A Brief History of Field Fillers in NASCAR 

You can checkout Brock Beard and his series "Rise of the Field Fillers" here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RDBDJveEodI.html He even does one on one interviews with these guys and goes into all the nitty gritty details.

“As if by divine retribution they return from the brink of extinction in even greater numbers. They arose anger in some, admiration in others but each new 2004 was their chance to rise. THEY WERE THE FIELD FILLERS!”

What is bad, is that I was a field filler in ARCA 😂. I worked for Andy Hillenburg at the time and didn’t have sponsorship to run full races, and Andy didn’t have paid drivers to fill all his numbers. So I would drive one of the cars each week as a start and park. It wasn’t great but it kept me in the seat each week while I worked on getting sponsors. It paid off eventually when I got to run a full race at Talladega as a reward and eventually got a sponsor to run an Xfinity race.

Very well done, S1ap, and thank you for the shout-out. Field fillers are indeed an incredibly fascinating topic both today and in the sport's history. They add some much-needed flavor to the garage.

Man do I love field fillers, even if they have no hope of becoming a front runner, it’s always nice to see them get a good result here and there.

My buddy’s dad still acts as a field filler. Usually he has a younger guy do the driving but occasionally he takes the wheel himself, which is rather terrifying given that he’s well into his 80’s.

Field Fillers winning an actual race is so rare But when it happens it is amazing

11:36 You missed my favorite story from this race. Tim Fedewa was driving a start and park car for the Biagi brothers, but then the big wreck happened and it took out the main #4 car. Fedewa's team then decided to run the entire race, and he ended up finishing 3rd.

A field filler winning a race is like a pitcher hitting a game winning home run. It almost never happens, but when it does, it's spectacular.

Back markers tend to have interesting on track action between themselves too, so I always liked midfield and back markers

I have to take my hat off to those who plug away even though the odds suggest that they have no hope of success. This is why (in F1) teams like Minardi were so popular, not only did they race with integrity (their final Team Principal, Paul Stoddart, let rip his displeasure at the situation F1 found itself in at Indy in 2005, despite his team looking set for a large haul of points) and on the increasingly rare occasions they did score points it was popular (at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002, Mark Webber scored a fifth place finish for Minardi on his debut and got a far bigger cheer than race winner, Michael Schumacher)

I always say 2001 was the healthiest the sport has ever been. So many full time teams and most of them competitive. I miss those days.

Rise of the Field Fillers is one of my favorite NASCAR documentary series.

Another thing about the 2002 Aarons 312 was Tim Fedewa finishing third in a one-off entry for Biagi Brothers Racing. The car was literally the team's primary #4 car with a #07 slapped over the original number.

You know Ross Chastain once drove for a field-filler cup team Premium Motorsports and was involved in a race manipulation scheme in the 2019 Ford EcoBoost 400.

Front Row Motorsports seems to have a pretty fascinating history. They start off with very few expectations beyond simple start and parks, go through a string of various drivers, gradually find better equipment and win their first Cup race in 2013, form an alliance with Roush, win another race in 2016 and make their first playoff appearance, they start a team in Trucks, they win the 500, and now they have a Truck Series title.

We need the field filler. Front Row Motorsports is an example of what start-and-park and missing the show can turn in to one day of you're calculated.

thinking about that year when 50 cars entered the Brickyard 400… wish I was there to see the intensity those field filler teams had to go through

S1ap, You should do a piece on Dave Marcis. While, yes, he was an Independent Owner Driver; he had a LOT of help from RCR (and was Earnhardt's official test driver for the #3 car) in the 90's. I recall Marcis running certain cars, setups and engine packages at certain tracks as full blown race tests for RCR. I also recall once a crew chief being quoted that Marcis was the Best at running consistent lap times to monitor and test these setups effectiveness, etc.

More cars = more opportunities Every car represents a story. Stories are desperately needed in today's world of racing.

Skimp Hersey is actually kinda notable, though not for a good reason: He was the first driver to be killed in a NASCAR sanctioned race. And if memory serves, I think he won a Modified race in '48. McDuffie ran the extra Junior Johnson car in '82, not '81. Premium Motorsports was bought out by Rick Ware in 2020. Spire started out by getting Furniture Row's old charter. And I'm slightly surprised you didn't mention Brad Keselowski winning in Phoenix Racing's mostly start and park 09 in 2009.

7:20 “sometimes field fillers even had championship implications” Every single F1 fan watching this video just got flashbacks to Abu Dhabi 2021 from that phrase, I guarantee it.

