Stephen Leicht

Stephen Russell Leicht (born January 9, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Rise Motorsports. He has previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series (where he was the 2012 Rookie of the Year) NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Truck Series. Leicht also has over 150 feature event wins in quarter midgets and go-kart racing.

Racing career Early career

When he was seven years old, Leicht began racing quarter midgets and began advancing into go-karts. At the age of eleven, Leicht was participating in the Go Kart Nationals, when he collided with the flag stand and was sent flying from his racecar. He suffered a burst spleen as a result of the accident, and was kept out of racing for six months.

At the age of twelve, Leicht began racing stock cars and got his GED to focus full-time on racing, and was named Motorsports Magazines Rising Star of the Year in 2000. At the age of fifteen, he ran his first full year in the American Racing Association and was named Rookie of the Year.

NASCAR and ARCA career In 2005, Leicht moved to Wisconsin to work with veteran American Speed Association crew chief Howie Lettow. Leicht collected five wins en route to winning the national championship in the American Speed Association Late Model series for WalTom Racing. He also made four Busch series starts in 2006, posting two top-ten qualifying efforts. On July 23, he made his first Nextel Cup Series start in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway for Yates Racing, qualifying 36th and finishing 33rd, one lap behind.

In 2007, Leicht ran the full NASCAR Busch Series schedule. He won his first race at Kentucky Speedway and finished seventh in the final drivers' points ranking. At the end of the season, Robert Yates Racing released Leicht from his contract because of sponsorship and finance issues. 2008 saw Leicht land a part-time stint in Richard Childress' No. 21 Nationwide car, sharing driving duties with Bobby Labonte. Leicht ran four races with a best finish of seventh at Phoenix International Raceway. However, after Talladega, a lack of sponsorship sidelined Leicht until Texas in the fall, where he finished eighteenth.

In 2009, Leicht drove the No. 29 Chevrolet Impala in thirteen races. Leicht was originally slated to run 23 events, but his races were nearly halved by the addition of Clint Bowyer as co-driver. He ran nine total races and had six top-ten finishes. He was released from RCR at the end of the year and signed to attempt 29 races for D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports in the No. 91 car in 2010, but was released after two races.

Leicht competed in his first NASCAR race since 2009 (and his first Sprint Cup start since 2006) in Tommy Baldwin Racing's No. 36 Chevrolet in 2011, while regular driver Dave Blaney piloted the team's second car, the No. 35 Chevrolet. The move gave Leicht a guaranteed start while Blaney had to qualify on time. Blaney finished nineteenth while Leicht finished 24th despite running in the top-ten most of the race.

Leicht drove for Joe Falk at Richmond in April 2012, qualifying 40th and finishing 35th, running at the end but finishing nine laps down. After skipping Talladega, he filed to compete for Rookie of the Year in the Sprint Cup Series, with plans to run the majority of the remainder of the season in the No. 33, except for the June race in Michigan, when Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon drove the No. 33.

Leicht's best finish of 2012 was 26th at Watkins Glen, ending on the lead lap. He attempted 21 races and competed in fifteen, and won the series Rookie of the Year award for 2012. After a four-year absence in NASCAR, on January 10, 2017, Leicht received a ride to drive the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro for Obaika Racing starting at Daytona. However, Leicht moved to Obaika's primary No. 97 car for Daytona, causing the No. 77 to withdraw. Leicht attempted the first six races in the 97 as a start and park operation. Leicht only qualified for four races, failing to qualify at Daytona and Texas. Leicht was left without a ride when the 97 scaled back its schedule after the sixth race. Leicht raced at Charlotte in the No. 93 for RSS Racing, start and parking the car. In July, Leicht made his return to the Cup Series at Pocono, driving the No. 83 for BK Racing.

On January 22, 2018, it was announced that Leicht is tabbed as a full-time driver for a newly formed team JP Motorsports. Leicht finished fifteenth after avoiding multiple crashes at Daytona. He was replaced by Jennifer Jo Cobb at Talladega since she brought sponsorship. On May 22, 2018, it was announced that Leicht and JP Motorsports parted ways and was replaced by Brandon Hightower. On July 28, Leicht returned to No. 93 for RSS Racing at Iowa Speedway start and parked it. The following week, Leicht drove the No. 74 for Mike Harmon Racing at Watkins Glen International, where he didn't qualify for the race.

In February 2019, it was announced that Leicht will drive the No. 01 full-time for JD Motorsports. After one season with JD, Leicht moved over to Carl Long's MBM Motorsports No. 61 car for 2020 having his best finish of 21st at the Pennzoil 150.

For 2021, Leicht would attempt five races in the No. 61 MBM Motorsports Toyota and three races in the No. 13. The first race for Leicht was the Super Start Batteries 188, he also was scheduled to drive in the Pit Boss 250 but failed to qualify. He was also scheduled to drive in the B&L Transport 170, but he was replaced by David Starr after Starr DNQed in the No. 13 also for MBM Motorsports.

After being without a ride in 2022, Leicht returned to racing in 2023 in ARCA, returning to the series for the first time since 2006, driving the No. 31 car for Rise Motorsports.

Personal life After finding himself out of a ride after winning Cup Series Rookie of the year in 2012, Leicht worked for a time at a car dealership in Cornelius, North Carolina for a short period of time. During downswings in his racing career, Leicht suffered from clinical depression and eventually went to counseling to treat it.

