Dodge announced during the season that they would stop supporting Ultra's team. Ultra spent the offseason trying to work out a deal with Ford, but talks fell off, and Ultra was forced to shut down. Smith would later say, in a 2011 interview, that while he had enough sponsorship to keep the team going (even without manufacturer support), the team would not be as competitive as he liked, and that, combined with missing his family while racing, led to his decision to close the doors. The equipment and owner's points were sold to R3 Racing. Truck No. 2 history Ultra Motorsports made its official Truck debut in the series' first race, the Copper World Classic at Phoenix. The team was the No. 08 Ford F-150 driven by Mike Bliss, and sponsored by Smith's company, Ultra Custom Wheels. Finishing 14th in that race, Bliss ran with the team for the entire year, when it switched to No. 2 at Bristol. Bliss won once at North Wilkesboro and finished eighth in points that season. His crew chief Barry Dodson won 1989 Winston Cup championship with Rusty Wallace In 1996, Team ASE Racing came on board as sponsor, and Bliss picked up two more wins and moved into fifth in points. After another top-five finish in 1997, Bliss slipped to tenth in the standings, and left for Roush Racing. Smith replaced him with Mike Wallace, who won in the first race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Another win at the NAPA 300K propelled Wallace to a sixth-place finish in points. After winning twice more in 2000, Wallace moved up to Ultra's Winston Cup program. In addition to switching to Dodge Rams in 2001, Smith hired Scott Riggs to drive the No. 2. Riggs picked up five wins as well as three straight pole positions, and finished fifth in points. However, he moved up to ppc Racing in the Busch Series in the No. 10 Nestle Nesquik Ford, and Smith hired Jason Leffler to take his place. Although he did not win a race in 2002, Leffler had eight pole positions and fifteen top-ten finishes. Leffler returned to Ultra in 2003, and picked up a victory at the MBNA Armed Forces Family 200, but was fired for what was called a violation of his contract; Winston Cup owner Gene Haas had hired Leffler to temporarily take over the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac for