Blake Koch

Blake Koch (born August 7, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.

Personal life

Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, Koch currently resides in Huntersville, North Carolina with his wife Shannon and their son, Carter and daughter, Bailey.^[1]

Koch is a Christian. Koch has spoken about his faith saying, "[God has] given me this platform that people listen to me and I feel like I have a great opportunity to tell people about Jesus through that."^[2]

Racing career

Koch racing at Road America in 2011

Koch began his racing career at the age of 22 after he graduated from college with an associate degree in Marketing and Business Degree at Northwood University. Prior to racing on 4 wheels. Koch raced on 2 wheels and was considered one of the top 20 motorcross riders in the state of Florida. Koch raced 8 years until the end of 2008 when he made the transition to NASCAR. In 2009, He started racing in the NASCAR Camping World West Series. He finished 8th in the final point standings and finished runner up in the Rookie of the Year standings.^[3] In 2011 He made his 1st Nationwide Series race at Phoenix and finished 17th and on the lead lap. He earned 4 top 20 finishes in 2011 and finished 18th in the final point standings.^[4]

Koch planned to compete for Rick Ware Racing in the 2012 Nationwide Series driving the No. 41.^[5] Partway through the season Koch was switched to the No. 15 when Timmy Hill returned to Nationwide competition, and soon afterwards was forced to switch to a limited schedule due to a lack of sponsorship.^[1]

For 2013, Koch returned to SR² Motorsports, for which he had driven a limited start-and-park schedule late in 2012, to run most of the season in the team's No. 24 and No. 00 Toyotas.^[6] In October, he made his debut in the Sprint Cup Series, driving for Leavine Family Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway.^[7]

After driving for RAB Racing in the 2013 Nationwide Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he started on the outside pole, Koch moved to TriStar Motorsports for the full 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series season (largely in a start and park role)^[8] He also signed with Front Row Motorsports to drive the No. 35 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for a limited schedule of races.^[9] He also ran a handful of races for Go FAS Racing as well.^[10]

Koch's 2015 Xfinity Series car at Road America

In 2015, Koch was given a full-time ride by TriStar Motorsports for the full Xfinity Series (formerly Nationwide Series) in the No. 8 Toyota with LeafFilter Gutter Protection as a primary sponsor.^[11] Koch was leading with 6 laps to go in Road America when the battery died, resulting in a 20th-place finish. After the race Koch described the race as the closest he had come to winning in his entire career.

Koch at Texas Motor Speedway in 2016.

In 2016, LeafFilter owner Matt Kaulig left TriStar to start his own team, Kaulig Racing, with an alliance with Richard Childress Racing. Koch came over as well, running the full season in the No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet.^[12] Koch finished 9th at the season opener at Daytona, his first top-ten of his career. Koch later had decent races including a 12th place finish at Fontana. Koch got his best finish 8th at Richmond after avoiding the big crash. Koch would make the newly-created Xfinity chase, but was unable to advance to the final round.

ESPN controversy

Koch appeared in a commercial for the voting awareness organization Rise Up And Register; however, it was rejected by ESPN due to "religious and political overtones";^[13] despite there being no religious messages in the commercial.^[14] ESPN later issued a statement saying, "Koch’s personal religious beliefs played no role in our evaluation."^[15]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
2013	Leavine Family Racing	95	Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT 38	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	74th	0¹
2014	Front Row Motorsports	35	Ford	DAY	PHO 37	LVS DNQ	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	KAN																										67th	0¹
2014	Go FAS Racing	32	Ford												CLT 35	DOV 30	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT 39	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM 38	67th	0¹

