NORA Castrol Cup Series History Timeline

NORA Castrol Cup Series era

1980 -- After 5 years of running unofficially on short tracks throughout the Midwest, Jonathan Myers and Ron Mertz, Sr. propose a plan to make NORA, or the National Organization for Racing Automobiles. Ron Jr. never got into managing. He got into driving. He wins the inaugural race of NORA at the Lowell Speedpark on February 18th, 1980. Ron wins 2 other races that year to win the inaugural championship.

1981 -- Daytona is added to the schedule, as the 5th race. James Wood, driving a 1979 Ford Torino (the last year that any type of car could be used) edges Ron for the title by 10 points.

1982 -- Stanley Moon, who drove Dirt Late Models in the early 1970s, buys several Dodge cars and wins the title by 2 points over James Wood, after Wood blew a tire with 3 laps to go in the season finale and fell just the right amount of positions to seal the title for Moon.

1983 -- Ron Mertz bursts from his slump and wins 8 of 18 races to win the title.

1984 -- Moon wins the title. What assisted him is that James Wood turned Ron Mertz, in turn sending Mertz flying into the catchfence roof first at Talladega, which gave Moon enough of a cushion to start the season finale at Riverside and win the title.

1985 -- Lowell SuperSpeedway built, Ron Mertz dominates in front of the home crowd. However, coming into turn 3 on the final lap, Mertz's left rear tire goes flat, handing the win to James Wood. Daytona is made the Season Opener. Champion: #75 James Wood

1986 -- Moon gets another Cup, this time without a victory in the season.

1987 -- Cody Lone, the hotshot rookie driving Buicks, storms his way up the points chart and destroys the field by 80 points.

1988 -- Ron Mertz, driving the new Monte Carlo, adapts well to the restrictor plates added to the cars and wins 5 races en route to his 3rd title. James Wood retires as a driver. Ron Mertz Sr. proposes a plan to make grip levels skyrocket in the pavement, creating more exciting racing for Lowell SuperSpeedway.

1989 -- Ted Tallon, driving for the new manufacturer Pontiac, bears consistency without sponsorship to cruise to the '89 title by 19 points over Ron Mertz.

1990 -- A new, boxier body style is unveiled at the NORA R&D center in Lowell, hoping to keep Blowovers from happening. It doesn't work. Ron Mertz once again gets sent into the fence, this time by defending champion Ted Tallon. Another Pontiac wins the title, this time, Dan Sellars hoists the Cup. The NORA Armor All Series was formed.

1991 -- Ron Mertz wins 1 race en route to his 4th Cup. Carmen Del Rio, the inaugural Armor All Series Champion, makes his much anticipated debut for his friend and car owner Ron Mertz.

1992 -- Chris Fortier, a driver who was a field filler throughout much of the 80's, picks up speed in his cars and is able to contend with the big boys. He proves this by winning the title by the largest margin to date, 100 points.

1993 -- Cody Lone took 1989 and 1990 off, to come back and win the title in 1993 and re-retires after 1994.

1994 -- Jim Oppenheimer driving for Bob Johnson pulls out the upset championship over Chris Fortier, by 6 points.

1995 -- Fortier gets his redemption from 1994 and steals the title away from Jim and Ron Mertz. The NORA True Value Truck Series is formed.

1996 -- The CoY is phased in as the car to use from 1996-2010. Ron Mertz, obviously adapts quicker en route to his 5th title.

1997 -- After 6 years of development, Carmen Del Rio proves that he's worthy to be a Cup Driver, by winning the 1997 Cup. RMR turns into the Powerhouse.

1998 -- Ron Mertz Racing clicks into Domination Mode, winning titles from 1996-2003 consecutively. Champion: #3 Ron Mertz, his 6th after winning his first Daytona 200 in his 15th try.

1999 -- Ron Mertz becomes the first driver to win consecutive championships, his 7th.

