Dawson Cram

Dawson Kevin Cram (born September 12, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver, mechanic, and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 46 Chevrolet Silverado for Faction46.

From 2017 to 2021 he ran for his own race team that he co-owned with his family, being the youngest team owner in NASCAR history at only the age of 16.

Early career
In 2007, at the age of five, Cram started racing in Mini Dwarf race cars in his hometown at the time, San Diego, California. He later moved to Mooresville, North Carolina and started to race in the INEX Bandolero Series. After winning 13 times in Bandoleros, he made the move to legend cars in 2014. His racing slate in 2017 included various starts in legends cars, Super Trucks and late models in the Whelen All-American Series and an attempt at a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event.

NASCAR
On October 24, 2017, Cram was announced to be driving for Cram Racing Enterprises in the No. 11 truck at Martinsville Speedway in 2017 Texas Roadhouse 200. A blown engine during practice ended the team's weekend, forcing the No. 11 team and Cram to withdraw.

He returned to Martinsville in the spring of 2018, driving for Beaver Motorsports. In his first race with live pit stops, Cram accidentally hit a crew member on his first pit stop and climbed to a 17th-place finish on the lead lap. Cram's third attempt was also at Martinsville; this time it was a joint effort between his family Cram Racing Enterprises and Copp Motorsports. He finished 24th and also ran the next race on the schedule at ISM Raceway in the No. 83.

In 2020, Cram served as a mechanic for the No. 6 NASCAR Xfinity Series team of JD Motorsports. He also ran Truck races for Long Motorsports and Reaume Brothers Racing. Cram left Long Motorsports in August for financial reasons, but later purchased the team and ran the No. 41 under the Cram Racing Enterprises banner for the rest of the 2020 Truck season.

Ahead of the 2021 Truck season, Cram voiced his plans to run the full schedule. In July, he joined Mike Harmon Racing for his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In 2022, Cram announced that he would attempt the Xfinity Series' September Darlington race driving the No. 35 car for Emerling-Gase Motorsports. He qualified for the race and finished 30th. He would also attempt to qualify for two races in the Mike Harmon Racing No. 47 car but failed to qualify. He also drove the MBM Motorsports No. 13 in the season-finale at Phoenix, which he did qualify for, and finished 31st.

In 2023, Cram would run the majority of the Xfinity Series season in the No. 74 car for CHK Racing (formerly Mike Harmon Racing). However, him and the team would fail to qualify for the majority of the races they attempted. After one of the races that they did qualify for, Charlotte in May, Cram and the team lost 10 driver and owner points due to the car having an air duct violation. He became one of few drivers in NASCAR history to have a negative points total in the standings at some point in a season. (Michael Waltrip in 2007 in the Cup Series is another example after he was penalized during Daytona 500 Speedweeks that year.) He would also drive the SS-Green Light Racing No. 07 car at Martinsville in April and the Alpha Prime Racing No. 44 car at Darlington in September. He would also drive the G2G Racing No. 47 in the Truck Series race at Darlington in May. His team would later be penalized with the loss of 25 owner points for having an outdated window net in that race.

On December 6, 2023, it was announced that Cram will run full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2024, driving the No. 4 car for JD Motorsports.

Personal life
Cram's father Kevin Cram is a former crew chief in all three NASCAR national series and his uncle Clinton Cram is still in the profession, crew chiefing Dawson's first Truck attempt.

NASCAR
(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )

Craftsman Truck Series
$$ Season still in progress $1$ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series
(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )