GMS Racing

GMS Racing
Owner(s) Maury Gallagher
Base Statesville, North Carolina[1]
Series Xfinity Series
Camping World Truck Series
Car numbers 05, 20, 21, 23, 24, 33, 90
Race drivers Xfinity Series
23. Spencer Gallagher
Camping World Truck Series
21. Johnny Sauter
23. TBA
24. Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Ben Kennedy, Kaz Grala, Grant Enfinger, Shane Lee (part-time)
33. Grant Enfinger, Kaz Grala, Ben Kennedy
Sponsors Xfinity Series:
21. Kingman Chevrolet-Buick/Allegiant Travel, Water Pulse
Camping World Truck Series:
21. Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Allegiant Travel, Water Pulse
23. Allegiant Travel, Alamo Rent A Car
24. McDonald's (Larson), Georgia Boot (Bowyer), Jacob Companies (Kennedy), Allegiant Travel (Grala)
33. Champion Power Equipment, Alamo Rent A Car (Enfinger), Allegiant Travel (Grala), Weber Grill/Weber.com, Jacob Companies (Kennedy)
Manufacturer Chevrolet
Opened 2011
Career
Debut Xfinity Series:
2016 Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 (Phoenix)
Camping World Truck Series:
2013 SFP 250 (Kansas)
ARCA Racing Series:
2011 Ansell Protective Gloves 200 (Lucas Oil)
Latest race

Xfinity Series:
2016 Toyota Care 250 (Richmond)
Camping World Truck Series:
2016 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)


ARCA Racing Series:
2015 Full Throttle S'loonshine 98.9 (Kansas)
Races competed Total: 173
Xfinity Series: 3
Camping World Truck Series: 102
ARCA Racing Series: 68
Drivers' Championships Total: 2
Xfinity Series: 0
Camping World Truck Series: 1
2016
ARCA Racing Series: 1
2015
Race victories Total: 16
Xfinity Series: 0
Camping World Truck Series: 7
ARCA Racing Series: 9
Pole positions Total: 9
Xfinity Series: 0
Camping World Truck Series: 6
ARCA Racing Series: 3

GMS Racing, formerly known as Gallagher Motorsports, is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. In the Xfinity Series, the team currently fields the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for Spencer Gallagher. In the Camping World Truck Series, the team currently fields the No. 21 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff/Allegiant Travel Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Johnny Sauter, the No. 23 Allegiant Travel/Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Spencer Gallagher, the No. 24 McDonald's Chevrolet Silverado part-time for Kyle Larson, and the No. 33 Champion Power Equipment/Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet Silverado full-time for part-time drivers Grant Enfinger, Kaz Grala, and Ben Kennedy. GMS Racing has a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing. The team had formerly competed in the ARCA Racing Series from 2011 to 2015.

Owner Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. is the chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company, which sponsors the team.[2]

History

The team entered ARCA competition in 2011, and Camping World Truck Competition in 2013.[2]

For the 2014 season, the team acquired the assets of Richard Childress Racing's truck series program, and entered a technical alliance with the organization.[3] In 2015, former crew chief Mike Beam became competition director,[1] while RCR and manufacturer Chevrolet increased their technical support.[2] In addition, the team relocated from Charlotte to Statesville, North Carolina near the Statesville Regional Airport. This was the former facility of Evernham Motorsports and later Richard Petty Motorsports, which had been unoccupied since 2010.[4][5][6][7] GMS also began using the number font formerly used by Braun Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports.[2] As of 2016, the No. 21 team in the Xfinity Series uses the same number font as Wood Brothers Racing, alternating with the number style of the rest of the team.

Xfinity Series

Car No. 21 history

On February 4, 2016, GMS announced that they fielded a part-time No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Spencer Gallagher for 13 races starting at Phoenix, Gallagher finished 23rd in that race.[8]

Car No. 23 history

On December 1, 2016, GMS announced that they will field a full-time No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro for Spencer Gallagher, after driving seven races in the No. 21 car in 2016.

Camping World Truck Series

Truck No. 21 history

The 21 made 5 attempts in 2013 with Spencer Gallagher, qualifying for 3 races. Gallagher finished 22nd at Kansas, 20th at Texas, and 32nd at the season finale at Homestead.[2][9]

In January 2014, it was announced that 23-year-old Joey Coulter would drive the 21 Silverado full-time for GMS after driving Toyotas in 2013 for Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. GMS also announced a technical alliance with RCR, the team Coulter drove for in 2011 and 2012 and won at Pocono. Jeff Stankiewicz was announced as the crew chief.[10] Coulter earned three top 5s and ten top 10s to finish 7th in points.[2]

Due to a lack of sponsorship, Joey Coulter did not return to the driver's seat in 2015. Instead, he assumed the post of team relationships coordinator for the team.[11] At Las Vegas in October, Brennan Poole made his series debut in the 21 Truck with sponsorship from DC Solar.[12]

Johnny Sauter drove full-time in 2016 in the No. 21 Chevrolet Silverado with crew chief Marcus Richmond.[13] Sauter won in his debut with GMS at Daytona.[14] However in the next 3 races, he finished 28th, 32nd, and 16th respectively. Sauter won at a fall Martinsville race to clinch a final four championship race at Homestead. In the next week, Sauter won at a fall Texas race, bringing three victories for GMS this season. Sauter clinched his first career Truck Series championship at Homestead by virtue of his 3rd place finish in the event.

