Tag: GMS Racing

GMS Racing’s 2023 NASCAR Truck Series season in review

GMS Racing had a good year in the NASCAR Truck Series. Here, you can check out the NASCAR team’s 2023 season in review!

[autotag]GMS Racing[/autotag] entered the 2023 NASCAR Truck Series season with high hopes and almost got the ultimate prize. Grant Enfinger was under five laps away from the Truck Series championship, but Corey Heim intentionally wrecking Carson Hocecar really hurt his efforts. Enfinger barely survived NASCAR overtime and finished second behind Ben Rhodes.

As for Rajah Caruth and Daniel Dye, each driver gained experience and knowledge with Enfinger’s mentorship. Yet, it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs, as they couldn’t find a way to enter victory lane. Each represents one of the final drivers to benefit from GMS Racing’s presence in NASCAR and the ARCA Menards Series.

GMS Racing closed down its operations after the 2023 NASCAR season. It was a disappointing end for the organization, but it went out fighting as Enfigner almost secured a storybook ending. One of the Truck Series’ most historic teams is now gone, and its place in the sport will forever be etched among the best.

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GMS Racing to cease operations at conclusion of 2023 NASCAR season

GMS Racing will cease its operations at the conclusion of the 2023 season, which means the NASCAR Truck Series program will be shut down.

[autotag]GMS Racing[/autotag] announced on Wednesday morning that it will cease operations at the conclusion of the 2023 season. This means the NASCAR Truck Series program will no longer exist after Legacy Motor Club decided to make the move to Toyota Racing starting in 2024.

Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, and Daniel Dye are the three full-time drivers for GMS Racing in the Truck Series with each of them now looking for a new ride. It is a disappointing day for the Truck Series as the organization has been a part of it since the 2013 season. Since that point, GMS Racing has won 44 races and two championships with Johnny Sauter in 2016 and Sheldon Creed in 2020.

The organization also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2016 to 2019. Over those three seasons, the organization won a single race with Spencer Gallagher in 2018. Now, GMS Racing will close its doors after the season ends at Phoenix Raceway and it is a major disappointment for NASCAR.

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GMS Racing to cease operations at season’s end

GMS Racing will cease operations of its Craftsman Truck Series team at the conclusion of the season. “During the past nine years, GMS Racing has become one of the top teams in the Truck and ARCA Series garage,” team owner Maury Gallagher said. “The …

GMS Racing will cease operations of its Craftsman Truck Series team at the conclusion of the season.

“During the past nine years, GMS Racing has become one of the top teams in the Truck and ARCA Series garage,” team owner Maury Gallagher said. “The people that made this happen have been the hard-working men and women at GMS Racing and GMS Fabrication. Every employee, new and old at GMS has always strived to be the very best. Without their effort and dedication, we would have never been able to win two Truck championships, three ARCA championships and 68 wins.

“Leadership is always critical in any success story. Since 2015, Mike Beam has been the catalyst of this race team’s success. Chevrolet and GM has also been critical to our success. With the combination of Chevrolet plus Mike at the helm, we became the team I always dreamed of owning. I can’t thank Mike enough for all his leadership and hard work. We are looking to finish out this year on a high note and close our legacy in this era with another Truck Series championship.”

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GMS Racing fields three full-time entries for Grant Enfinger (No. 23 Chevrolet), Rajah Caruth, (No. 24 Chevrolet), and Daniel Dye (No. 43 Chevrolet). Enfinger is competing in the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs while Caruth and Dye are Rookie of the Year candidates.

Formerly known as Gallagher Motorsports, the team was founded in 2012 as an ARCA Menards Series competitor. Gallagher began fielding an entry in the Truck Series in 2013 before it was renamed GMS Racing in 2014.

GMS Racing won its first Truck Series championship in 2016 with Johnny Sauter. A second championship followed in 2020 with Sheldon Creed.

