Circle Sport, LLC, announced that 2012 Rookie-of-the-Year Contender Stephen Leicht will drive the #33 Circle Sport Chevy this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the debut effort for the Sprint Cup Series organization. Joe Falk recently acquired the #33 from Richard Childress Racing and formed Circle Sport to operate the fledging organization. Falk, a Virginia businessman who has been a part of the sport since the late 1990s, is making a return to fulltime competition in NASCAR’s top series. Falk previously fielded the #91 Sprint Cup entry for drivers Dick Trickle, Greg Sacks, Kevin Lepage, Mike Wallace and Todd Bodine, which included a top-five finish in 1998 season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
‘When the opportunity was presented to acquire the #33 owner points from Richard Childress Racing, we felt this was the way to build a solid foundation for our emerging Sprint Cup operation,’ Falk said. Leicht, the 25-year-old former development driver for Robert Yates Racing and winner of the 2007 Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway in his only fulltime season of NASCAR racing, has been selected to pilot the #33 Circle Sport entry in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Leicht enters the weekend event with three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts to his credit with his debut coming for legendary owner and engine builder Robert Yates in 2006. Leicht was recently approved for the NASCAR ROTY program and will be guided by veteran crew chief Tony Glover. Glover the three-time Daytona 500 championship crew chief credited with 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories with drivers Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek joins Circle Sport after a longtime leadership role with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. Falk’s Little Joe’s Autos has served as a sponsor in the races leading up to the Coca-Cola 600, while Precon Marine, another Virginia-based company that specializes in heavy marine constructions, joined in an associate role. Additionally, Circle Sport welcomes marketing partners new to the sport of NASCAR HotTorque.com and Moon Shine Attitude Attire for this weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.(CircleSport PR)(5-26-2012)
