In a statement released by GMS Racing this morning, the team will close its doors at the end of the 2023 season. What consequences does this move have for the Truck Series and several drivers?
On August 23rd, GMS Racing announced it would end its racing operations after the 2023 season, along with its fabrication division, GMS Fabrication. The team currently fields three trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, and Daniel Dye. Enfinger is currently racing for a championship in the Truck Series playoffs, and Caruth and Dye are both rookies. Team owner, Maury Gallagher thanked the hard-working men and women of GMS Racing for “becoming the team I always dreamed of owning”.
GMS Racing’s winning record and excellence on the track will be missed in the Truck Series.
History of GMS Racing:
GMS Racing was founded in 2012 to field an ARCA car for Gallagher’s son, Spencer. The team would move to the Truck Series in 2013, with Spencer Gallagher running three races. Grant Enfinger would join the ARCA team in 2014, where they won three races. 2015 was when the team hit their strides in the truck series, with Austin Dillon winning their first race. Since then, they have won forty-four truck series races in Trucks, fifteen in ARCA, and a single Xfinity race win. The team also won championships in 2016 with Johnny Sauter and in 2020 with Sheldon Creed.
They have seen many drivers run races in their racecars on their way to careers in the top ranks of NASCAR, they are;
- Kyle Larson, 2021 Cup Series Champion
- Ben Kennedy, SVP of Racing Development for NASCAR
- Kaz Grala
- Chase Elliott, 2020 Cup Series Champion
- Justin Haley
- Zane Smith, 2022 Truck Series Champion
- Sheldon Creed, 2020 Truck Series Champion
- Sam Mayer
- Bill Elliott, 1988 Cup Series Champion
Why shut down GMS Racing?
GMS Racing’s owner Maury Gallagher is the partial owner of Legacy Motor Club, Alongside seven-time champions Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty. Back on May 2nd, LMC announced it would be switching manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota. While it seemed like the move would make GMS Racing also switch to Toyotas, the recent announcement has disproven that. Was the move a cost-saving one to focus funds towards Cup racing? Or did Toyota not want another Truck team to compete with their new flagship, TRICON Garage?
Let us examine the Toyota ARCA roster, the most likely candidates for Truck Series rides. Currently, six drivers are racing in the ARCA Menards Series for Toyota. These are six drivers who need rides in ARCA and in the future, the Craftsman Truck Series. They currently have six drivers full time in the Truck Series, and one truck that has a rotating seat of part-time drivers, many from the ARCA series, with Toni Breidinger, Jesse Love, and William Sawalich making starts in the #1 Tundra.
Why not turn the Chevrolet team, which has ARCA and Truck Series wins, into a Toyota team? Even with GMS leaving, Chevrolet holds the majority in the series, and Toyota only has six individual truck teams. The Toyota development program has hardly any room for advancement for their drivers and letting the resources of GMS just go, is a grave error being made.
What happens next for GMS Racing?
Grant Enfinger:
GMS currently has Grant Enfinger running for the championship. He currently has two wins, Kansas and Gateway, and is sitting sixth in the championship points. Enfinger will fight for the championship but will need a ride in 2024. Enfinger has made some ARCA starts this year for CR7 Motorsports, running their #97 Chevrolet at Charlotte this year. CR7 also fields the #9 Chevrolet in the Truck Series and has an affiliation with GMS Racing. Enfinger is thirty-nine years old, many are suggesting he could retire. I think that is out of the question, he has two wins this year and is fighting for a championship, why retire when you can still win?
Daniel Dye:
Daniel Dye, one of GMS’ two rookies, was quick to put out a statement about GMS’ closure. He disclosed he has already signed a contract for 2024. One of the many programs GMS had its hands on was Driver’s Edge Development, a training program for young drivers for Chevrolet. The program was a joint effort between JR Motorsports and GMS, and JR Motorsports has a seat opening in 2024 with Josh Berry moving to Stewart-Haas Racing. Many paths could be taken for Dye, and hopefully, his announcement will clear up some of the silly season rumors.
— Daniel Dye (@danieldye43) August 23, 2023
Rajah Caruth:
The other rookie, Caruth used to drive for Rev Racing in the ARCA Series. This season, Rev branched out into the Truck Series with great success. Nick Sanchez in just his first year racing made the Playoffs and earned two pole awards. Could Rev Racing expand to a second truck and bring Rajah back home to his old team?
Assets:
GMS Racing has tons of valuable equipment, haulers, and trucks that could help out several of the teams in the Truck Series. We already covered the CR7 affiliation, but another team with a close relationship with GMS is McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. MHR is located right next door to the GMS shop. Could MHR buy the equipment GMS will be getting rid of at the end of 2023?
GMS Racing had a tremendous impact on the Truck Series, and its closure will have great implications for the Truck Series in 2024. We wish them all the best as they run for their third championship title.
