Michael Ritch
Born (1973-02-24) February 24, 1973
High Point, North Carolina
Achievements1992 Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion
2007 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Southern Division Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish61st (1995)
First race1995 MBNA 500 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
39 races run over 8 years
Best finish33rd (2000)
First race1992 Autolite 200 (Richmond)
Last race2000 Outback Steakhouse 200 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
7 races run over 2 years
Best finish48th (2002)
First race2001 Florida Dodge Dealers 400 (Homestead)
Last race2002 O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 (Memphis)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 25, 2012.

Michael Ritch (born February 24, 1973) is an American stock car racing driver who competed in 47 races across NASCAR's top three series between 1992 and 2002. He also competed in 165 Rev-Oil Pro Cup Series races between 1998 and 2009, winning 15 races and the 2007 Southern Division Championship.

Early career

Ritch began his racing career when he was 9 years old when he raced BMX bikes.[1] He would eventually move to late model race cars. At age 19, he won both the track championship at Ace Speedway in Elon, North Carolina and the regional Mid-Atlantic Championship in 1992, winning 14 of his 44 starts.

NASCAR career

Winston Cup Series

Ritch made his only career Winston Cup start at Dover International Speedway in 1995. He would finish 34th in the 40-car field, falling out of the race just before the halfway mark after an engine failure..

Busch Series

Ritch made sporadic Busch Series starts between 1992 and 1999, often on short tracks in Virginia and The Carolinas. During this time he made 18 starts with a best finish of 9th coming at Orange County Speedway in 1994.

In 2000, Ritch got an opportunity to run a full schedule, driving the No. 55 Ford for Davis & Weight Motorsports. The season was a disappointment as Ritch failed to qualify 11 times in 32 attempts, had only one lead lap finish, and finished 33rd in the standings. He also finished in the top 20 only five times that season, with a best finish of 13th at Talladega, and also led five laps at Gateway. His best showing that season came at South Boston Speedway when he was fastest in practice and qualified 3rd for the race, but finished 25th after a rear gear problem late in the race. After the season, Ritch was released and never attempted another Busch Series race after that.[1]

Craftsman Truck Series

After being released from his Busch Series ride, Ritch drove a limited schedule in the Craftsman Truck Series for Ware Racing Enterprises in 2001. He made seven starts for the team in a 2-year period, with a best finish of 16th coming at Gateway in 2001.[1]

USAR Pro Cup Series

Ritch competed in the USAR Pro Cup Series both before and after his tenure in NASCAR, between 1998 and 2009. In that period he made 165 starts with 15 wins (including seven in 1998), 9 poles, and winning the series' Southern Division Championship in 2007. He followed up his championship campaign with a runner-up finish the year after, before switching teams and only running a partial schedule in 2009. He made his final series start at Concord Speedway on September 5, 2009.

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.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston 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 NWCC Pts Ref
1995 Active Motorsports 32 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND sGLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV
34		 MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 117th 61 [2]

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch 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 NBSC Pts Ref
1992 John Ritch 02 Olds DAY CAR RCH ATL MAR DAR BRI HCY LAN DUB NZH CLT DOV ROU MYB GLN VOL NHA TAL IRP ROU MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH
33		 DOV CLT MAR
18		 CAR
30		 HCY 70th 246 [3]
1993 DAY CAR
17		 RCH
21		 DAR BRI HCY ROU MAR
18		 NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL IRP MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH
30		 DOV ROU CLT MAR 51st 479 [4]
Chevy CAR
25		 HCY ATL
1994 DAY CAR RCH ATL MAR
11		 DAR HCY BRI RCH
20		 DOV CLT 55th 438 [5]
Olds ROU
9		 NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW SBO TAL HCY IRP MCH BRI DAR MAR
32		 CAR
1995 Ritch Racing 2 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSH DAR BRI HCY NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
27		 DOV CLT CAR HOM 95th 82 [6]
1996 Ken Wilson 02 Chevy DAY
DNQ		 CAR
QL†		 RCH ATL
QL‡		 NSV DAR
DNQ		 BRI HCY NZH CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NHA TAL IRP MCH BRI DAR CAR
DNQ		 HOM
39		 79th 116 [7]
Pontiac RCH
31		 DOV CLT
1997 John Ritch 58 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL LVS DAR HCY TEX BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH CLT
DNQ		 DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
41		 DOV CLT CAL CAR HOM
DNQ		 117th 40 [8]
1998 DAY CAR
DNQ		 LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM N/A 0 [9]
1999 Davis & Weight Motorsports 55 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI TAL CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
DNQ		 DOV
DNQ		 CLT CAR
35		 MEM
37		 PHO HOM 104th 110 [10]
2000 Ford DAY
DNQ		 CAR
16		 LVS
39		 ATL
DNQ		 DAR
39		 BRI
DNQ		 TEX
DNQ		 NSV
39		 TAL
13		 CAL
DNQ		 RCH
42		 NHA
22		 CLT
DNQ		 DOV
15		 SBO
25		 MYB
24		 GLN
DNQ		 MLW
16		 NZH
43		 PPR
32		 GTY
22		 IRP
20		 MCH
DNQ		 BRI
25		 DAR
42		 RCH
DNQ		 DOV
23		 CLT
DNQ		 CAR
21		 MEM
42		 PHO
35		 HOM
DNQ		 33rd 1643 [11]
† - Qualified but replaced by Rodney Combs. ‡ - Qualified but replaced by Jeff Fuller.

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman 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 NCTC Pts Ref
2001 Ware Racing Enterprises 51 Chevy DAY HOM
33		 MMR MAR GTY
16		 DAR PPR DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN NHA IRP NSH CIC NZH RCH 64th 269 [12]
91 SBO
26		 TEX LVS PHO CAL
2002 51 Dodge DAY DAR MAR GTY PPR
17		 DOV
17		 TEX
24		 48th 370 [13]
81 MEM
36		 MLW KAN KEN NHA MCH IRP NSH RCH TEX SBO LVS CAL PHO HOM

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Driver Bio - MotorRacingNetwork.com". Motor Racing Network. 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  2. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1992 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1993 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1994 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1995 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1996 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1997 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1998 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 1999 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 2001 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Michael Ritch – 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
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