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NXSC	Pts
2009	MacDonald Motorsports	81	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM 17	TEX		HOM 24	102nd	173
2009	Day Enterprises	05	Chevy																																		PHO DNQ		102nd	173
2010	Day Enterprises	05	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW 22	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	115th	97
2011	MacDonald Motorsports	81	Dodge	DAY	PHO 27	LVS	BRI 30	CAL 33	TEX 25		NSH 25	RCH 27	DAR 18		IOW 21	CLT 34	CHI 27	MCH 25	ROA 14	DAY 28	KEN 22	NHA 18	NSH 27	IRP 20	IOW 28	GLN 29		BRI 23	ATL 23	RCH 27		DOV 21	KAN 25			PHO 14			18th	610
		82								TAL 16				DOV 43
		70																									CGV 38
		52																													CHI 27
		81	Chevy																															CLT 18	TEX 22		HOM 23
2012	Rick Ware Racing	41	Ford	DAY 17	PHO 31	LVS 18	BRI 38																																31st	230
		41	Chevy					CAL 25
		15							TEX 36			DAR 34	IOW 40	CLT	DOV 41	MCH 36	ROA	KEN 41
		75								RCH 39	TAL DNQ
	MacDonald Motorsports	82	Dodge																DAY 19	NHA
	The Motorsports Group	42	Chevy																		CHI 36	IND	IOW	GLN	CGV 41
	SR² Motorsports	00	Toyota																							BRI DNQ	ATL 36	RCH 37	CHI 36	KEN			KAN 36	TEX 38	PHO 39	HOM 39
		24																													DOV 22	CLT
2013		24		DAY 38	PHO 16	LVS 21	BRI 25	CAL 32	TEX 24	RCH 25						MCH 22	ROA				CHI 27	IND				BRI 31													25th	349
		00									TAL 33	DAR 22	CLT	DOV 40	IOW 36			KEN 34	DAY DNQ	NHA 37			IOW 38	GLN 36	MOH 40		ATL 40	RCH	CHI 38	KEN 39	DOV 30	KAN 37	CLT 38	TEX 36	PHO 38
	RAB Racing	99	Toyota																																	HOM 11
2014	TriStar Motorsports	44	Toyota	DAY 22		LVS 20					RCH 21					MCH 24	ROA	KEN 19									ATL 28			KEN 25	DOV 23				PHO 18	HOM 22			24th	317
	TriStar Motorsports	10	Toyota		PHO 39		BRI 40	CAL 39	TEX 40	DAR 40		TAL 40	IOW	CLT	DOV 40				DAY DNQ	NHA 39	CHI 39	IND 40	IOW 38	GLN 38	MOH 35				CHI 40			KAN 36	CLT	TEX 39
	Rick Ware Racing	23	Chevy																							BRI 35
	TriStar Motorsports	91	Toyota																									RCH 38
2015	TriStar Motorsports	8	Toyota	DAY 20	ATL 22	LVS 35	PHO 25	CAL 19	TEX 32	BRI 22	RCH 24	TAL 23	IOW 22	CLT 23	DOV 30	MCH 36	CHI 22	DAY 18	KEN 22	NHA 20	IND 37	IOW 24	GLN 18	MOH 24	BRI 21	ROA 21	DAR 27	RCH 19	CHI 21	KEN 40	DOV 23	CLT 33	KAN 25	TEX 21	PHO 20	HOM 18			17th	646
2016	Kaulig Racing	11	Chevy	DAY 9	ATL 20	LVS 26	PHO 16	CAL 12	TEX 34	BRI 37	RCH 8	TAL 24	DOV 12	CLT 14	POC 15	MCH 13	IOW 13	DAY 22	KEN 14	NHA 32	IND 15	IOW 13	GLN 35	MOH 12	BRI 8	ROA 18	DAR 19	RCH 15	CHI 15	KEN 11	DOV 14	CLT 12	KAN 9	TEX 14	PHO 8	HOM 20			7th	2200

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	NCWTC	Pts
2012	Alger Motorsports	86	Ram	DAY	MAR	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	CHI 32	POC	MCH	BRI QL^†										100th	0¹
2012	JJC Racing	0	Ford														ATL 35	IOW	KEN 36	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO 36	HOM 36	100th	0¹
2013	Rosenblum Racing	28	Chevy	DAY	MAR	CAR	KAN	CHA 19	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	IOW	CHI	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	101st	0¹
2014	SS-Green Light Racing	07	Chevy	DAY	MAR	KAN	CLT 30																			109th	0¹
2014	MB Motorsports	36	Ram					DOV 35	TEX	GTW	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI 35	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX 32	PHO	HOM	109th	0¹
^† - Qualified for Clay Greenfield

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

References

1 2 Moring, Mark (August 7, 2012). "NASCAR Driver Blake Koch Takes a Stand for Jesus". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
↑ "God, Grace, and the Roar of Thunder".
↑ "About No. 81 « Daystar Racing". Daystarracing.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
↑ Blake Koch. "Blake Koch - NASCAR - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
↑ Adamcyzk, Jay (January 20, 2012). "Koch joins Rick Ware Racing". Jayski.com. ESPN. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
↑ "Blake Koch Returning With SR² Motorsports". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. February 7, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
↑ "Major Travis Kvapil and more news". Yardbarker. Fox Sports. October 10, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
↑ Estrada, Chris (January 10, 2014). "NNS: Jeffrey Earnhardt, Blake Koch land full-time rides". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
↑ DiZinno, Tony (February 17, 2014). "Blake Koch gets Front Row Motorsports nod for Phoenix, Las Vegas". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
↑ Knight, Chris (May 13, 2014). "Blake Koch Joins Go FAS Racing For Three Races; Return Set For Travis Kvapil". Catchfence.com. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
↑ Report, Staff (2015-05-02). "NNS: Koch Picks Up Primary Sponsor". NASCAR. Retrieved 2015-02-17.
↑ "KAULIG RACING™ INC. TO JOIN NASCAR XFINITY SERIES IN 2016". Kaulig Racing. January 20, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
↑ Diamond Joe's Media Rantz. "ESPN Blocks The Vote, Rejects NASCAR Driver's Ad Allegedly Due To "Religious Overtones"". Sportsrantz.com. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
↑ Gluck, Jeff (March 29, 2012). "ESPN Declines To Air NASCAR Sponsor Commercial Due To 'Advocacy'". SBNation. Vox Media. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
↑ Pockrass, Bob (March 29, 2012). "Nationwide driver loses sponsor after ESPN rejects commercial". Sporting News. Retrieved 2013-10-11.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blake Koch.

Official website
Blake Koch driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Go FAS Racing

Personnel

Frank Stoddard
Archie St. Hilaire
Randy Hill

Sprint Cup Series

(32) Bobby Labonte / Jeffrey Earnhardt / Joey Gase / Patrick Carpentier / Jeb Burton / Eddie MacDonald / Dylan Lupton

Former drivers

Go FAS	Mike Bliss Timmy Hill Will Kimmel Blake Koch Terry Labonte Boris Said Ken Schrader Josh Wise J. J. Yeley

Go Green	Tim Andrews Kelly Bires Maryeve Dufault Danny Efland Kyle Fowler Joey Gase Danny O'Quinn Jr. Josh Richards Bryan Silas Josh Wise

Partnerships and associations

Randy Hill Racing

TriStar Motorsports

Personnel

Ownership	Mark Smith

Drivers

Xfinity Series	(10) Jeff Green / Matt DiBenedetto / Tyler Young / Josh Wise (14) Benny Gordon / J. J. Yeley / Jeff Green / Tomy Drissi / Matt DiBenedetto / Cole Whitt (44) J. J. Yeley

Notable former drivers

Rick Ware Racing

Personnel

Rick Ware

Drivers

Xfinity Series	(15) Stanton Barrett / Cody Ware / Travis Kvapil / Michael Lira (17) Jeff Green (25) Chris Cockrum / Harrison Rhodes / Ryan Ellis / Cody Ware / Travis Kvapil / Todd Peck / Stanton Barrett / Spencer Boyd / Alex Kennedy / Jennifer Jo Cobb / Austin Theriault / Josh Reaume

Camping World Truck Series	(TBA) TBA

Former drivers

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