The team was established as Inception Motorsports in April 2011 in
Mooresville, North Carolina by Inception Investment Group CEO
Timothy McSweeney with
David Stremme as the driver of the No. 30. The following year, Inception Motorsports switched from
Chevrolet to
Toyota. Before the 2012 Talladega fall race, McSweeney sold the team to 33-year-old Brandon Davis, a racing enthusiast and CEO of independent petroleum company Swan Energy. Davis vowed to change the team's reputation as a
start and park entry, and instead run full races. The team utilized engines from
Triad Racing Technologies, hired former crew chief Steve Hmiel to be the competition director, and switched names to Swan Racing Company (Swan Racing for short). On January 31, 2013, former
NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski became a minority owner of Swan Racing. His health supplement company, Nutrition53 (Romanowski wore the No. 53 during his 16-year playing career) was a primary sponsor for ten races and an associate sponsor for the remaining 26. Prior to the fall race at
Richmond in 2013, the team announced that it was releasing driver
David Stremme following that weekend's event, and planned to run several young drivers in preparation for the 2014 season. The move blindsided Stremme, who had helped found the team out of his own race shop and was integral in Davis' purchase of the organization in 2012. Stremme also held a profit stake in the team, though it had yet to make a profit. On January 13, 2014, Anthony Marlowe from Iowa City Capital Partners was announced as a minority owner. On February 4, 2014, it was announced that rapper
50 Cent's headset company
SMS Audio will serve as Swan Racing's associate sponsor. On April 17, 2014, team officials announced that they would be reviewing the team's future due to lack sponsorship, though co-owner Anthony Marlowe stated he intended to run Whitt for the rest of the season. On April 23, the team announced it had sold off both entries, with Whitt, Marlowe, and the No. 26 entry moving under the
BK Racing banner. The owners points of the No. 30 team were sold to
NY Racing Team, which fielded a No. 30 car at
Richmond before switching to their usual No. 44. Swan Racing's shop in
Statesville, North Carolina was also sold to NY Racing Team. On July 10, 2018, former Swan Racing crew chief
Steven Lane formed
On Point Motorsports in the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series running the No. 30 as a reference to Swan, the team currently competes full-time in the truck series with driver
Tate Fogleman.
Car No. 26 history On February 13, 2013, NASCAR approved a temporary number change for the
Daytona 500 to allow Swan Racing to compete using the number 26, as a charity effort in honor of the 26 who died during the
Sandy Hook shooting in
Newtown, Connecticut. Two-time Daytona 500 winner and fellow
Toyota team owner
Michael Waltrip drove the car, with regular driver David Stremme recruiting Waltrip to "further [the team's] relationship with
Toyota." Waltrip was also reunited with former
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. crew chief
Tony Eury Jr. Waltrip drive the car to a 22nd-place finish. The team ran the No. 30 for the rest of the year. On January 7, 2014, Swan Racing announced that their new second full-time team would be numbered 26. Former
Red Bull Racing and
JR Motorsports driver
Cole Whitt was hired to drive the 26, after running seven late season races for the team in 2013. New investor Anthony Marlowe was listed as the owner.
Steven Lane was the crew chief. Throughout the season, the team attempted 18 races, but failed to qualify for five, including the
2011 Brickyard 400. Inception Motorsports finished 43rd in the 2011 Sprint Cup Series team owners' standings. For the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season, the team ran the full 36 race schedule with Stremme driving in all races except the two road course races, where
Brian Simo and
Patrick Long drove respectively. They made the field on qualifying speeds for the
2012 Daytona 500, taking the third of three guaranteed starting positions for teams not in the top 35 in owner points. The team later acquired the 2011 owners' points from the defunct
The Racer's Group No. 71 team, which had finished 36th in the owner standings and shut down at the end of 2012. The team qualified for each of the first six races of the season, with a best finish of 28th at
Las Vegas, before failing to qualify for the season's seventh race at
Texas. Having failed to reach the top 35 in owners points, the team began to
start and park due to a lack of sponsorship, eventually parking in 20 out of 28 races. The team did finish six races and its best 2012 finish was 24th at
Indianapolis. Following
Michael Waltrip's run in the
2013 Daytona 500, Stremme returned to drive for the newly rechristened Swan Racing, with
Tony Eury Jr. taking over crew chief duties for the team. The team only recorded four top 20s in the first 26 races. Stremme was released following the September race at
Richmond, being replaced by
Cole Whitt for four races. Whitt finished 39th at
Chicagoland. Four-time
Chili Bowl Midget Nationals winner
Kevin Swindell ran the No. 30 at
Loudon with local sponsor
Genny Light, finishing 38th after an accident. Whitt wound up running seven races for the team, while
Parker Kligerman started two races at
Texas and
Homestead, with solid finishes of 18th and 25th respectively. Overall, the team had five DNF's all season and failed to reach the halfway point of a race only once, when Whitt crashed at Phoenix in November. On January 7, 2014, Parker Kligerman, a former development driver for
Team Penske and
Kyle Busch Motorsports, was confirmed as the driver of the No. 30 for 2014. Unfortunately, Kligerman struggled mightily through eight races, with a best finish of 29th at
Daytona, where he crashed out of the race on Lap 193. He also failed to finish at Phoenix (engine), Auto Club (crash), and Texas (radiator), suffered a non-terminal
electronic fuel injection problem at Las Vegas and a first lap wreck at Martinsville. The owners points of the No. 30 were later sold to Xxxtreme Motorsport with driver
J. J. Yeley due to Swan's financial struggles, with the No. 30 crew following. However, Kligerman continued to remain under contract.
Car No. 30 results ==References==