Big fan of JD McDuffie here. The guy is a legend. He ran his own cars his own way and made a career out of racing. What a way to make a living.

Never forget, brad keselowski's first win came in a field filler

Give that man the 25th starter of the race, they earned it for that wild move

Those are the true racers! The guys that just love to be out there! We need more of this in NASCAR. It may be worth watching again

Brock Beard's Rise of the Field Fillers is a good series. This is a great introduction to it. Both of yall are under subbed.

I was an on-again/off-again NASCAR fan from the 1960s to the 21st Century, and was fortunate to have had a sit-down meal with an older couple that faithfully followed NASCAR for over a half-century; where they enlightened me about field-fillers. I commented to them about the thought I had: 'If I had been a Cup driver and hadn't made it to victory lane after three years, I'd call it quits. I can't figure what motivates those back-markers to stay in it for many years.' The elderly man's answer: 'Those back-marker drivers [at the Cup level] make more money than they ever would in any other job, such as if they worked at an automotive lube or tire shop.' That was an eye-opener for me, and I thanked him for his input.

I legitimately never would've guessed just how far back the history of start-and-parking went. I thought it was just something that teams started doing for the first time in 2008 when the Recession hit. I like to call myself a relatively well-versed person in NASCAR history and I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't know about the start-and-parkers before then.

as soon as this popped up in my reccomended i knew i had to watch it. i love field fillers, their position in nascar is just so interesting to me. and i was so happy to find friends that had the same interest as i did.

Ah, a crown jewel video on a Sunday.

The money team has left the chat

When I first started following NASCAR, I found myself remembering some of the back markers as much as the regulars. Specifically in the early 00's I can recall a team who would place 4 plain white cars with teal blue numbers in the Busch series in order to field one proper with just prize money. Also how Joe Nemechek would field a start and park cup car to pay for John Hunter in the lower series. The idea of not having sponsors but funding a team purely on what was in front the spectators and making it work is cool to me. I wish NASCAR would do more to incentivize a full field again.

I remember going up to Charlotte as a teenager, and basically the only drivers who would spend a worthwhile amount of time at their souvenir haulers were field fillers and rookies. I had an M&Ms tee shirt that I'd gotten filled with all sorts of autographs by them with the lone exception of Matt Kenseth, who I'd managed to get on the track walk in Atlanta.

I don't mind admitting I was a backmarker in my handful of racing years. All things being equal, I'd rather run up front for the win... but just couldn't afford $400 a week for a new set of tires... which the top teams were doing. Then there were some who had tens of thousands in their chassis and engines... and this is at the local level. My "why" was because I enjoyed building the cars and, mostly, because every week I had the chance to go and push my car to the limits in a safe, controlled, environment. I haven't raced stock cars in about 15 years... and I think I'm done with that phase.. but local road racing miatas or something like that is on my radar. Nice tube.. glad you gave us lowly guys a little recognition. For any young person reading this: street racing is not a good option. Race at a track designed for such things, where you don't have to worry about other people pulling out in front of you ... and.. they don't have to worry about you being an a-hole imposing risk on other people that didn't ask for it. WAY too many variables out there in street racing, and the life you save may be your own.

I know dirt racing, like with the World of Outlaws, it's exactly the same. They field 24 cars for each Main Event, but they only have approximately 10 full-time series regulars, so more than half of the field is always local guys, or guys who run other series, or part-timers from higher series like Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman etc. But unlike NASCAR, it's fairly commonplace for one of the "field fillers" to be in the top 5 and occasionally take the win. I help on a car and we race with the Outlaws whenever they come to our local tracks, or like at the Knoxville Nationals, and the main goal is to just make it in to the A-Feature, that's a win right there because of just how good these guys are, and then if you can crack the top 15 that's huge, and top 10, which hasn't happened yet, that's the next step. I guess what I'm saying is, those type of racers are the backbone of racing entirely and without them their wouldn't be any races to run.

Track official: So why did you stop the race? Field filler: My damn engine blew up :( Track official: OK *A massive crash happens leaving only a few cars left running* Field filler: Oh mine, I have repaired my "blown engine" in record breaking time, time to get back to the track!

Field filler teams have some interesting moments, principally in the COT and gen 6 Era with drivers like Brad Keselowski, Michael Mcdowell, Dave Blaney, Dave Gilliand, Regan Smith with underdogs wins and get some good results. Team as Furniture Row and Leavine Family starts as field filler and finish into a Championship and mid-pack team, also Front Row. Now, we have Rick Ware Racing and Spire still a field fillers today.

