Ricky Bobby
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Ricky Bobby is an American race car driver. Ricky Bobby currently drives the #62 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
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Early Career
Ricky Bobby started his career in NASCAR in 1987 as a jack man on the #54 Chevrolet driven by Cale Parsons. In 1990, Ricky Bobby moved over to the #84 Chevrolet driven by Terry Miller of RD Motorsports. In 1991 Bobby was switched to Miller's teammate, Mark Johnson and the #74 Chevrolet.
In 1993, Mark Johnson was feeling ill and decided to sit out several races. Bobby was picked to drive in the third race, however, Bobby was not approved for the race. Bobby instead drove the fourth race at Texas. Ricky Bobby qualified 32nd and was able to finish 15th in his first start. Ricky Bobby drove the car for one more race and finished 13th before Johnson returned.
In 1994, Bobby was signed to a part-time deal with RD Motorsports in the #54 Chevrolet. Bobby finished a high of 7th at Texas.
1994-1998
For 1994, Bobby was signed with Darrell Vick Racing in the #76 Pontiac. Bobby managed to score two top fives and 8 top tens but failed to win a race. In mid 1994, Darrell Vick Racing was purchased by Fenwick Motorsports.
In 1995, Bobby's team switched from Pontiac to Chevrolet to align with Fenwick Motorsports. From 1995 to 1996, Bobby managed three wins, 12 top fives, and 24 top tens.
For the 1997 season, Wonder Bread came on board as sponsor for Bobby's car and the car's number was changed to #74. Fenwick Motorsports also signed a new teammate, Cal Naughton Jr. to drive the #47 Old Spice Chevrolet. In 1997, Bobby managed to win 4 races, 10 top fives, and managed to win the 1997 Winston Cup Championship.
In 1998, Bobby managed to win 6 races and 21 top tens and won his second championship.
1999-2000
In 1999, Ricky Bobby was on his way to his third championship. Bobby had already won 2 races when he was involved in a horrific crash midway through 1999. Bobby was sent to a local hospital where he was put in critical condition. By the next week he was put in stable condition. Three months after the accident, Bobby was in good enough condition to go home. Bobby spent the majority of the rest of the year away from the track and in rehab.
By 2000, Ricky Bobby was in fair enough condition to race and attended the winter practice for Fenwick Motorsports. However, Bobby only did a few number a laps before quitting practice. By February, Bobby decided to sit out the 2000 season. Ricky Bobby was replaced by Terry Benson. Bobby spent a lot time in 2000 getting used to racing again.
2001
Ricky Bobby was set to race for Fenwick Motorsports in 2001. However, he said he still was not ready and was let go from Fenwick Motorsports. Bobby was determined to race in 2001 however, he could not find a ride. So in mid 2001, Ricky Bobby formed Ricky Bobby Racing. A month later, Ricky Bobby purchased a Ford race car from Robert Yates Racing.
Ricky Bobby made his return at the Fall race at Talladaga. Ricky Bobby managed to qualify 28th in his unsponsored #62 Ford. Bobby was running in the top 20 when he was caught up in an accident and failed to finish the race.
Ricky Bobby stayed out the next race and announced that he was preparing his own race team for the next season and would use cars from Robert Yates Racing. The #62 Ford would be sponsored by Minute Maid and Powerade.
2004
In 2004, Bobby was invited back to Hendrick Motorsports and attended a team practice at Daytona in February. However, during the practice, Bobby began feeling ill and quit the practice early. By the end of February, Bobby decided that he felt that he was not fit for racing yet and wanted to sit out the 2004 season. In March Bobby was let go of Hendrick Motorsports and was replaced by Casey Mears.
Ricky's Return
Partway through 2004, Ricky decided he was ready to return. Ricky Bobby decided to make his return in October at the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. However, when the time came, Ricky Bobby was not signed on to any team. Bobby decided in September that he would start his own team named Ricky Bobby Racing. Ricky shopped around and finally bought a car from Robert Yates Racing and was unable to find a primary sponsor for the car. Ricky qualified 35th in his #62 Ford but had to start 42nd due to an engine change. Bobby was in the top 15 for the most of the race. At 93 laps to go Ricky Bobby was caught in a major wreck involving 13 cars. Ricky ended up finishing 28th.
After this Bobby decided to race a few more races. Bobby would start three more races in 2005 and finished as high as 2nd at the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta in October. In December it was announced that Bobby would return full time in 2005 with his own team and that Cal Jr. would be leaving Hendrick Motorsports and joining Ricky Bobby Racing.
2005-2009
At the end of 2005, Ricky Bobby purchased a few cars from Robert Yates Racing to be used in 2006. Ricky Bobby signed a three year sponsor ship deal with Five Alive and Minute Maid for the #62 Ford while Cal Naughton Jr. brought over Old Spice and signed to two years with #67 Ford. In 2005 Bobby went on to win only one race. Ricky Bobby finished 14th in standings and Cal Naughton Jr. finished 18th.
Ricky Bobby started 2006 with high expectations. Bobby managed to win two races and Cal Naughton Jr. won his first race at Daytona in July. Ricky Bobby finished 11th in standings and Cal Naughton Jr. finished 15th. In October, Nabisco was signed for one year with Cal Naughton Jr.
Ricky Bobby started 2007 with even higher expectations. However, the crew at Ricky Bobby Racing had a difficult time with the Car of Tomorrow especially the first COT race at Food City 500 where they finished 37th and 40th. The overall performance of Ricky Bobby Racing began to fall around July. Ricky Bobby only won one race and finished 17th in the final standings while Cal Naughton Jr. finished 23rd. Both Minute Maid and Nabisco left Ricky Bobby Racing at the end of 2007. By the end of 2007, Ricky Bobby Racing decided to look for a new partner to buy cars from. Ricky Bobby originally wanted to form a deal with Hendrick but a deal could not be made. Bobby eventually decided to a partnership with Roush Fenway Racing.
For 2008, sponsorship was spread across several sponsors for both Bobby and Cal Naughton including Jr. S. C. Johnson & Son, Procter & Gamble, Energizer, Texas Instruments, and Ford Motor Company. In 2008, the performance of Ricky Bobby Racing improved slightly. However Ricky Bobby had bad luck in the first half of the season with a best finish of 4th at Atlanta. Bobby earned three top five finishes and six top tens. Ricky Bobby failed to win a race and finished 15th in the standings with Cal Naughton Jr. in 13th. At the end of 2008, sponsorship was not confirmed and were still looking for sponsorship.
Ricky Bobby Racing will return in 2009 with Bobby and Naughton Jr. It is not known what the sponsors will be. There has also been rumors that they may only run a partial schedule or may only run one car with Bobby and Naughton Jr. sharing the ride.
Personal Life
Ricky Bobby was born in North Carolina to parents Reese and Lucy Bobby. When Bobby was young his parents split up and began living with his mother. In 1998 Ricky Bobby was married to Carley Edwards and they have two sons.
Movie
In 2006, a movie about Ricky Bobby was released. The movie was called Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and stars Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby. Originally, the movie was going to be a documentary about Bobby but the script was changed part way through the making of the movie. There are some differences in the movie and real life.
