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Germain Racing Team

Brothers Steve, Bob and Rick Germain formed Germain Racing to show support for Toyota's entrance into NASCAR competition. The team fielded its first Toyota Tundra at Richmond International Raceway in September, 2004. The Germain's told Toyota they would bring the manufacturer its first NASCAR championship. This promise was delivered 26 months after the team's first race.

In 2004, Germain Racing twice went to victory lane. In 2005, five wins were captured by the No. 30 Tundra team and in 2006 Germain delivered both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship and manufacturers' title to Toyota when driver Todd Bodine and the No. 30 Tundra team finished out a 21-race lock on the points lead to capture the series title.

The championship title run was followed up by more impressive points finishes, wins and pole awards. In the Truck Series alone, Germain has earned 16 wins and six pole awards. The team has finished in the top-five in points each year of full-time NCWTS competition.

Germain Racing expanded in 2008, adding a full-time NNS team to its competitive lineup. The team collected an eighth place finish in championship standings and completed more laps than any other NNS team in its freshman season. Additionally, Germain maintained its top-five points finish tradition in the Truck Series, competed in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and kick-started a Sprint Cup Series team.

For 2009, Germain Racing will be seen in each of the top-three NASCAR divisions. Driver Max Papis represents the team in the Cup Series, Michael Annett is the NNS driver and Todd Bodine returns to race in the Truck Series.

Germain Racing is located in Mooresville, N.C., on a 3-acre campus with two buildings, 52,000 sq. ft of shop and office space, paint and body shops, multiple surface plates, a four-post rig, two epoxy setup plates and a chassis dyno. To keep all functions of Germain Racing working together in championship-form, each day starts with team meetings. Pit crews practice daily and have full use of Germain Racing's workout room.

Mike Hillman, Sr.
General Manager, Germain Racing
Hometown: Lockport, NY
Resides: Denver, NC
Married: Sandy
Children: Mike Jr., Mark and Matt (twins), Melanie
Favorite Past-time: Grandchildren

Mike Hillman Sr. played a key role in the founding of Germain Racing. As crew chief and general manager in 2004, he selected Todd Bodine to drive the team's only entry, the No. 30 Tundra. Hillman collected two victories in the team's partial-season schedule in 2004, and turned the crew chief duties over to son, Mike Jr., in 2005.

For over 20 years, Hillman has been involved in NASCAR racing. Throughout his career he has worked as a crew chief and general manager in each of NASCAR's top three series. He has worked with such drivers as Dick Trickle, Kyle Petty, Joe Nemechek, Mike Wallace, Robby Gordon and Brett Bodine.

In 1988, Hillman earned a NASCAR Busch Grand National Championship with driver Tommy Ellis. In 2006, he added a NASCAR Truck Series title to his collection.

Hillman's ability to build winning teams and organizations has made him one of the best in the business. In 2007, he helped Germain Racing prepare for racing in NASCAR's second-tier division. The team built their first NNS Camry, and ran five races. The lap-leading efforts paved the way for Germain Racing to field a full-time NNS team in 2008 that finished eighth in the NNS drivers championship battle.

Germain Racing now fields teams in each of NASCAR's top divisions. Bodine still wheels the No. 30 Tundra while rookies Michael Annett and Max Papis drive the team's NNS and Cup Series Camrys.

During a typical race weekend, Hillman can be found atop the pit box or team hauler of any of Germain's teams, monitoring team communication and offering advice to keep Germain Racing at the top of the speed charts.

Championships: Tommy Ellis, NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, 1988, Todd Bodine, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 2006

Career Highlights: Winning Consecutive Talladega & Daytona races, Truck Series (2007 to present), Winning Championship, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2006; Seeing NNS Team Finish in Top Ten in 2008; Building NSCS team at Germain

Mike Hillman, Jr.
Crew Chief, No. 30 Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Born: October 21, 1978
Hometown: Lockport, NY
Resides: Mooresville, NC
Married: Jennifer
Children: Trey, Lily and Mylee
Favorite Past-time: Spending time with his family

Mike Hillman Jr. grew up in the infield of many race tracks across America. He's been a part of countless overnight family road trips between race tracks and home - doing whatever it takes to win. He watched his father, Mike Hillman Sr., lead Tommy Ellis to a Nationwide Series championship. Today, Hillman Jr. and his father both play key roles in the success of Germain Racing.

