Joe Falk


Joe Falk is an American auto dealer and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner, as well as a former stock car racing driver. He is the owner of the No. 33 car of Circle Sport Racing in the Sprint Cup Series from 2012 to present, as well as of Little Joe's Autos, an automobile dealership in the Virginia Tidewater.
He is currently the co-owner of Circle Sport Racing which currently fields Joe's #33 team he purchased from Richard Childress Racing in 2012, in a partnership with Go FAS Racing.

Driving career

Falk started his racing career at Langley Speedway, where he won the track's Late Model championship in 1976; he was also the winner of what some regard as "the best Late Model race of all time", in 1983.
Falk drove in one NASCAR sanctioned race at the 'national series' level, competing in the Busch Series Bobby Isaac Memorial 200 at Hickory Motor Speedway in October 1984; he finished 17th after starting 23rd, driving a Pontiac for Bubba Nissen Racing.

Team owner

Falk became a team owner in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1997, partnered with Ron Neal to form LJ Racing, fielding the No. 91 Chevrolet; the team struggled, and utilized several drivers over the next three years before closing.
He returned to NASCAR team ownership in 2011, fielding the No. 50 Chevrolet under the LTD Powersports name.
For the 2012 season, Falk joined Hillman Racing, owned by former Cup Series crew chief and Germain Racing team manager Mike Hillman, Sr., as a partial owner; the team attempted to qualify for the 2012 Daytona 500 with driver Michael Waltrip, but failed to make the race. Falk also co-owned Hillman Racing's Camping World Truck Series team. In April 2012, he acquired the assets of the former Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet team, establishing Circle Sport; in 2013 he partnered with Hillman Racing once again to add Hillman's No. 40 Chevrolet to the team, running two cars in most Sprint Cup events starting mid-season.
After 2015, Falk and Hillman split due to financial issues. Falk took his half of the team and invested in Leavine Family Racing, forming Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing. He was granted a charter by NASCAR for the new charter system, as the No. 33 had attempted every race between 2013 and 2015. This sparked a lawsuit between Hillman Racing and CSLFR, over whether Hillman or Falk owned the charter. According to reporter Bob Pockrass on Twitter on June 30, the suit was settled under undisclosed terms with Falk maintaining ownership of the Charter.
Before the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it was announced that Circle Sport Racing and Leavine Family Racing ended their partnership, because NASCAR rules stipulate that the No. 95 team using Falk's charter, counted as a lease, which, by rule, could only happen once every 5 years. The team eventually split, with Leavine Family Racing purchasing the charter of Tommy Baldwin Racing and Falk retaining his original charter. After rumors of possibly joining Richard Childress Racing in ownership or joining The Motorsports Group owned by Falk's lifelong friend Curtis Key, it was later confirmed on January 6 that Falk would partner with Key, forming Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group. Falk would be the listed owner of the #33 team while Key would work on the business side of the team. Since he couldn't lease his charter, Falk instead gave Curtis Key a percentage of the charter, allowing the merger to be official for 2017 and beyond.
CSTMG picked up Jeffrey Earnhardt as their driver for the 2017 Daytona 500. Following a good performance by Earnhardt in the race, it was announced that Earnhardt would be the full-time driver for the team. On road course races, the team hired Boris Said and Boris' longtime crew chief Frank Stoddard to run the #33.
At the end of the season, Circle Sport parted ways with The Motorsports Group. Falk & Circle Sport later formed a partnership with Go FAS Racing to field a part-time #33 and for Go FAS to use the #33 charter. Due to his partnership with Go FAS, a Ford team, this meant the end of Circle Sport's association with Richard Childress. Even though the #33 was expected to run at some point in 2018 with Joey Gase, it never came to fruition. However, Falk and Circle Sport remained partners with Go FAS in 2019, allowing the #32 to keep using the #33 charter.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

Busch Series