I was a field filler.Back in the 1960's, slot car racing was the latest craze, and I was a very young, very hopeful, lad who knew enough about soldering and just plain copying the chassis designs of the pros. So I made two cars, one good one not quite so good, with motors and tires that I could afford (not great, but good enough). I would hang out at the local tracks, and if they had a cancellation or somebody's car didn't run, I was invited to race with the local champs. I knew I wasn't going to win. Hell, they were beating me handily down the main straight, so I had no chance at all to catch up with second rate handling. but I enjoyed pushing my car to it's limit, and every so often I would eke out a position ahead of one or two of the regulars. I never won anything. But had a blast, none the less. And I learned, that as long as you're not a threat to win, the really top guys will give you free advice and sometimes parts, as well. A fantastic experience for a young teenager.

My favorite aspect of them is that they provide jobs for the crew. I was on one of these teams and it was one of the best times of my life!

My grandpa used to field fill with a car at tracks around Nebraska and Kansas. He got paid to do it but it wasn’t even about the money. Racing is just fun. The people that complain about field fillers who aren’t racers themselves would jump at the chance to drive even a back marker car

Field fillers will always have a special place in my heart, the effort these teams put in for races they know they probably won't have a chance at winning is incredibly respectable and when they do find their way to the front I cheer like I'm their biggest fan, underdog success is always so much fun to see happen.

I will say this as a kart racer, "Am I the fastest? No. Will I regularly compete for wins? No. Do I love this sport? HELL YES!" It may have taken me 11 years to get my first win but for me it is about passion for the sport.

SPeaking of F1 Field FIllers, my favorites are the ones where a clearly underfunded or under-developed team gets hold of some rookie phenom and they punch far above their weight. Mark Webber, in his rookie season, raced for one of the most consistently poor F1 teams post-2000, Minardi. But he somehow was able to get a point, which back then only started at 6th place, at his home GP in Australia. The fans and organizers were so happy for him, he got a moment to stand with the podium finishers and he and team owner Paul Stoddard got to spray some champagne with everyone else. Gotta love a good underdog story.

right after finishline motorsports entry in the 500 damn is slap fast at converting video ideas

2:52 The Wacky races of the 20s 😂

Fun fact about field fillers in another form of racing: In the World of Outlaws they have different formats based on how many cars show up. The teams and drivers hate the format with the least amount of cars so much that there have been cases in the last few years where if they only need 1 more car to go to a different format, they will enter a backup car with a crew member, run hot laps, and then park it for the night.

Good shoutout to the field fillers series, I found that to be fascinating. It’s always something nice to see. In fact, I always find myself cheering for these field fillers, Carl Long’s team in particular is a favorite. Also, I’m sure it had to be cut down for time, but a mention about xfinity former start/park’s getting wins in the past few years would be a good mention, Jeremy Clements X2, Timmy Hill’s top 5’s at Daytona, and uhhhh, “Let’s go shall not be named” all kinda deserve their moment, plus 3 of the top 6 at the 2010 Aaron’s 312 too……

Wow! Excellent video. Great that you explained the "Field Fillers" and gave them all the respect they deserved.

Field fillers are this the NPC traffic of NASCAR.

My personal favourite of this breed of dudes is Herman Beam, one of the first guys to realise there was a lot to be gained by just staying out of trouble. He refused to contend at the front and instead focused on finishing as many races as he could, going as far as to deliberately let the whole field through the one time he started from pole (having drawn pole position when qualifying was rained out). He got a fourth place in points out of it and a finishing streak record that was unbeaten for over 50 years.

What happens when a sponsorless field filler is poised to win the Daytona 500 with a Cup champion with a huge sponsor behind him and no one to help draft him past? Just ask Johnny Benson... debris will suddenly appear on the track with a few laps to go and he stood no chance against the freight train that blew by on the restart.