The road to father and son working side by side at Germain took Hillman Jr. to victory lane with a number of other racing teams. He worked with a variety of drivers, crew chiefs and team owners and built a reputation for himself that's easily understood by watching him in the garage for one race weekend. Hillman seems to know no strangers and his commitment not just to his team's success, but to that of the sport, means his thoughts are solicited often by other team leaders and NASCAR officials.

Hillman Jr. brought his skill set to Germain Racing in 2005 and took over the crew chief position for the No. 30 Toyota Tundra. Though it's not unusual to see Hillman Jr. helping out in the NASCAR Sprint Cup or Nationwide Series garages, his focus is clearly on winning another championship for the No. 30 Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series.

To his credit, Hillman Jr. holds the team record of five victories in one season (which included an impressive three-race winning-streak to close out 2005). He earned the Truck Series crew chief of the year honors in his rookie season atop the box and followed it up by leading the No. 30 Tundra to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship - a first for Germain Racing, Toyota and driver Todd Bodine. Hillman has led the No. 30 team to 13 of its 15 victories and all four pole awards.

Championship: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (Bodine, 2006)
First Race as Crew Chief: Daytona, NCWTS, 2005
First Win as Crew Chief: Kansas Speedway, NCWTS, 2005
Career Highlights: Winning Championship, NCWTS 2006, Winning Daytona in NCWTS (Bodine, 2008) and in NSCS (Greg Biffle, 2003)

Peter Sospenzo
Crew Chief, No. 13 GEICO Camry, Germain Racing
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Resides: Mooresville, NC
Married: Carrie
Children: Andrea, 12, Alexandra, 8
Favorite Past-time: Family, Boating

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Peter Sospenzo was hooked on speed for as long as he can remember. No one from his family was involved in racing, but Sospenzo loved speed. It started with a friend's street-legal sports car and it led to Sospenzo being the only clam digger on Long Island, NY, to have a 135-horsepower motor on his clamming boat (40 HP was typical for a clam boat).

Sospenzo graduated from the clamming business to being a roofer. A trip to Duke Southard's Racing School in Florida is the start of Sospenzo's racing career. It was there he met NASCAR legend Elmo Langley, who opened the door to NASCAR for the New Yorker.

Sospenzo has been a driver, crew chief, mechanic and tire changer. He's worked with Sprint Cup Series drivers like Brian Vickers (as a rookie), Joe Nemechek, Terry Labonte, Robby Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield and for teams such as Penske Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Michael Waltrip Racing.

Germain Racing's technical partnership with MWR is what brought Sospenzo to the GEICO Camry team. Sospenzo had worked with Max Papis last fall at Homestead, and was happy to come on board with Papis and the GEICO Camry when the opportunity presented itself.

Sospenzo loves the strategy of race day - the chance to out-smart the competition. He loves all aspects of setting up a race car, but if he has to pick an aspect that he likes most, he feels aerodynamics is really important.

When away from the track, Sospenzo loves family time. Both of his daughters are black belts in Tae Kwon Do and keep busy practice schedules. The Sospenzo's relax at the lake when they get the chance.

