A Bobby Dotter-owned team that merged with SS Racing in 2008, left the Trucks in 2017 and built its Xfinity program around rotating drivers and partner alliances.
SS-Green Light Racing is an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series team owned by Bobby Dotter. It began in the Truck Series in 2000, merged with SS Racing in 2008, and won its first race with Cole Custer at Auto Club Speedway in 2022.
SS-Green Light Racing is an American stock car team that competes in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. It fields the No. 0 and No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro SS cars, and it works closely with Richard Childress Racing under a technical alliance. Former driver Bobby Dotter owns the team and drove for it in many races, and it has run in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series over more than two decades.
Who owns SS-Green Light Racing and how did it begin?
Dotter is the team's sole owner today, but several people have shared ownership over the years. Ken Smith left the team in July 2017. Steve Urvan was a co-owner in 2010 only. Texas politician Gene Christensen, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2008 Republican primary for Texas's 4th congressional district, was also a co-owner.
Green Light began in the Truck Series in 2000. In 2008, during the economic downturn, it merged with SS Racing, a team that had competed in the ASA and had partnered with Green Light's truck team on several occasions. Team mergers were common then, and the combination gave the operation more financial stability.
A small team that moved from Trucks to Xfinity, ran its No. 07 with a long list of drivers and won its first race in 2022 with Cole Custer.
Why did the team leave the Truck Series in 2017?
The team competed in the Truck Series each year until 2017, when it chose to focus on its Xfinity program. Its truck equipment and owner points were sold to Rick Ware Racing, which fielded a No. 12 truck that year. The change marked the start of the team's Xfinity-only era.
Before that, the Truck program had a long run of drivers and sponsors. Dotter drove the No. 08 full-time in 2001 while campaigning for Rookie of the Year, and he finished 15th in points. He returned to the same truck in 2002, with four top-10 finishes and a career-best 14th in points.
How did the Truck program go in its later years?
In 2010 Jason White drove the No. 23 full-time, and the team had its best season. White won the pole at Daytona and stayed in the top five in points for half the year, but the team finished tenth. White left for Joe Denette Motorsports for 2011.
In 2010 David Starr drove the No. 81 for the rest of the season after the sponsor moved over from another team, and he finished ninth in points. In 2011 Starr scored eight top 10s and finished 13th. Ross Chastain drove the No. 08 in 2012 and scored a third at Bristol, ending his season 17th in points.
Ray Black Jr. ran the No. 07 truck full-time in 2015 with ScubaLife.com sponsorship, finishing 12th in points and taking a fifth at Daytona. In 2016 Black Jr. moved to the Xfinity Series, and the team used several drivers in the truck, including French driver Michel Disdier.
Who drove the No. 07 in Xfinity racing?
Ray Black Jr. ran the No. 07 full-time in 2016 with ScubaLife.com sponsorship in all the races. He had nine finishes in the top twenty, with a best of 14th at Bristol in August, and he finished 19th in the driver standings. Todd Bodine replaced him for Charlotte in 2017, and Spencer Boyd and Andy Lally drove at Pocono and Mid-Ohio.
In 2019 Black Jr. came back from a part-time ride with B. J. McLeod Motorsports and drove the No. 07 full-time again. He was set to return for 2020, but on 23 May 2020 he announced he would step away to help his family business recover from pandemic-related financial problems.
After Black left, Rick Ware Racing reached a deal to field some of its drivers in the No. 07 for the rest of 2020. Garrett Smithley drove at Charlotte, and Carson Ware, Rick's son, made his series debut at Bristol. The highlight of the year came when Gray Gaulding drove the car to second at Daytona, after the top four wrecked on the final corner. Smithley also scored a top 10 at Talladega, and Jade Buford scored one at Charlotte.
In 2021 Joe Graf Jr. covered most of the No. 07's schedule, while Ross Chastain, J. J. Yeley and Josh Bilicki also made appearances. Graf scored a top-10 finish in the Sparks 300.
What did Cole Custer's 2022 win mean for the team?
SS-Green Light switched from Chevrolet to Ford in 2022, with Graf as the primary driver of the No. 07. On 26 February 2022 Cup Series driver Cole Custer claimed the team's first victory, at Auto Club Speedway. The entry was a joint effort of the team and Stewart-Haas Racing, which partnered on the car.
Later that year Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan made her Xfinity debut in the No. 07 at Las Vegas. Chase Briscoe and Brett Moffitt also made starts, with Briscoe scoring a top 10 at Indianapolis and Moffitt a top 10 at Kansas.
For 2023 the team returned to Chevrolet. It named Blaine Perkins as its full-time driver, but Perkins ran only the first five races. Other drivers took the rest of the year, including Carson Hocevar, Stefan Parsons, Dawson Cram, David Starr, Daniel Suarez, Katherine Legge and Natalie Decker.