Motorsport Story Time relating to S1ap's segment about championship implications @ 7:20 In the UK in 2019, the TCR UK Championship was decided by field fillers. Long story short, it was a straight fight between the independent-run Lewis Kent in the Hyundai i30 and James Turkington in the CUPRA Leon TCR, run by Ciceley Motorsport who were one of the UK's top Touring Car teams. Going into the final weekend (featuring 2 races) at Donington Park, Kent had 117 pts, while Turkington had 136 pts. This was during a lowly supported era of the series where only 5 drivers showed up regularly and points were awarded (25, 18, 15, 12, 10 etc), so a retirement for either was effectively a nail in the coffin for eithers hopes. Ciceley and Turkington were not far enough ahead to simply cruise at the back and knew it would be unlikely any of the other season regulars could beat Kent in a straight fight. So they brought a second car. The second Ciceley car was driven by one of the teams drivers in the the more professional BTCC series; Adam Morgan and with the full support of the team and mechanics, Morgan won the final two races with Kent picking up third and second in class. Turkington would cruise around to 5th in class in both races (8th & 7th overall, his worst results of the year) picking up the title by 5 points thanks to his teammate taking points off of Kent. The Essex & Kent team would protest these results to the organisers. While the rules makers had put in a clause about any car being entered for the final round not being eligible for points, there was a clause in another part of the rule back that said any entry paying for the Full season entry would be eligible. So Ciceley paid the full season entry fee for Morgan, won the case and Turkington claimed his first Touring Car title. Since then, Lewis Kent has gone on to become TCR UK's most successful driver in terms of stats, racing in Europe from time to time. While Turkington has been largely absent from the national racing scene. --- *Also quick side note for anyone checking Wikipedia, the "Non-TCR" cars did not have their own classes, only competing for an overall "Series" (BRSCC would not allow it to be awarded as a championship). Turkington competing in the opening round in one of these TCT cars, hence why these points do not count towards his TCR UK total. It was a confusing year*

You sir are so incredibly talented at telling a good story, you can make any narrative in this sport interesting, thank you for being such an inspiration to the arts.

Every time I just need a good documentary to brighten up my day I ask RU-vid for slap shoes and watch one of the first things I can find, excellent video

I think my absolute favorite field filler has to be Connor Daily. The guy is a filler in IndyCar and has made a few starts (including this 500) with Floyd Mayweather's team. I love seeing him on the grid and his interviews and stories are always fun

There is no better NASCAR RU-vidr than S1ap.

One series' perennial champion is another series' field filler. Dick Trickle was undisputed king of the short tracks before he came into NASCAR. I'm glad he ended up scoring a couple of Busch wins - two of my most joyful memories of the sport. RIP, Dick. You shouldn't have had to go out the way you did. Nobody deserves that.

Always a good day when S1ap uploads

One very Important aspect of the Field Fillers is that it gives opportunities to future superstar crew members. Many a top crew chief got plucked from a small team.

I was at the Rockingham race when Joe Ruttman started the race without a pit crew.

Dude, your channel is getting me interested in NASCAR for the first time in 30 years. Always good content and fun to watch.

those clips of old races in your videos are gold. Excellent glimpses of some classis steel. MGAs, Austin Healey Sprites, Midgets, MG TCs, TDs, Triumps, Morgans, old Jags of various models, and that's just the British ones! And they're even in the background as non race cars. Like what I think is a Bugeye Sprite in this video at 5:35, white facing a box trailer.

Just learned something new..casual observer of NASCAR and did not know this was a thing..Well done!

I’d argue that with 36 teams holding a corporate subsidy, and two in on speed, leaving just two spots to fill the truncated 40-car field, the Daytona qualifying races are ALREADY “procedural nonsense.”

Even F1 has had its share of "field fillers". Back in the 60s the German Grand Prix was held at the notorious Nurbergring where, due to the 14 mile length of the lap, the organisers invited F2 cars to run alongside the F1 entry to give the spectators something to watch whilst the main protagonists did battle. Nobody told a young Belgian, Jacky Ickx, that he was to be an 'also ran' as in his four cylinder Matra-Cosworth with little more than half the cubic capacity of the 3 litre F1 cars, astounded everyone when he finished in 3rd place. Unfortunately he wasn't allowed to earn GP points but did walk away with a nice cheque as consolation for winning the F2 class. He later went on to become a driver for Ferrari and later to win Le Man's multiple times in various sports cars, especially Porsche.

This reminded me of when I was a little kid. Maine had a NASCAR driver. Ricky Craven. I remember he was pretty decent, but not great, then I think he had a huge crash, and after that for Iike the next 10 years, he finished like 33rd in every race.

The oldest rookie Dick Trickle drove for underfunded teams, but said he made more money finishing in the back than he did being one of the winningest short track drivers ever! RI T

Brock's series over this topic is great! Good video!

I've always had a fascination with backmarkers since I was a kid. My older brother was always visibly confused when I'd be looking for the backmarker I was cheering on alongside the big name I wanted to win that day.

Justin Haley's win at the summer Daytona Race pissed a lot of people off. Not because of Haley but if I remember correctly, Spire wasn't all that liked.

I think it interesting to talk about this subject, even mentioning Phoenix Racing, but not mentioning the race they won with Brad Keselowski in the 09. He may be a big deal now, but even he was a field filler at one point.

