saving their money until licenses, tires and the entry fee costs could be paid.
"We know we’re going right into the lion’s den by starting at Lowe’s, but we’ve fought against all odds with what little we’ve had for several years; so a challenge is nothing new to us. We’re going to give it one heck of a try," Stout said.
"To say we’re the underdog is an understatement! Competing with such experienced and super-funded teams as Roush and Hendrick and such notable drivers as Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth will not only be a challenge, but a thrill. I believe JC and our entire team is looking forward to this opportunity," Crew Chief Don Roberts commented.
The Carquest Auto Parts 300 will air live on ESPN2 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway this Saturday May 23rd at 7pm. Stout plans to be in the starting grid for the green flag for the event being held at his favorite track. "Lowe’s is an awesome facility and the track is fast; just the way I like it!"

 

February 22, 2009: A promising afternoon of racing in both NASCAR’s® Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series’ ended in disappointment for driver JC Stout.

JC qualified the Timothy Peters owned #77 Strutmaster.com Toyota 26th for the NASCAR® Camping World San Bernardino County 200. However, shortly after the green flag dropped, JC was forced to the garage with a suspected rear end gear problem. This relegated him to a 35th place finish. NASCAR®.com is reporting that the truck was involved in an accident. This is an error that will be corrected shortly.

Later that evening, JC competed in the NASCAR® Nationwide series in the JD Motorsports #0 Chevy. After having only 10 laps of practice in a car he had never driven, JC qualified 35th out of 47 cars attempting to make the show - a feat in and of itself. Unfortunately, overheating problems caused him to retire the car early in 38th position.

Always positive, JC is quoted as saying, "All in all it was a good weekend. Qualifying went well in both the truck and the car. It’s unfortunate that we experienced the mechanical problems that we did, but I’m looking forward to getting back into the #77 truck at Atlanta in a couple of weeks."

JC plans to compete at both Atlanta and Martinsville in the Timothy Peters owned #77 truck.

Following that, look for JC to be in the Stellar-Quest Racing team’s #19 NASCAR® Nationwide Series car at the following races:

May 23 Lowes Motor Speedway

June 13 Kentucky Speedway

July 10 Chicagoland Speedway

August 15 Michigan International Speedway

October 16 Lowes Motor Speedway

Additional races may be scheduled dependent on additional sponsorship.

For excellent single or multi-race sponsorship opportunities contact Team Manager Don Stout at (800) 722-1877 or (585) 237-2126.

 

Stout To Switch Series in 2009

January 9, 2009 Castile, NY: The Stellar-Quest Racing Team from outside Buffalo, NY has announced it will run a limited schedule in the 2009 NASCAR® Nationwide Series in a Chevrolet bearing the No.19. This small family owned, all volunteer team’s driver will again be JC Stout, who drove the team’s No.91 Chevrolet in the truck series for the last six seasons. Sponsorship opportunities are available for the upcoming season and Stout is also seeking other driving opportunities in both the Nationwide and Truck series’ for other teams in 2009. The crew chief for the team’s first Nationwide season will be Don Roberts, carrying over his title from the truck series last year.