How did the No. 07 rotate drivers in 2024 and 2025?
In 2024 the No. 07 saw a rotation of drivers again. Patrick Emerling ran more than half the season in the car and had a best finish of 17th. Daniil Kvyat, Myatt Snider, Logan Bearden, Alex Labbe, Greg Van Alst, C. J. McLaughlin, Jade Buford, Sage Karam and Brad Perez also drove the car, and McLaughlin matched Emerling's best of 17th.
In 2025 Emerling, Nick Leitz and Labbe split the car for most of the season. Carson Ware, Logan Bearden, Preston Pardus and Brad Perez also made starts. On 29 November 2025 the team revealed that Josh Bilicki would drive the No. 07 full-time in 2026.
How did the No. 08 and No. 14 develop?
In 2018 the team announced that Gray Gaulding would drive the No. 08 full-time in 2019. At Talladega in the spring of 2019 he finished a career-best second. On 16 January 2020 Joe Graf Jr. was announced to replace him. Graf had driven the No. 77 for Chad Bryant Racing in the ARCA Menards Series for two years, and he finished 22nd in points in 2020.
The No. 08 returned in 2022 with David Starr in 28 races. In 2023 a rotating group of drivers included Aric Almirola, Joey Gase and Alex Labbe, and Gaulding finished eighth at Talladega. On 29 March 2022 DGM Racing sold the owner points of its No. 92 to the team's No. 08, which made it more likely to qualify.
In 2024 SS-Green Light worked with Kaulig Racing to field the No. 14 jointly, and Daniel Suarez drove it at Daytona with Wendy's sponsorship. On 27 February 2024 crew chief Jason Miller was suspended for two races after a physical altercation with Kyle Weatherman at Atlanta. Garrett Smithley was named the No. 14's full-time driver for 2025, with BRK Racing forming a sponsorship and ownership deal in January 2025.
What happened with the No. 35 and No. 76?
In 2018 SS-Green Light teamed with Go Green Racing to run the No. 35 for Joey Gase. Gase's best finish of 15th came three times, and he ended the year twentieth in points.
On 19 October 2017 Spencer Boyd was announced for the No. 76 Chevrolet Camaro full-time in 2018. The car was the former No. 07 team, renumbered. The No. 76 came from the logo of sponsor Grunt Style, which uses the year 1776 because it sells Americana-themed products. Boyd finished 26th in points and left for a Truck ride with Young's Motorsports in 2019.
How did the team use its other numbers?
In 2014 the team partnered with Viva Motorsports on the No. 55, which was usually driven by Jamie Dick. The team ran it in the races Viva did not use. Todd Bodine drove the car at Darlington to open the Nationwide program, and Jimmy Weller III finished 40th at Richmond after a mechanical failure. Brennan Newberry ran three No. 55 races with a best finish of 19th at Watkins Glen.
In 2015 and 2016 the team also partnered with King Autosport on the No. 90. Jimmy Weller III and Todd Bodine each drove four races in the car in 2015. In 2015 the team also used the No. 15 car of Rick Ware Racing, with Ray Black Jr. finishing 27th in his Xfinity debut at Texas.
In 2017 the team worked with B. J. McLeod Motorsports on the No. 99, with David Starr driving the full season. Starr finished fifth at the summer Daytona race, the only top five for him and the team that year. The partnership ended in 2018, when Starr moved to the Jimmy Means Racing No. 52.
What did the team do in the 2000s and early 2010s?
In 2007 the No. 0 truck ran with Sharon Rice listed as owner, and Brandon Knupp finished 34th at Texas after overheating. In 2008 Gene Christensen was the owner of a part-time No. 0, with Butch Miller finishing 32nd twice. In 2006 the Truck team fielded the No. 03 when the expected field was short, with Wayne Edwards finishing 36th and 35th. In 2007 the No. 06 ran part-time with Morgan Shepherd, Blake Mallory and Bobby Dotter among its drivers. The No. 08 Truck was filled by Chad McCumbee, who was runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2006 despite missing the season opener.
In 2009 Chad McCumbee drove the No. 07 in 21 races with Tiwi and Valvoline sponsoring. He had five top-10 finishes and finished 19th in points. Sean Murphy opened 2010 with a 13th at Daytona, and Donny Lia left the car after the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol.
What is the team's place in the sport now?
For the 2026 season the team announced on 10 December 2025 that it would field the No. 0 Chevrolet mainly for Garrett Smithley. Alex Labbe would drive it at four road course events, Cole Custer at five races starting at Las Vegas, and Myatt Snider at Gateway. SS-Green Light has run the same kind of program for much of its life: a small team, a changing list of drivers and sponsors, and a steady use of partner teams. Its most important moment came in 2022, when Custer won at Auto Club Speedway. Its Truck history is also part of its story, with drivers who later moved to larger teams.