Formula 1 has had some interesting field fillers too! Al Pease was disqualified from the 1968 Canadian GP for being over 45 laps down from the winner Nicholas Latifi crashed into a wall at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, causing a safety car and a 1 lap fight between the title contenders!

You make the best NASCAR content.

i love underdog story, that's why i love them. i always root for backmaker teams even though i still have a favorite team fighting at the front

idc if they are a field filler or not. i loved watching the race at Daytona. the energy, the sights, the smells, the sounds, god it was motorsports paradise

I did NOT expect to hear some ol' Saint Pepsi in the tailcard of a random ass NASCAR video I clicked on out of curiosity. Just... WHAT?!? HUH???

You forgot the biggest reason THE TV CONTRACT would NOT pay if enough cars were not in the field

Many of the 'field fillers' were competitive drivers in lower tiers of racing. Sometimes too, a top level driver in another form of racing, like an Nascar driver would race in the Indy 500 to fill its field. Field fillers still had to risk their lives and some at the top tier of NASCAR. J.D. McDuffie, someone who is video was cited as a field filer, would lose his life at Watkins Glen in 1991 after a mechanical failure caused a crash when went off the track and crashed into a barrier.

I remember growing up watching nascar in the mid 2000's and i was always so confused seeing 2 or 3 guys every single race go out for a couple of laps and then park it

When you said "jobber", I instantly thought of pro wrestling. The field fillers are the NASCAR equivalent to AEW and WWE "local talents" who used to be called enhancement talent or jobbers

"So here's some notable field fil..." Greg Sacks: "NINETEEN EIGHTY FIVE FIRECRACKER 400, BITCH!!!" That and Lake Speed at the '88 TransSouth 500 in Darlington are the two wildest "no one bet on that dude" races ever. Because they didn't just win, they fucking DOMINATED.

Honestly, I love the field fillers. If I had the money to run my own team, even a 34th place once a year thrill ride, I would do it in a heartbeat. They help fill an advertised field and are usually just a bunch good people who decided to live out a dream.

I don't even watch Nascar and I love your Nascar videos.

THANKS FOR TALKING ABOUT THE FIELD FILLERS! I love Brock Beard's series about them, and I can't wait for the next part,

I've always liked the Racing With Jesus 89, and the 91 car that Reed Sorenson drove in 2012 always stuck out to me.

The saint pepsi at the end is chef's kiss, great episode dude thank you

Ah yes, my favorite 'who's that guy' era of Nascar. So many names and me just scratching my head. Miss the back markers out there like Carl Long. Always pulled for the major underdogs.

In the great race of life, aren't most of us just field fillers anyway

I love field fillers. In addition to making the racing product better, they can give young drivers experience in the cars and lower series drivers/teams a paycheck to help them out. And they have their moments, and even potential to be dominant, like Furniture Row.

That Firecracker 400 was the first thing that came to mind when Greg Sacks won. Made a name for himself that day 😊

So good. I don't even watch Nascar but love your delivery of the content and the production value. It is top notch.

Some field fillers are excellent race car drivers and even Champions in other divisions. Current field filler JJ Yeley is a legend in Sprintcar and Midget racing.

Backmarkers need to exist, no question. Also nice to hear Saint Pepsi at the end, vapourwave is dead!

fantastic video. i had never even heard of a field filler before, and didn't know anything about this. thank you! also, great use of kvetch, don't hear that one all the time

I barely follow Le Mans racing, so I wouldn't call myself a racing fan. But after watching this video I have developed a healthy respect and affection for NASCAR's Field Fillers.

I remember there was this time during the 80s and part of the 90s when Buick made this engine for IndyCar racing that was really cheap and fast, but would break halfway through the race. So all this cars would show up at IndyCar events using that engine, they knew they weren't going to win, but the Buick engine was so fast that it basically guaranteed them a position in the starting lineup. They would race, and abandon halfway when the Buick engine inevitable would break down. They still got paid, and Buick made those engines so cheap that it was still profitable to run the race even if you didn't finish.

I love this video. And I appreciate the direction NASCAR has taken in their next-gen car. Granted, there's a LOT of shit they need to fix on those cars, I feel like they've taken a step backwards from the Gen6 cars as far as safety. But with these spec-racers in the field it gives the best chance for parity that we've probably ever seen in the sport. This is great for NASCAR's bottom line, because we're seeing an influx of new teams entering the sport, not just to fill out the fields, but in an attempt to compete. I'm here for it.

ngl i love seeing field fillers winning a race in the top 3 series

If we didn't have field fillers, we wouldn't have underdogs to root for.