Dawson Kevin Cram (born September 12, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver, mechanic, and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 46 Chevrolet Silverado for Faction46.
Dawson Cram | |||||||
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![]() Cram at Phoenix Raceway in 2018 | |||||||
Born | Dawson Kevin Cram September 12, 2001 San Diego, California, U.S. | ||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
25 races run over 4 years | |||||||
Car no., team | No. 4 (JD Motorsports) No. 74 (Mike Harmon Racing) | ||||||
2023 position | 46th | ||||||
Best finish | 46th (2023) | ||||||
First race | 2021 Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 (Loudon) | ||||||
Last race | 2024 Cabo Wabo 250 (Michigan) | ||||||
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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
32 races run over 6 years | |||||||
Truck no., team | No. 46 (Faction46) | ||||||
2023 position | 111th | ||||||
Best finish | 30th (2021) | ||||||
First race | 2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (Martinsville) | ||||||
Last race | 2024 Rackley Roofing 200 (Nashville) | ||||||
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ARCA Menards Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 62nd (2020) | ||||||
First race | 2020 General Tire 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
Last race | 2020 General Tire 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of June 29, 2024. |
From 2017 to 2021 he ran for his own race team that he co-owned with his family, being the youngest team owner in NASCAR history at only the age of 16.
Racing career
editEarly career
editIn 2007, at the age of five, Cram started racing in Mini Dwarf race cars in his hometown at the time, San Diego, California. He later moved to Mooresville, North Carolina and started to race in the INEX Bandolero Series. After winning 13 times in Bandoleros,[1] he made the move to legend cars in 2014. His racing slate in 2017 included various starts in legends cars, Super Trucks and late models in the Whelen All-American Series and an attempt at a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event.[2]
NASCAR
editOn October 24, 2017, Cram was announced to be driving for Cram Racing Enterprises in the No. 11 truck at Martinsville Speedway in 2017 Texas Roadhouse 200. A blown engine during practice ended the team's weekend, forcing the No. 11 team and Cram to withdraw.[3]
He returned to Martinsville in the spring of 2018, driving for Beaver Motorsports. In his first race with live pit stops, Cram accidentally hit a crew member on his first pit stop and climbed to a 17th-place finish on the lead lap.[4] Cram's third attempt was also at Martinsville; this time it was a joint effort between his family Cram Racing Enterprises and Copp Motorsports. He finished 24th and also ran the next race on the schedule at ISM Raceway in the No. 83.[5]
In 2020, Cram served as a mechanic for the No. 6 NASCAR Xfinity Series team of JD Motorsports. He also ran Truck races for Long Motorsports and Reaume Brothers Racing.[6] Cram left Long Motorsports in August for financial reasons,[7] but later purchased the team and ran the No. 41 under the Cram Racing Enterprises banner for the rest of the 2020 Truck season.[8]
Ahead of the 2021 Truck season, Cram voiced his plans to run the full schedule.[9] In July, he joined Mike Harmon Racing for his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.[10]
In 2022, Cram announced that he would attempt the Xfinity Series' September Darlington race driving the No. 35 car for Emerling-Gase Motorsports. He qualified for the race and finished 30th. He would also attempt to qualify for two races in the Mike Harmon Racing No. 47 car but failed to qualify. He also drove the MBM Motorsports No. 13 in the season-finale at Phoenix, which he did qualify for, and finished 31st.
In 2023, Cram would run the majority of the Xfinity Series season in the No. 74 car for CHK Racing (formerly Mike Harmon Racing). However, him and the team would fail to qualify for the majority of the races they attempted. After one of the races that they did qualify for, Charlotte in May, Cram and the team lost 10 driver and owner points due to the car having an air duct violation. He became one of few drivers in NASCAR history to have a negative points total in the standings at some point in a season. (Michael Waltrip in 2007 in the Cup Series is another example after he was penalized during Daytona 500 Speedweeks that year.)[11] He would also drive the SS-Green Light Racing No. 07 car at Martinsville in April and the Alpha Prime Racing No. 44 car at Darlington in September.[12] He would also drive the G2G Racing No. 47 in the Truck Series race at Darlington in May. His team would later be penalized with the loss of 25 owner points for having an outdated window net in that race.[13]
On December 6, 2023, it was announced that Cram will run full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2024, driving the No. 4 car for JD Motorsports.[14]
Personal life
editCram's father Kevin Cram is a former crew chief in all three NASCAR national series and his uncle Clinton Cram is still in the profession, crew chiefing Dawson's first Truck attempt.[15][16][17]
Motorsports career results
editNASCAR
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Xfinity Series
editCraftsman Truck Series
edit* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
ARCA Menards Series
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Menards Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | AMSC | Pts | Ref |
2020 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Toyota | DAY | PHO 11 |
TAL | POC | IRP | KEN | IOW | KAN | TOL | TOL | MCH | DRC | GTW | I44 | TOL | BRI | WIN | MEM | ISF | KAN | 62nd | 33 | [29] |
References
edit- ^ "Top 10: Best Drivers 15 and Under in Short Track Draft". speed51.com. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Seelman, Jacob. "Cram Attempting Truck Debut At Martinsville". www.racechaseronline.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Beard, Brock. "PREVIEW: Several new faces - and some familiar ones - look to make their season debuts at Martinsville". LASTCAR.info. Blogger. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Catanzareti, Zach. "16-Year-Old Dawson Cram Leaves Truck Debut Happy". KickinTheTires.net. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Eggert, Seth. "Up to Speed: Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix". Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (July 21, 2020). "Dawson Cram, Kevin Donahue, Ryan Huff, Driving for Reaume Brothers Racing in a Hectic Weekend at Kansas". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ Gillispie, Zach (August 13, 2020). "Long Motorsports, Dawson Cram part ways". Frontstretch. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ^ "Dawson Cram to run his own Truck team the remainder of the season: UPDATE". Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 25, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (January 7, 2021). "Cram Racing Enterprises Returning to NASCAR Truck Series Full-Time; Possible ARCA Entry in 2021?". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ^ "Dawsom Cram Making Xfinity Series Debut at New Hampshire for Mike Harmon Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
- ^ Kim, Andrew (May 30, 2023). "NASCAR issues one-race suspension for Elliott as part of penalty report from Charlotte". Speedway Media. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ "(Twitter post)". Twitter. Alpha Prime Racing. August 30, 2023.
@dawsoncram41 joins the team lineup this weekend at @TooToughToTame! He will honor @kylepetty and his 2003 colors.
- ^ Hembree, Mike (May 18, 2023). "Four Truck teams penalized for window net infractions - NBC Sports". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (December 6, 2023). "Dawson Cram Tapped for Full-Season Xfinity Campaign with JD Motorsports". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
- ^ "Kevin Cram Crew Chief Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Clinton Cram Crew Chief Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "NASCAR Truck: Dawson Cram hopes to make debut at Martinsville Speedway". www.autoracingdaily.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
- ^ "Dawson Cram – 2020 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
External links
edit- Official website
- Dawson Cram driver statistics at Racing-Reference