Erik Darnell
# Erik Darnell

Erik Louis Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing 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 formerly drove 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.

## Racing career

### Early career

Darnell began racing at the age of 12 in the River Valley 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.

### 2004–2012: NASCAR and ARCA

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 Truck Series 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 Truck Series win.

Darnell started the 2008 season by capturing the pole position at the Daytona International Speedway. He won his second career CTS race in June 2008 at Michigan International Speedway by .005 of a second over Johnny Benson.

For 2009, Darnell planned to compete in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series races, sharing the car with Cup Series driver David Ragan, and would also run for Rookie of the Year. The first race on his schedule was at Richmond International Raceway where he finished 12th. Also, Darnell competed in seven of the final 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He ran the car at Atlanta, Loudon, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead. Darnell competed in the No. 96 Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford for the Atlanta, Talladega, and Texas races. He alternated the ride with Bobby Labonte.

In 2010, Darnell found himself without a ride for most of the season due to the lack of sponsorship. He continued to stay on at Roush Fenway Racing as a practice-qualifying driver for Carl Edwards at the standalone Nationwide Series races. Darnell did a 3 race deal to drive Roush's No. 16 Ford in the Nationwide Series. His best finish was 14th at Dover and Texas.

In 2011, Darnell returned to the Cup Series, driving for Whitney Motorsports in several races. In 2012, he competed for The Motorsports Group (formerly Key Motorsports) in the Nationwide Series.

### 2013–present: Post-NASCAR career

Darnell didn't race in NASCAR during 2013. He won the Dick Trickle 99 Super Late Model Oktoberfest race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in October 2013. He has made occasional starts in various Midwest series since. Darnell led much of the second half of the 2019 Oktoberfest ARCA Midwest Tour race at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway before finishing third behind Ty Majeski.

### 2021: Return to NASCAR

On May 3, 2021, it was revealed through the release of the entry list for the Truck Series race at Darlington that Darnell would drive the No. 45 for Niece Motorsports in that race with sponsorship from his former sponsor at Roush, Northern Tool + Equipment. This would be his first start in NASCAR since 2012 and first in the Truck Series since 2008.

## Motorsports career results

### NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

**Sprint Cup Series**

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results :

| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | NSCC | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2009 | Hall of Fame Racing | 96 | Ford | DAY | CAL | LVS | ATL | BRI | MAR | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | SON | NHA | DAY | CHI | IND | POC | GLN | MCH | BRI | ATL 30 | RCH | NHA 30 | DOV | KAN 29 | CAL | CLT | MAR | TAL 37 | TEX 30 | PHO 31 | HOM 36 | 47th | 472 |
| 2011 | Whitney Motorsports | 46 | Chevy | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | MAR | TEX | TAL | RCH | DAR | DOV | CLT | KAN | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | KEN | NHA 39 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 51st | 2 |
| 2011 | Whitney Motorsports | 46 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | IND DNQ | POC 42 | GLN | MCH DNQ | BRI | ATL | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 51st | 2 |
| 2011 | Max Q Motorsports | 37 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RCH DNQ | CHI | NHA | DOV | KAN | CLT | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM | 51st | 2 |

**Nationwide Series**

NASCAR Nationwide Series results :

| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | NNSC | Pts | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | Roush Fenway Racing | 6 | Ford | DAY | CAL | MXC | LVS | ATL | BRI | NSH | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | NSH | KEN | MLW | NHA | DAY | CHI | GTY | IRP $QL^†$ | CGV | GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MEM | TEX | PHO | HOM | N/A | 0 | |
| 2008 | Roush Fenway Racing | 17 | Ford | DAY | CAL | LVS | ATL | BRI | NSH | TEX | PHO | MXC 26 | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | NSH | KEN | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 119th | 85 | |
| 2008 | Roush Fenway Racing | 60 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | MLW $QL^‡$ | NHA | DAY | CHI | GTY | IRP | CGV | GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MEM | TEX | PHO | HOM | 119th | 85 | |
| 2009 | Roush Fenway Racing | 6 | Ford | DAY | CAL | LVS | BRI | TEX | NSH | PHO | TAL | RCH 12 | DAR 4 | CLT | DOV | NSH 9 | KEN 11 | MLW 4 | NHA 9 | DAY | CHI | GTY 10 | IRP 29 | IOW 23 | GLN | MCH | BRI | CGV 12 | ATL | RCH 14 | DOV 17 | KAN 18 | CAL | CLT 34 | MEM 31 | TEX | PHO | HOM 31 | 26th | 1837 | |
| 2010 | Roush Fenway Racing | 16 | Ford | DAY | CAL | LVS | BRI | NSH | PHO | TEX | TAL | RCH | DAR | DOV | CLT | NSH | KEN | ROA | NHA | DAY | CHI | GTY | IRP | IOW | GLN | MCH | BRI | CGV | ATL | RCH 22 | DOV 14 | KAN | CAL | CLT | | TEX 14 | PHO | HOM | 82nd | 339 | |
| 2010 | Roush Fenway Racing | 60 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GTY $QL^‡$ | | | | | | 82nd | 339 |
| 2011 | Key Motorsports | 42 | Chevy | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | TEX | TAL | NSH | RCH | DAR | DOV | IOW | CLT | CHI | MCH | ROA | DAY | KEN | NHA | NSH | IRP | IOW | GLN | CGV | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | DOV | KAN | CLT 42 | TEX DNQ | PHO | HOM | | 113th | $0^1$ | |
| 2012 | The Motorsports Group | 42 | Chevy | DAY DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 17th | 558 | |
| 2012 | The Motorsports Group | 40 | Chevy | | PHO 26 | LVS 35 | BRI 21 | CAL 24 | TEX 23 | RCH 35 | TAL 14 | DAR 29 | IOW 18 | CLT 27 | DOV 27 | MCH 22 | ROA 23 | KEN 25 | DAY 21 | NHA 40 | CHI 30 | IND 38 | IOW 27 | GLN | CGV 16 | BRI 35 | ATL 20 | RCH 18 | CHI 22 | KEN 24 | DOV 31 | CLT 21 | KAN 17 | TEX 25 | PHO 37 | HOM 35 | | | | 17th | 558 | |
| $^†$ - Qualified for David Ragan · $^‡$ - Qualified for Carl Edwards ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

**Camping World Truck Series**

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results :

| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | NCWTC | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | MRD Motorsports | 06 | Ford | DAY | ATL | MAR | MFD | CLT | DOV | TEX | MEM | MLW 26 | KAN | KEN | GTW | MCH | IRP | NSH | BRI | RCH | NHA | LVS | CAL | TEX | MAR | PHO | DAR | HOM | 100th | 85 |
| 2006 | Roush Racing | 99 | Ford | DAY 6 | CAL 11 | ATL 8 | MAR 11 | GTY 31 | CLT 10 | MFD 13 | DOV 25 | TEX 35 | MCH 12 | MLW 27 | KAN 26 | KEN 9 | MEM 2 | IRP 10 | NSH 12 | BRI 18 | NHA 9 | LVS 17 | TAL 19 | MAR 3 | ATL 3 | TEX 9 | PHO 10 | HOM 3 | 12th | 3136 |
| 2007 | Roush Fenway Racing | 99 | Ford | DAY 12 | CAL 13 | ATL 24 | MAR 18 | KAN 1* | CLT 30 | MFD 15 | DOV 18 | TEX 32 | MCH 26 | MLW 6 | MEM 9 | KEN 29 | IRP 7 | NSH 9 | BRI 13 | GTW 7 | NHA 2 | LVS 5 | TAL 29 | MAR 25 | ATL 26 | TEX 14 | PHO 35 | HOM 24 | 12th | 2875 |
| 2008 | Roush Fenway Racing | 99 | Ford | DAY 21 | CAL 11 | ATL 12 | MAR 5 | KAN 28 | CLT 4 | MFD 11 | DOV 25 | TEX 24 | MCH 1 | MLW 4 | MEM 2 | KEN 29 | IRP 3 | NSH 2 | BRI 15 | GTW 6 | NHA 4 | LVS 2* | TAL 12* | MAR 19 | ATL 6 | TEX 18 | PHO 7 | HOM 11 | 4th | 3412 |
| 2021 | Niece Motorsports | 45 | Chevy | DAY | DAY | LVS | ATL | BRI | RCH | KAN | DAR 17 | COA | CLT | TEX | NSH | POC | KNX | GLN | GTW | DAR | BRI | LVS | TAL | MAR | PHO | | | | 66th | 20 |

### ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results :

| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ARMC | Pts | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | Roulo Brothers Racing | 39 | Ford | DAY | NSH | SLM | KEN | TOL | LAN | MIL 4 | POC | MCH | KAN | KEN | BLN | POC | GTW 5 | LER | NSH 8 | MCH 20 | ISF | TOL | DSF | CHI 32 | SLM | TAL 13 | 38th | 980 | |
| 2007 | Roush Fenway Racing | 99 | Ford | DAY | USA | NSH | SLM | KAN 2 | WIN | KEN 1* | TOL | IOW | POC | MCH 1* | BLN | KEN | POC | NSH | ISF | MIL | GTW | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL | TOL | 47th | 700 | |
