David Stremme
David Stremme begins his first full season in the Cup Series driving Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 40 Dodge.
Stremme is coming off his first full back-to-back Busch Series campaigns in which he finished 10th and 13th, respectively, in the final point standings. Stremme made four Cup starts for Ganassi in 2005, finishing 16th in his debut at Chicago.
It was in the upper Midwest where Stremme’s racing roots first took hold. His great uncle was racing in the 1950s at South Bend Motor Speedway. Stremme’s father was an independent racer in the Midwest. Even Stremme’s mother was a race-winner.
At age 6, Stremme was winning “Big Wheel” races held on the same night his parents were racing stock cars at local tracks.
Taking his father’s advice, Stremme took an interest in working on race cars in his family’s garage before competing in the Street Stocks Division in 1993. His first victory came at New Paris Speedway, in his mother’s Street Stock car. Once officials found out he was only 15, he had to quit racing.
Legal again, Stremme posted 24 feature victories and two rookie of the year titles and two track championships in four years. In 1998 he competed in his first full NASCAR Weekly Racing Late Model Series, finishing seventh in points at Kalamazoo Speedway, the same track he used to stand in Victory Lane with his winning father.
In 1999 he recorded one victory, six top-fives and seven top-10s in nine starts in the Kendall Late Model Series. He completed 842 of 900 laps that season, and led all 100 laps in his first Kendall victory.
Stremme has competed in a wide range of series, from Open-Wheel Modifieds to the CRA Super Series. Stremme also raced in various NASCAR series, but it was the American Speed Association Series which proved to be the most beneficial.
In 2001 Stremme met ASA crew chief Howard Lettow, who was a part of Tony Raines’ championship in ’96. When veteran racer Scott Hanson couldn’t make the Winchester (Ind.) 400, Lettow recommended Stremme.
Stremme started from the pole and led several laps before mechanical problems retired the car. But he was given a full-time ride in 2002. His first victory came at his “home” track at Salem Speedway, outracing two-time series champ Gary St. Amant to the finish line.
Stremme won twice that season and was named the series’ rookie of the year, finishing with 13 top-fives and 15 top-10s in 20 starts. He was fourth in the final point standings.
In 2003 Stremme became the first Busch Series driver to take top rookie honors while not competing in a full season. In 18 starts, he had three top-fives and seven top-10s. In the next two years, Stremme compiled 10 top-fives and 24 top-10s, but it still searching for that first victory.
