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H2 Motorsports

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H2 Motorsports
Owner(s)Matt Hurley
SeriesNASCAR Xfinity Series
Race drivers28. Shane Lee (part-time)
Sponsors28. Circuit City
ManufacturerToyota
Opened2019
Closed2020
Career
Debut2019 CircuitCity.com 250 (Iowa)
Latest race2019 Food City 300 (Bristol)
Races competed7
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories0
Pole positions0

H2 Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team owned by Matt Hurley. The team operated part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 28 Toyota Supra for Shane Lee.[1] The team shut down before the start of the 2020 season. The assets of H2 Motorsports were purchased by Sam Hunt Racing for the 2020 season.

Founder

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Founder Matt Hurley was born April 5, 1996. Hurley graduated from Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers, Florida,[2] and claims to have worked at least 40 hours per week since he was 14 years old.[3] Hurley once described himself as an "...investor, entrepreneur, and political hack..."[4]

Hurley founded H2 Motorsports[5] and based it in Mooresville, North Carolina.[6] H2's primary sponsor was Circuit City.[7] An entrepreneur, Hurley has started additional businesses such as H2 Innovation Center, and Youngbloods, Inc., a private holding company which later changed its name to the H2 Organization.[3][8] Hurley co-founded Torchlight Productions, a website design and development firm at the age of 15.[2]

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In 2017, Hurley leased a commercial building in Fort Myers, Florida for Southwest Florida Innovation Center, at a building named The Atrium, with plans to renovate the 132,000sf building with 42,000sf set aside for startup companies[3] and the remainder of which were sublet spaces to other tenants. The estimate for the purchase and renovation was $20 Million. He was later sued for not paying rent,[9] and the tenants in the building were evicted, including one business that was a United States Contract Postal Unit.[10][11][12] Hurley blamed a number of the tenant complaints and issues on the fact the building purchase had not been yet completed, and on Hurricane Irma.[11] The State of Florida's Office of Financial Regulation received complaints about this matter, but there is no evidence that they launched an investigation. Hurley was briefly arrested for contempt of court in 2020 and released that same day.[4][13]

Xfinity Series

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The team announced on May 23, 2019, that they would attempt twenty races with Lee in the No. 28 Toyota Supra, beginning at Iowa in June with Circuit City as the sponsor for all races.[14] In late summer 2019, it was revealed that Lee was signed for all of 2020, and that depending on sponsorship, the team could expand to two cars for 2020.[15]

Due to concerns that their cars would not be ready in time for the three road course races in August with being a new team, H2 decided to skip those races (at Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, and Road America) and better prepare for the upcoming oval races.[16]

Before the race at Darlington in September, they released Lee due to what they deemed a lack of performance, who the team released on August 28, 2019,[17] after less than 3 months with the team[18] and despite the fact that he finished in the top 21 in all but one of his races, and had great runs at both Daytona (before crashing in "the big one") and Iowa, where he finished in the top 10. No replacement driver was ever announced and the team didn't attempt any of the remaining races of the 2019 season. During the offseason it was announced that the team would be shutting down. The remaining assets were sold to Sam Hunt Racing for the upcoming 2020 season.

Car No. 28 results

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Year Driver 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 NXSC Pts
2019 Shane Lee 28 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW
18 		CHI
18 		DAY
21 		KEN
16 		NHA
33 		IOW
7 		GLN MOH BRI
13 		ROA DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 36th 217

References

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  1. ^ "H2 Motorsports launches Xfinity team for twenty races in 2019". NASCAR. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Rumbaugh, Andrea. "Success Story: Young Bloods Turn Idea into Thriving Digital Company". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  3. ^ a b c Logan, Casey. "Hurley is a 21-year-old with Big Plan for Atrium in Fort Myers". The News-Press. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  4. ^ a b Sweeney, Lauren (2021-01-21). "Where's the Money? Government Investigating Fort Myers Entrepreneur". WINK NEWS. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  5. ^ "H2 Motorsports launches full-time Xfinity Series program | NASCAR.com". Official Site of NASCAR. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  6. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2019-08-29). "Xfinity driver Shane Lee, H2 Motorsports part ways". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  7. ^ "New Xfinity Series team to debut at Iowa with driver Shane Lee". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  8. ^ H2 Organization
  9. ^ "Fort Myers property slated for renovation hits roadblock; former tenants frustrated". WINK NEWS. 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  10. ^ "College Parkway Post Office closing – Southwest Florida Business Today". swfloridabusinesstoday.com. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  11. ^ a b "Business Owners Frustrated at The Atrium Suites". WFTX. 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  12. ^ Logan, Casey. "Atrium Renovation Plan Looks Nice, But Leaves Some Tenants Fuming". The News-Press. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  13. ^ "Welcome to Lee County Sheriff s Office". www.sheriffleefl.org. Retrieved 2021-01-23.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ "H2 Motorsports, Circuit City, and Shane Lee to attempt 20 races". NBC Sports. NBC Sports. May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  15. ^ Albino, Dustin (21 August 2019). "Eyes on Xfinity: Shane Lee, H2 Motorsports Looking Toward the Future". Frontstretch. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  16. ^ Page, Scott (July 30, 2019). "H2 Motorsports to skip road course races". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  17. ^ Page, Scott (August 28, 2019). "Shane Lee released from H2 Motorsports". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  18. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2019-08-29). "Xfinity driver Shane Lee, H2 Motorsports part ways". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
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