Victor Gonzalez Jr.

Victor Gonzalez Jr. (born July 18, 1975) is a Puerto Rican professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for Niece Motorsports. Twice a competitor in the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race, he became the first Puerto Rican driver to compete in a top level NASCAR series when he broke the barrier in 2009.

Racing career

Gonzalez began his racing career in 1990 in showroom stock cars in his native country, Puerto Rico. He spent several years competing in touring cars, including two races in the North American Touring Car Championship, before switching to open wheel competition in 1997, competing in the Barber Dodge Pro Series for two years. Then, after two years in the Dominican Republic GTS Cup, moving to the Toyota Atlantic Championship in 2002, he competed in the series' companion event to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, finishing 21st. In 2003, he returned to the Barber Dodge series, where he finished twentieth in points, posting a best finish of second following winning the pole at The Milwaukee Mile. He established a reputation as an excellent driver on road courses, and became the only Puerto Rican driver to become an instructor at the Skip Barber Racing School. He finished ninth in both events.

Gonzalez made his debut in NASCAR competition in 2009, as a road course ringer at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200, driving the No. 05 Ford for Day Enterprises. finishing 14th in his inaugural event.

Gonzalez returned to the No. 05 for four races in 2010, making his oval track debut at Phoenix International Raceway; his best finish of the year came at Montreal where he finished sixteenth.

In 2012, Gonzalez returned to the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 99 Toyota for RAB Racing at Road America in June, where he finished seventeenth, and at Watkins Glen International in August, where he finished sixteenth.

In April 2013, it was announced that Gonzalez would make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut, driving the No. 36 Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing in races at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International that summer. He was the first Puerto Rican driver to start a Sprint Cup race.

Gonzalez and Niece Motorsports made an agreement in June 2017 to have Gonzalez drive Niece's No. 45 truck at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park that summer.

Motorsports career results North American Touring Car Championship (key) North American Touring Car Championship results Year Team No. Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1996 Fastech Group 27 Ford Mondeo LRP LRP DET DET PIR PIR TOR TOR TRV TRV MOH MOH VAN VAN LS LS 14th 20

Barber Dodge Pro Series

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 Pts Ref 2013 Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Chevy 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 TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 48th 10

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 2009 Day Enterprises 05 Ford DAY CAL LVS BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTW IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 123rd 121 2010 Chevy DAY CAL LVS BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI GTW IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM 83rd 337 2012 RAB Racing 99 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 60th 55 2018 Niece Motorsports 17 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN31 MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 76th 6

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 23 Pts Ref 2017 Niece Motorsports 45 Chevy DAY ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 56th 24

Season still in progress not eligible for series points