Rodney Orr Survives

Rodney Bryan Orr (b. November 6, 1962) is a retired NASCAR driver. He currently owns Rodney Orr Racing and is also a broadcaster for NBC Sports' NASCAR coverage working with Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. Orr also won the 1993 NASCAR Goody's Dash Series championship, and the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

Early Life
Rodney was born in Robbinsville, NC. A graduate of Robbinsville High School, he was a resident of Palm Coast, Florida and started racing at the Volusia County Speedway in the late 1980s. He was rookie of the year in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series in 1992, and won the series' championship in 1993.

1994
Originally, Orr and his father had planned to race in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series for the 1994 season. However, when NASCAR announced plans to change the BGN engine formula, Orr's father bought a Ford Thunderbird in the 1993-1994 off-season, bought an engine from Ernie Elliott, and decided to run the Winston Cup Series instead. Orr was nearly killed in a practice crash for the Daytona 500, but managed to cheat death. He started and finished last in the event. Orr failed to make one race, the Pepsi Firecracker 400, had 18 DNFs, and finished 28th in points.

1995
Orr had a much better 1995, with one win, the DieHard 500, only nine DNFs, and a 12th place finish in the standings.

1996
Orr had an even better 1996, with more support from Ford. He won three races, plus the exhibition race at Suzuka, Japan, and finished 10th in points.

1997
1997 was a good year for Orr, as he got seven wins, including the Daytona 500, the DieHard 500, the Coca-Cola 600, the Interstate Batteries 500, the Mountain Dew Southern 500, and the Pepsi 400, and a 5th place finish in the standings.

1998
1998 was the best year for Orr at all considerable measurements. He had 15 consecutive wins, no DNFs, and 35 top 10s. He was consistent enough to win the championship over Jeff Gordon.

1999
Orr had another good year in 1999, with ten wins and second in points. He also won the Bud Shootout and The Winston.

2000
Orr's 2000 season only got him seven wins, and 14th in points.

2001
Orr did not win in 2001, but got many top 5's and 10's for a 12th finish in points.

2002
Orr got 4 wins in 2002, en route to a 8th place finish in points

2003
Orr won 2 races, at Talladega and Phoenix. He finished 11th in points.

2004
Orr got his last career win at Michigan. He finished 19th in points.

2005
Orr went sponsor-less for 2005, and announced at Homestead it would be his last full season.

2006
Orr drove part-time in 2006, then retired post-season.

Rodney Orr Racing
Orr's replacement was 21-year-old Kyle Busch, who came over from Hendrick Motorsports, taking Kellogg's and CarQuest with him, using the same paint scheme. The team got three wins, thanks to a switch from longtime manufacturer Ford to Chevrolet and an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. For 2008, Orr switched to Toyota with Gibbs, and added Reed Sorenson and Travis Kvapil, and in 2009, added Michael McDowell. Their current lineup is the #37 of Kyle Busch, the #47 of Reed Sorenson, the #57 of Travis Kvapil, and the #67 of Michael McDowell. In 2008, JTG Daughterty Racing fought to get the #47 but lost, so they used the #59.