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41st 117 2017 BK Racing 83 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY KEN NHA IND

GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 63rd 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 Pts Ref 2005 Robert Yates Racing 90 Ford DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM13 TEX PHO15 HOM 86th 242 2006 DAY CAL MXC LVS18 ATL BRI TEX20 NSH PHO TAL31 RCH DAR25 CLT DOV NSH KEN10 MLW13 DAY26 CHI NHA33 MAR GTY38 IRP GLN36 MCH33 BRI35 CAL33 RCH DOV23 KAN12 CLT14 MEM19 TEX19 PHO27 HOM27 32nd 1790 2007 DAY33 CAL20 MXC27 LVS18 ATL29 BRI20 NSH8 TEX20 PHO28 TAL28 RCH24 DAR26 CLT10 DOV34 NSH33 KEN1 MLW14 NHA25 DAY27 CHI10 GTY23 IRP24 CGV5 GLN17 MCH26 BRI20 CAL29 RCH21 DOV41 KAN19 CLT18 MEM12 TEX10 PHO19 HOM5 7th 3603 2008 Richard Childress Racing 21 Chevy DAY CAL10 LVS ATL BRI NSH12 TEX PHO7 MXC TAL34 RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN TEX18 PHO HOM 60th 577 2 MLWQL† NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEMQL† 2009 29 DAY CAL LVS BRI TEX NSH11 PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH6 KEN31 MLW8 NHA DAY CHI GTY6 IRP13 IOW10 GLN MCH BRI CGV8 ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT MEM9 TEX PHO HOM 43rd 1185 2010 D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports 91 Chevy DAY CALDNQ LVSDNQ BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM NA – 2012 The Motorsports Group 47 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY42 NHA42 CHI41 IND43 IOW GLN42 CGV BRIDNQ ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 128th 01 2017 Obaika Racing 97 Chevy DAYDNQ ATL38 LVS39 PHO37 CAL39 TEXDNQ BRIWth RCH TAL 82nd 22 RSS Racing 93 Chevy CLT40 DOV POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO 39 HOM35 2018 JP Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY15 ATL32 LVS30 PHO31 CAL31 TEX37 BRI28 RCH37 TAL DOV33 CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA 43rd 81 RSS Racing 93 Chevy IOW39 Mike Harmon Racing 74 Dodge GLNDNQ MOH37 ROA33 DAR IND LVS RCH CLT Chevy BRI31 B. J. McLeod Motorsports 99 Chevy DOV40 KAN32 TEX37 PHO38 HOMDNQ 2019 JD Motorsports 01 Chevy DAY38 ATL25 LVS27 PHO31 CAL22 TEX22 BRI32 RCH18 TAL24 DOV26 CLT15 POC23 MCH20 CHI21 DAY5 KEN24 GLN20 MOH32 BRI19 ROA34 IND23 LVS21 CLT19 DOV23 KAN27 TEX19 PHO21 HOM24 18th 449 4 IOW25 NHA23 IOW16 RCH29 15 DAR26 2020 MBM Motorsports 66 Toyota DAY LVS34 CAL35 PHO33 DAR39 CLT BRI34 ATL36 HOM36 HOM38 TAL POC27 KEN35 KEN34 TEX35 KAN37 DAR35 BRI36 LVS TAL KAN35 TEX MAR PHO 35th 138 61 IND21 ROA22 DAY21 DOV22 DOV31 DAY 13 RCH34 RCH22 CLT24 2021 61 DAY DAY29 HOM LVS PHO ATL MAR TAL DAR DOV COADNQ CLT MOH TEX NSH POC GLN28 RCH38 BRI LVS TAL CLT TEX KAN MAR21 51st 45 13 ROA26 ATL NHA INDDNQ MCH DAY DAR PHODNQ† – Qualified for Clint Bowyer

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 Pts Ref 2012 Hillman Racing 25 Chevy DAY MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW CHI POC MCH30 BRI PHO31 HOM 98th 01 27 ATL34 IOW KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX32

ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards 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 Pts Ref 2006 Robert Yates Racing 66 Ford DAY25 85th 345 55 NSH1* SLM WIN KEN TOL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW NSH MCH ISF MIL TOL DSF CHI SLM TAL IOW 2023 Rise Motorsports 31 Chevy DAY PHO TAL KAN CLT BLN ELK MOH IOW POC MCH IRP GLN ISF MLW DSF KAN BRI SLM TOL 112th 19

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Ref 2016 Lee Faulk Racing 5 Chevy SNM ROU HCY TCM GRE ROU CON7 MYB15 HCY10 SNM 21st 68

CARS Super Late Model Tour (key) CARS Super Late Model Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Ref 2015 Lee Faulk Racing 25 Chevy SNM16 ROU11 HCY27 SNM18 TCM21 MMS7 ROU17 CON MYB HCY 15th 123 2016 SNM17 ROU14 HCY22 TCM13 GRE15 ROU CON MYB HCY15 SNM 15th 102

CARS Pro Late Model Tour (key) CARS Pro Late Model Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Ref 2022 N/A 99 Ford CRW HCY GPS FCS TCM HCY7 ACE MMS TCM9 ACE SBO CRW 22nd 50

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points Leicht began the 2017 season racing for Cup Series points but switched to Xfinity Series points before the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway