In July 2022, 3F Racing announced it planned to go racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, fielding the No. 30.
But while the team has not yet entered a race in 2023, it is still around the NASCAR garage. 3F co-owner Dennis Hirtz was walking around the different garages at Charlotte Motor Speedway and spoke to Frontstretch about the team’s efforts.
Before trying to start a NASCAR team, Hirtz has been in motorsports since 2007. He ran a motorsport marketing company called DH Sports for Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Phoenix Racing, even being on the winning team for the 2019 Nürburgring 24 Hours.
One of the biggest hurdles that the team has faced so far is establishing a residence in the United States.
“We’re hoping to get [our visas] done in January, but they cut embassy employees,” Hirtz told Frontstretch at Charlotte.
The embassy had to deal with a backlog of visas because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After months of waiting, the team said it finally got its visas approved in May.
That was a necessary step for the team to get its footing in the sport. Without a visa, the team said 3F could not sign any contract, whether it was with an employee or a sponsor.
“Without a visa, it’s like nonsense to sponsors because we are not able to get the money if we have no proof that we are more than just tourists,” 3F director of marketing Paul Wiedeler said.
In Germany, Wiedeler used to sell Audis and Porsches and eventually worked for a Frankfurt-based company called Jazzunique. Wiedeler also operated a NASCAR Racing Experience at tracks like Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, Raceway Venray and Lausitzring.
Now that its visa issue is squared away, Hirtz said the goals for the team are fairly simple: just getting to the track.
“The first goal is really getting out our car, scoring some solid results with our partners and then we want to take it step by step,” he said. “During the summer, I hope that we have everything set for the Cup Series to go racing even if it’s just like the last three to four races of the season.”
Once it is ready to make strides toward the track, the team will receive a technical alliance via Richard Childress Racing, which confirmed to Frontstretch its intent to work with 3F.
In the meantime, 3F is focusing on developing late model driver Christopher Tate. Tate tested for 3F Racing at Caraway Speedway in July 2022 and finished 16th at Florence Speedway in November. The late model team has not raced since Florence last year, but Tate appeared at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year as part of the ARCA Menards Series preseason test.
Jared Haas joined the Frontstretch staff in May 2020. During his time at Frontstretch, Jared has grown the Frontstretch YouTube channel from less than 200 subscribers to well over 23,000 subscribers.