The organization also fielded Xfinity Series entries from 2016 through 2019. Drivers included Spencer Gallagher, who won at Talladega Superspeedway in 2018, and John Hunter Nemechek.

The ARCA Menards Series program was in operation from 2012 through 2022. Enfinger won the organization its only ARCA championship in 2015.

“I just want to start off by saying how grateful I am for Maury and these incredible nine years at GMS Racing,” Mike Beam said. “A lot of people, including myself, have poured their hearts and souls into this organization to make it where it’s at today. Our success wouldn’t have been possible without the talented drivers, crew members, fabricators and administrators that have walked through our doors over the years.

“I also want to thank Chevrolet. Chevrolet has been such a key partner of ours over our entire existence. They have been along for every success GMS has obtained and we couldn’t have done it without their support. As for the rest of this year, we will continue business as usual and chase after a Championship in our final season.”

The move to cease operations of its Truck Series operation comes as Legacy Motor Club, the NASCAR Cup Series operation co-owned by Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson, prepares to move to Toyota in 2024.

Enfinger motors away from Truck field to win in Kansas

Grant Enfinger stayed ahead of trouble in a race that produced seven cautions for 40 of 134 laps and forged a decisive victory in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. Enfinger crossed the …

Grant Enfinger stayed ahead of trouble in a race that produced seven cautions for 40 of 134 laps and forged a decisive victory in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

Enfinger crossed the finish line 4.358 seconds ahead of Corey Heim to post his first victory of the season.

Enfinger’s eighth career win was his first at Kansas and his first since winning at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in the 17th race of 2022.

“It was a huge night for us,” said Enfinger, who led a race-high 65 laps. “From the drop of the green flag, we had a really really good Chevy Silverado. Just started out really tight. Once (crew chief) Jeff (Hensley) made one adjustment on it, I felt like from that point forward, we were potentially the best truck out there.”

Heim won a close battle for second over Zane Smith. Stewart Friesen was fourth, followed by Ross Chastain. Nick Sanchez, Kyle Busch, Jake Garcia, Taylor Gray and Tyler Ankrum completed the top 10.

The final caution dimmed Heim’s chances.

“I think that last caution (for Wright’s second spin) put a hole in our strategy a little bit,” Heim said. “If we had that last run go green and we had the same tires as the No. 23 (Enfinger), I thought we could beat him straight up.

“As soon as we got that last caution and we were on uneven tires, I knew it was going to be all track position. I got hung up trying to block the No. 38 (Smith) and kind of took a step back from there and lost track position.”

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Two of the fastest trucks in the race saw their winning chances end in a shunt on lap 72, when Rajah Caruth spun across the bumper of Ty Majeski’s No. 98 Toyota into the outside wall on the frontstretch.

Caruth’s truck was too heavily damaged to continue, and Majeski’s too heavily damaged to contend.

“It was really close, and we had a long way to go,” Caruth said after exiting the infield care center. “I was trying to cover the top, and he just kind of hooked me there. Good to know.

“I didn’t double-move or anything. I picked the top there, and he just took me.”

From appearances, though, Caruth was late in an attempt to block Majeski’s progress, to the detriment of both trucks. Majeski finished 25th.

Pole winner Christian Eckes likewise was involved in a terminal wreck after the subsequent restart on lap 79. Aggression got the best of drivers at the front of the field, and the trucks of Eckes, Matt DiBenedetto, Carson Hocevar and Chase Purdy all were KO’d in Turn 1.

“Just aggression I guess, Eckes said. “He (DiBenedetto) blocked a little late and got loose, and I tried to go high, and I might have caught his rear quarter panel. Yeah, it sucks.”

Busch won the first stage before tangling with Ben Rhodes after the Stage 2 restart. Enfinger powered past Busch into the lead on lap 40 but came to pit road under the third caution for Kris Wright’s spin through the infield grass.

Enfinger gave up the lead with the stop but charged back to second by the end of the stage, which Majeski won.

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