Henderson Motorsports Overview
Henderson Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team currently competing part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The organization is based in Abingdon, Virginia, and fields the No. 75 Chevrolet Silverado, with Parker Kligerman and Patrick Emerling sharing driving duties in recent seasons. Founded in 1982, the team has operated across multiple NASCAR national series and is owned by Debbie Henderson–Creasy. Across its history, the team has recorded five race victories, eight pole positions, and 435 combined race entries, without yet claiming a drivers’ championship.
Although Henderson Motorsports is best known for its long association with the No. 75 car, the team has experimented with several additional numbers over the decades. The Chevrolet manufacturer partnership remains central to its identity in the modern Truck Series program. The team has remained a small, family-rooted operation that has continued to field competitive entries on a part-time basis.
Founding and Organizational Origins
Henderson Motorsports was established in 1982 by the Henderson family in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team’s first race entry was the No. 15, a one-race deal for short-track veteran Brad Teague that produced a fourth-place finish at Bristol. That same season, the team also fielded a part-time No. 26 car from 1982 through 1984, with Teague, Ronnie Hopkins, and future Cup driver Morgan Shepherd sharing the seat across 24 combined Cup starts.
After the spring Martinsville race in 1984, the organization shifted its sole competitive focus to the Busch Series, building the foundation for what would become its longest-running program. The early years were rooted in grassroots short-track racing culture in the Appalachian region, and Teague emerged as the team’s first regular driver. The team’s foundational identity was built on cost-efficient, short-track-oriented entries rather than large-budget national operations.
Growth Into NASCAR Competition
The team’s defining growth phase came in 1985, when Henderson Motorsports launched its full-time Busch Series program with the No. 75. Brad Teague drove the Food Country USA-sponsored No. 75 Pontiac from 1985 to 1988, recording one win and two poles, and finishing a career-best seventh in the championship standings. That single-number identity would anchor the team’s national-series presence for more than two decades.
Over the next two decades, Henderson Motorsports cycled through a range of veteran and up-and-coming drivers, including Rick Wilson, Butch Miller, Ernie Irvan, Jimmy Spencer, Ward Burton, Elton Sawyer, Doug Heveron, Kelly Denton, and Jay Sauter. The team also experimented with supplementary entries such as the Nos. 5, 15, 66, and 77, often fielding them at Bristol as one-off efforts. These side projects demonstrated the team’s willingness to expand its grid presence when opportunity and funding aligned.
Henderson Motorsports Competitive Journey
Henderson Motorsports has spent more than four decades in NASCAR competition, moving through the Cup, Busch, Truck, and ARCA series while maintaining a small operational footprint. The team built its reputation on the No. 75 Busch entry before eventually exiting that series and reviving the number in the Camping World Truck Series in 2012.
Early Seasons and Development (1982–1991)
The team’s earliest Cup Series appearances ran from 1982 through 1984 with Brad Teague, Ronnie Hopkins, and Morgan Shepherd in the No. 26. The fourth-place Busch debut for Teague in 1982 hinted at the team’s short-track potential. After 1984, Henderson Motorsports became a Busch Series regular, and Teague’s 1985–88 No. 75 Pontiac program established the team’s long-running identity, with one win and two poles during that span.
The late 1980s brought stronger results. Rick Wilson joined the team in 1989 and delivered two wins and a pole in a single Busch season. Beginning in 1990, the team shifted to a part-time Busch schedule, cycling through Cup names such as Ernie Irvan and Jimmy Spencer while also developing prospects including Ward Burton and Elton Sawyer. Butch Miller emerged during this period as the team’s next full-time Busch driver, foreshadowing his larger role in the coming decade.
Breakthrough in the Busch Series (1992–2007)
The 1992 season marked a clear competitive peak for the team in the Busch Series. Butch Miller earned one pole, four top-five finishes, and ten top-ten finishes in the No. 75, including a runner-up result in the season finale to finish seventh in the final standings. That points finish tied the team’s all-time best set by Brad Teague in the late 1980s, confirming the team’s ability to compete at the front of the field on a part-time schedule.