2000 -- Jonathan Myers contracts a construction company to build grandstands all around the racetrack, creating a stadium type feel to the most prestigious track in NORA. The Daytona 200 was the most boring of them all, only having 3 lead changes between 2 drivers. Champion: #4 Carmen Del Rio

2001 -- The season opens in controversy as NORA debuts a new aerodynamic package for the Superspeedways. Jim Oppenheimer barely survives his near fatal accident after being sent head-on into the outside wall . It takes the #00 and Bob Johnson's operation off the track for 2001. Jim decides to retire, and Johnson Autosport folds after 17 years in the series. Champion: #5 Sean O'Kelley

2002 -- Several edits to the 2001 Aero package result in fantastic racing at the Superspeedways. Champion: #4 Carmen Del Rio

2003 -- Ron Mertz scores his second Daytona 200 victory in the rain-shortened event. Champion: #3 Ron Mertz

2004 -- Ron Mertz Racing's domination ends as a Chris Fortier owned car returns to the Champions perch. Champion: #02 Tony Marion

2005 -- Billy Godin, the 2003 Rookie of the Year, gets Dan Meek his first of two Castrol Cups.

2006 -- The Season opens with a bang on the final lap of the Daytona 200. Ron Mertz got loose coming off of Turn 4 leading the race, and was sent onto his roof. He slid across the start/finish line upside-down and on fire to take his 3rd Daytona 200 victory. Talladega is repaved, to the delight of the fans. Ron Mertz is turned on the final lap by Rookie Kenny Dunigan, who then snuck into the points lead. However, at the next race at Cleveland for the Season Finale, Dunigan's team is found to be cheating and the Championship is revoked. Ron Mertz gets his revenge by scoring his 9th Castrol Cup.

2007 -- The Season agains opens with a bang, again on the final lap Ron Mertz gets turned coming off of Turn 4 and flips over. However, the field piles in and rookie Doug Gowan vaulted off the upside-down car of Ron Mertz to win the race in an incredible upset win. Champion: #18 Max Shevlin

2008 -- No flipping cars in 2008's Daytona 200, but Billy Godin gets pushed to the win by 2007 Champion Max Shevlin and that momentum carries him to his 2nd Castrol Cup.

2009 -- Josh Mertz, son of legend Ron Mertz, makes his much anticpated debut and finishes second in the Daytona 200, also winning at Bristol and the New York Autoring, and capturing the Rookie of the Year honors for 2009, beating out Jack Milligan by 2 points. Champion: #64 Toby Taylor

2010 -- The 2010 season was a great one, even if it was cut in half. After a crazy Talladega race that saw Robert Dagostino being sent into the catch fence and Lonnie Joesph plowing into Sean O'Kelley, sidelining him for 4 races, the series calmed down. But at Lowell, Ron Mertz was anticipated to win his first Red Devil 200. Jake Wyrick is flung into the air 20+ feet during the first big one. Ron Mertz gets turned by Jeremy Wentworth, causing a chain reaction crash sending Scott Nowak into a 20+ barrell roll down the backstretch. After the fans complained about Wyrick's crash along with the safety hazards of having so much grip in the pavement, NORA Officials order Lowell SuperSpeedway to be rebuilt with brand new pavement and 22 degrees of banking all around the racetrack. Stanley Moon is killed in a testing crash at the New York Autoring, and Mary Mertz is suspended after Atlanta qualifying due to injuring one of her husbands crew members due to being intoxicated. Reblando teammates Billy Godin and Kristin Lavergne are punted 30+ feet into the air due to hitting a hiccup in the SAFER Barrier. They cause a huge crash and the race is called after 27 laps. Champion: #9 Rodney Smith

2011 -- The new Fortner FS260 spec Chassis is unveiled. Ron Mertz hopes Lowell will get SAFER Barriers installed, he has talked it over with Myers and this may happen. RJ Bandsma's team is found to hold illegal parts and his family is punted out of NORA forever. Cody Lone is killed in the big one at the Nuka Cola Victory Shootout, which also injured Adam Ames and David Bratcher. PONY cars are introduced, and Cooper becomes the official Tire Supplier of NORA.

2012-2014 - After financial trouble cripples NORA, the series takes 2012, 2013, and 2014 off to regroup and refinance what once was a great racing series.

2015 - ??????
What is the next chapter in NORA History? We'll see...