PPI Motorsports was a race team which competed in CART, NASCAR and various off-road racing circuits. The team had one of the few remaining single car operations in NASCAR.
Early years
PPI stood for Precision Preparation, Inc., a company founded by team owner Cal Wells in 1979. The company provided parts for off-road racing teams. Over time, PPI eventually began its own off-road team, with help with Toyota Motorsports. PPI fielded off-road trucks for Mickey Thompson's SCORE series and then later fielded trucks which competed in outdoor events such as the Baja 1000. Notable drivers for PPI include Ivan "Ironman" Stewart and a young Robby Gordon.
CART years
PPI's relationship with Toyota expanded into the open-wheel ranks in 1995, when Wells formed a CART team with good friend Frank Arciero. Their initial driver was Hiro Matsushita. Known as Arciero-Wells, the CART team lasted for 5 years but only a managed a best finish of 4th in 1999 with rookie Cristiano da Matta. In 1996, they began the CART season with Jeff Krosnoff driving, but he died in a tragic accident during the Toronto street race. All PPI cars subsequently carried a decal commemorating Krosnoff's memory. After Arciero left in 2000, the team was rebranded as PPI Motorsports, and da Matta gave the team its first career victory in CART. During this time, the team also ran a program in the Toyota Atlantic series, and had success in 2000 with rookie of the yearDan Wheldon. Following the 2000 season, however, PPI shut down its open-wheel and off-road programs, ended its relationship with Toyota, and shifted its focus exclusively on NASCAR. PPI also competed in Toyota Atlantic from 1998-2000, winning races with Anthony Lazzaro, Andrew Bordin, and Dan Wheldon. Lazzaro won the championship for the team in 1999.
NASCAR years
Car No. 32 history
PPI Motorsports started its first Cup team during the 2000 season with open-wheel and Trans Am standout Scott Pruettbehind the wheel of the No.32 Tide-sponsored Ford. The team was hardly a success in its first year, finishing in 37th place and failing to qualify for a number of races. Pruett was released at the end of the season and returned to Trans-Am. With the team focusing exclusively on NASCAR in 2001, PPI fielded a two-car Winston Cup effort, with Ricky Craven taking over in the "Tide ride" and former Craftsman Truck Series star Andy Houston taking over in a second car — the No. 96 McDonald's-sponsored Ford. Houston's team was shut down before the season ended due to a lack of good results and the loss of its sponsor. Craven, however, had a number of strong races, which he capped giving the team its first career victory at Martinsville in October. He finished 21st in the points standings that year. Craven ran strong in 2002 and, although he failed to win a race for the team, he managed to improve his point championship standing and finishing 15th overall. This was the team's last season in a Ford, as they switched to Pontiac the next season. Craven started 2003 the same way, with a strong Top 5 at Rockingham and a famous victory at Darlington, in which he beat Kurt Busch to the finish by just 0.002 seconds, which still stands today as the smallest margin of victory in NASCAR Cup Series history. It also turned out to be Pontiac's last win in the Winston Cup Series. However, a series of DNF's dropped Craven to 27th in points. PPI was to field two teams in 2004, one for Craven in the 32 and the 96 was to revive with Johnny Benson but sponsorship never showed up and, the 96 team once again folded after only a couple tests. PPI showed clear signs of struggling in 2004 as Craven was unable to give the team a single Top 10 finish through the first 24 races. Wells and Craven parted ways due to lack of results and Busch Series driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. took Craven's place. Hamilton, Jr. drove the car for the entire 2005 season. However, he failed to score a Top 10 during the year, and eventually finished 36th. Wells did have some success after replacing Hamilton with road course ringerRon Fellows at Infineon, with Fellows giving the team an eighth-place finish. Hamilton was replaced by Travis Kvapil, who drove the car for the 2006 season, only to have five DNQ's. Ron Fellows drove competed in the two road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. After originally finishing 10th at the Glen, Fellows was penalised for skipping a portion of the track and dropped to 32nd. At the end of the 2006 season, Wells announced he would field Toyota's in the 2007 season if he were to find a sponsor, but was unable to find one as Tide had already announced that it was leaving the sport and that much of the team had already either been laid off or have been hired by Michael Waltrip Racing. This led to closure of their shop and forming a partnership with MWR's No. 00 Toyota Camry. PPI Motorsports has been liquidated to various buyers.
Car No. 96 history
Andy Houston Houston drove part-time in both seasons with a highest finish of seventeenth at Martinsville in 2001.
Cristiano da Matta