From the mid-1990s onward, the team gradually reduced its Busch schedule. Doug Heveron piloted the No. 75 in 1994 and again in 1996, while Rick Wilson and Kelly Denton carried the program through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Jay Sauter joined in 2003 and produced the team’s final Busch top-ten, a ninth-place finish at Nashville. The team’s last Busch Series start came in 2007, when Caleb Holman’s Bristol crash ended the No. 75’s Busch run.
Modern Program and Current Direction (2012–Present)
After a five-year absence from NASCAR competition, Henderson Motorsports returned in 2012 with the No. 75 truck in the Camping World Truck Series, with Caleb Holman as the primary driver. Holman ran the full slate from 2012 to 2016, capturing the pole for the 2016 Eldora dirt race before stepping away from NASCAR. Parker Kligerman joined the program in 2017 and delivered the team’s first victory in the Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway.
Since 2017, Kligerman has been the face of the modern Truck program, scoring a second team victory at Mid-Ohio in 2022 and adding multiple top-five finishes at Bristol and Talladega. In 2021, defending ARCA Menards Series East champion Sam Mayer joined the team for a partial Truck schedule. More recently, in February 2025, Kligerman unofficially won the Daytona season opener before post-race inspection disqualified the truck, and Patrick Emerling was announced in May 2025 as an additional driver for the North Wilkesboro race.
Philosophy and Competitive Strengths
Henderson Motorsports has built its identity around short-track discipline, opportunistic superspeedway runs, and disciplined part-time scheduling. The team tends to field trucks at tracks where mechanical reliability and driver experience outweigh raw budget, which has made restrictor-plate venues and Bristol-style short tracks its strongest hunting grounds.
Key Milestones and Major Moments
The team’s most significant milestones include its 1982 Cup debut, its first Busch win with Teague in the 1980s, Rick Wilson’s two-win 1989 Busch campaign, Butch Miller’s 1992 Busch resurgence, Kligerman’s first Truck victory at Talladega in 2017, and the second team win at Mid-Ohio in 2022. The 2025 Daytona disqualification stands as one of the most talked-about moments in the team’s recent history.
Henderson Motorsports Achievements and Results
Henderson Motorsports has compiled five total race victories and eight pole positions across 435 combined NASCAR starts, while never winning a series drivers’ championship. The team’s wins and poles are concentrated in the Busch Series and the modern Truck Series, with no victories in Cup or ARCA competition.
NASCAR Truck Series Achievements
The Truck Series program has produced two of the team’s five career victories, including the breakthrough 2017 Talladega win with Parker Kligerman and the 2022 Mid-Ohio win, also with Kligerman. Across 112 Truck Series starts, the team has also earned one pole, captured by Caleb Holman at Eldora in 2016. The modern No. 75 Truck effort has steadily grown into a respected part-time operation known for strong superspeedway and short-track showings.
Busch Series Achievements
In the Busch Series, Henderson Motorsports recorded three victories across 298 starts, with Rick Wilson’s two 1989 wins and one additional win from Brad Teague’s 1985–88 No. 75 program. The team earned seven Busch poles and posted its best points result of seventh with both Teague and Butch Miller. The No. 75’s 2007 Bristol crash marked the symbolic end of the team’s Busch era.
Cup Series Achievements
Henderson Motorsports’ 24 Cup Series starts produced no victories, no poles, and no championship points of consequence. The team’s Cup entries included Brad Teague, Ronnie Hopkins, and Morgan Shepherd, with a best Cup finish of eleventh by Teague. These Cup efforts were treated as supporting programs around the team’s primary Busch identity.
ARCA Series Achievements
The team’s lone ARCA Racing Series appearance came in 1985 with Brad Teague at Indianapolis Raceway Park, where a 30th-place finish ended in oil-pressure failure. No ARCA poles, wins, or championship points were earned. The ARCA effort stands as a brief experiment rather than a sustained program.