The team formed in early 2015 and competed full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2015 and 2016. The team purchased some assets of BK Racing, a Monster Energy Cup Series team, in August 2018.[2]
In July 2018, Obaika obtained some equipment from the bankrupt NASCAR Cup Series team BK Racing for nearly $300,000.[3] Around September 3, 2018, Obaika Racing owner Victor Obaika announced plans to race at some point in the remainder of the 2018 season.[4]
On October 5, 2018, Obaika announced that they would attempt their first ever Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, fielding the No. 97 Vroombrands Toyota Camry for the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 with David Starr.[5][6][7] He ultimately failed to qualify for the race. Obaika Racing later announced that they would attempt the last three races of the Cup Series season.[8] The team made its official Cup Series debut at the 2018 AAA Texas 500, with Starr finishing at 39th place. Tanner Berryhill drove the No. 97 car at the 2018 Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway and finished 31st. Berryhill drove the No. 97 again at Homestead-Miami Speedway and finished 38th.
Obaika Racing planned to run a full-time Cup car in 2019 with Berryhill.[9] On February 8, 2019, Obaika Racing withdrew from the 2019 Daytona 500 qualifying due to various circumstances.[10] They were briefly on the entry list for the spring race in Texas, before withdrawing once again.[11] The team ultimately didn't compete in a Cup race in 2019, and eventually folded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 16, 2016, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Obaika Racing introduced a second Chevrolet, the No. 77, also sponsored by VroomBrands. At Iowa Speedway, Claire Decker attempted to make her Xfinity Series debut driving this second Obaika car while her sister Paige ran the No. 97, but Claire failed to qualify on time and did not have owner points to fall back on. The No. 77 ran for much of the season's remainder, piloted by Ryan Ellis, Josh Bilicki, Austin Theriault, Matt Waltz, Jordan Anderson, TJ Bell, and Spencer Boyd.
The No. 77 team was announced to be a full-time team along with the No. 97 team, having Stephen Leicht as the driver. However, the No. 77 team withdrew before the Daytona race as Leicht moved over the No. 97 team. The team entered in the next three races, but withdraw before the qualifying in all but one (Las Vegas), where Josh Bilicki failed to qualify. The team returned to the entry list after a four-month hiatus at Mid-Ohio with Ohio native Gregory Vandersluis as a late entry. The team withdrew two days later. They were on the entry list for the Road America Xfinity Race but withdrew again. The team was on the entry list for the Charlotte October race, once again withdrawing.
On January 29, 2016, it was announced that Harrison Rhodes had been signed to drive the No. 97. Ryan Ellis, Alex Guenette, TJ Bell, Paige Decker, Matt Waltz, Josh Berry, Alli Owens, Jordan Anderson and Josh Bilicki all also raced for the team. [23][24][25] The team also planned to expand to two cars.[23]
In 2017, the team returned with Stephen Leicht driving in the early portion of the season but did not attempt a race after Bristol Motor Speedway in spring. Despite that, they were still shown in the game NASCAR Heat 2.
On September 21, 2018, it was announced that Obaika would attempt the Charlotte Roval race, with Tanner Berryhill driving the 97 car.[26] The team, however, failed to make the race.
Obaika had planned to run a full-time Xfinity car in 2019, but nothing ever materialized.[9][27]
Obaika entered the 2018 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track with South African driver Arnout Kok, marking the first K&N Pro Series West foray for both driver and team.[28] However, the team withdrew from the race. Obaika paid another team to prepare a car for the race, but the car that was provided failed to pass inspection.[29]