If Not Racing...: Stock Broker would likely be Sospenzo's career
First Served as Crew Chief: Penske Racing, for Jeremy Mayfield, Cup Series
First Win as Crew Chief: Fontana, Race No. 10, 2000, Driver Jeremy Mayfield
Career Highlights: First trip to Victory Lane, Pocono, Race No. 15, 1998, while serving as Car Chief for Jeremy Mayfield at Penske

Mike Abner
Crew Chief, #03 Germain Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing
Hometown: Oran, MO
Resides: Mooresville, NC
Status: Single
Children: None
Favorite Past-time: Skiing, boating, spending time with friends, working on or watching dirt modifieds

From humble beginnings on the dirt tracks of the midwest, through a NASCAR Busch Series championship, Mike Abner's career has progressed steadily toward the crew chief role. Abner's NASCAR career began with Joe Faulk's race team in 1997 where he worked as a fabricator. Abner moved on to be a part of wins in NASCAR's top-three series as well as being party to a NASCAR Busch Series championship in 2002.

Abner and joined Germain Racing in 2007, after working with drivers such as Greg Biffle, Jack Sprague, Bobby Labonte and others. His first order of business with Germain Racing was leading the #9 Tundra, then driven by Ted Musgrave, to its first win. After the victory at Texas in November, Abner started 2008 with a pole in the ARCA RE/MAX Series with driver Justin Marks. He now serves as crew chief for the #03 Tundra for Germain Racing and as crew chief for the team's ARCA RE/MAX racing series program.

Abner works with Germain Racing development driver Chrissy Wallace in Truck Series and ARCA racing efforts. He also works with former Germain Racing driver Shigeaki Hattori, leading Hattori Racing Enterprises' #01 Camry efforts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He has earned a pole award with HRE driver Sean Caisse. Caisse has led laps in each of his three races in HRE's #01 Camry.

First Race as NCTS Crew Chief: Atlanta Motor Speedway, fall 2007
First Win as NCTS Crew Chief: Texas Motor Speedway, fall 2007
Career Highlights: Winning Texas with no. 9 Tundra, winning Martinsville with Bobby Labonte in 2005 in the 47 truck, and being part of the Busch Series championship in 2002. Some fond dirt racing memories...winning the Thunder Ridge 100 and racing in Pevely, MO

Bruce Cook
Crew Chief, No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers/Hype Energy Drink Camry, Germain Racing
Hometown: Jackson, NJ
Resides: Concord, NC
Married: Sheri
Children: Melinda, Kayla, Bruce III
Favorite Past-time: Golf
Home Track: Dover, DE

Bruce Cook picked up his passion for motorsports from his father, Bruce, who raced stock cars in the Northeast. Cook helped with his father's cars until he was old enough to race. At age 18, Cook raced modifieds, racking up statistics at NASCAR tracks of old and new such as Loudon, Nazareth and Flemington. Cook has two Flemington track championships to his credit- one driving a modified for Dick Greenfield and the other serving as crew chief for driver Pete Brittain.

Cook's first job in racing, came long before he moved to North Carolina. As part of a high school co-op program, he worked as an intern for the IROC Series. When he finally moved south, Cook worked as a mechanic for owner Bob Rahilly building Dash Series motors and cars. He joined the NASCAR ranks at Team Rensi, where he worked as car chief for Randy Tolsma.

Along the path to becoming a NASCAR crew chief, Cook has been a mechanic, engine tuner, car chief, and shop foreman. He's worked for legends like Robert Yates and he's achieved NASCAR's highest reward as part of a Sprint Cup Series championship team (2003, Matt Kenseth). Taking something from each these experiences has prepared Cook for his leadership role.

Cook joined Germain Racing before the start of the 2008 racing season. In his first full season as a crew chief, Cook led Germain's first full-time Nationwide Series team to an eighth-place finish in the championship standings. In addition to securing a career-best points finish for veteran driver Mike Wallace, Germain Racing completed more laps than any other NNS team.

For 2009, Cook and his crew return to the Nationwide Series with a new number and a new driver. Cook has always enjoyed working with rookie drivers and feels the racing and testing experience he gained with Michael Annett have set a strong foundation for the coming season.

First Race as Crew Chief: Chicagoland, 2005, NASCAR Busch Series, Elliott Sadler
Career Highlight: Sprint Cup Championship (Kenseth 2003)