Truck No. 23 history

The 23 ran part-time in 2014, with Spencer Gallagher (9 races) and Max Gresham (5 races).[2][15] The team struggled in their first three races, with crashes at Martinsville and Kansas with Gallagher and a transmission failure with Gresham at Charlotte. They bounced back with an 11th at Kentucky with Gresham and top 15's at Iowa, Pocono, and Michigan with Gallagher.[2] Gallagher earned a career best finish of third at Talladega in October.[2][16]

In a 2014 interview with NASCAR.com, Spencer Gallagher stated that he planned to run full-time in the Truck Series in 2015, presumably in the No. 23.[17] The 23 was announced as a full-time team with Gallagher in January 2015.[18] He then finished 10th in the points standings.

Gallagher returned for 2016 with new crew chief Jeff Hensley.[13]

Truck No. 24 history

In 2016, GMS Racing fielded the No. 24 for Kyle Larson at Martinsville, with sponsorship from McDonald's.[19] Clint Bowyer drove the No. 24 at Kansas, finishing 5th in his first truck start in 2016. Ben Kennedy drove the truck at Dover as part of his multi-race stint with the team, with Kaz Grala in the 33.[20] Grala then drove the truck at Iowa in June, starting fourth and finishing 29th.[21] Grant Enfinger also ran several races. On October 22, Enfinger won the Fred's 250 at Talledega Superspeedway for his first career win.[22]

Truck No. 33 history

Kaz Grala at Martinsville in 2016.

In October 2014, it was announced that 17-year-old K&N Pro Series East driver Brandon Jones, crew chief Shane Huffman and the 33 Truck team would move from Turner Scott Motorsports (undergoing internal turmoil) to GMS for the final two races of their partial schedule at Martinsville and Phoenix.[23][24]

Jones returned to the 33 truck for 17 races in 2015, while Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin and Ty Dillon ran the remaining six races with sponsorship from Rheem.[2][25][26] Austin Dillon won the New Hampshire race to pick up GMS Racing's first Truck Series win. Grant Enfinger was promoted from the ARCA Racing Series from GMS Racing, to drive part-time in the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for the team in 2016.[13] 17-year old Kaz Grala drove the No. 33 in select races, beginning at Martinsville.[19] On April 25, 2016, it was announced that Ben Kennedy would drive the No. 33 for 10 races, starting at Kansas.[27] Kennedy scored his first career win at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.[28]

ARCA Racing Series

Car No. 20 history

The 20 car ran two ARCA Racing Series events in 2014. The first was with Spencer Gallagher at Daytona, replacing Scott Sheldon after Gallagher's No. 23 car was disqualified.[29] Sheldon then ran the car at Talladega, finishing 13th.[30]

In 2015, Scott Sheldon ran the 20 car at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[2][31][30]

Car No. 23 history

Spencer Gallagher's 2013 ARCA car on display at Road America

Spencer Gallagher ran 3 races in 2011 in a car numbered 05, with a best finish of 15th. Gallagher ran the full 19-race schedule in 2012, scoring 6 top tens and finishing 7th in points. Gallagher's numbers improved in 2013, scoring 5 top 5's and 8 top 10's, but missing 2 races to finish 10th in points. Josh Williams replaced Gallagher at Winchester Speedway.[32]

Gallagher returned for 2014, sponsored by Allegiant and Alamo Rent a Car. In October 2014 he got his first win in the 20th and final race of the ARCA season, the ARCA 98.9 at Kansas Speedway. Gallagher started 32nd, and led the final 32 laps of the race.[2][33]

For 2015, Grant Enfinger moved over from the 90 car to the 23 for the full season, sponsorship pending. Enfinger had worked in the GMS shop during the off-season.[1][31] Enfinger won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, his second consecutive victory at the track.[1] Enfinger won a total of six races en route to winning the championship.[13]

Following 2015, the equipment of the No. 23 team was sold to Bret Holmes Racing, with Enfinger serving as crew chief and part-time driver, and the effort supported by GMS.[34] Enfinger scored a victory at Pocono in 2016 in the car.[35]

Car No. 90 history

Prior to the race at Lucas Oil Raceway in July, it was announced that four-time winner in 2014, Grant Enfinger, who was second in points at the time, would be moving from the Team BCR Ford to GMS Racing, taking his No. 90 and sponsor Motor Honey with him. GMS partner Allegiant Travel provided additional sponsorship.[36] Enfinger finished 4th in his first race for GMS, but crashed at Pocono with Frank Kimmel. The next race at Berlin Raceway, Enfinger dominated, leading 181 of 200 laps to win the Federated Auto Parts 200 and moved within 25 points of the points leader Mason Mitchell.[37] Enfinger scored his sixth win of the season at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack in September, leading 63 of 100 laps, and earning him the Bill France Four Crown award for the season.[38] He would ultimately finish second to Mason Mitchell (who only had one win) after two DNFs in the final two races of the season.[1][31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Williams, Deb (March 6, 2015). "Grant Enfinger gets a car, gets a win at Daytona". charlotteobserver.com. The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Wolkin, Joseph (April 14, 2015). "Spencer Gallagher rising through the ranks". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Moody, Dave (January 13, 2014). "CONFIRMED: Coulter To Trucks With GMS Racing". motorsports-soapbox.blogsport.com. Godfather Motorsports, Blogspot.
  4. ↑ Moody, Dave (December 15, 2014). "GMS Racing Purchases New Facility". Godfather Motorsports. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "GMS Racing Relocates to Statesville, North Carolina". Automobile Racing Club of America. Statesville, North Carolina. December 15, 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "GMS Racing to be 'Welcomed' to Statesville location". Automobile Racing Club of America. Statesville, North Carolina. March 21, 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  7. ↑ Jones, Jason (February 6, 2015). "GMS Racing moves to Iredell County". Mooresville Weekly. Statesville, North Carolina. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Team release (February 3, 2016). "GMS RACING TO RUN SELECT XFINITY EVENTS IN 2016". nascar.com. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Spencer Gallagher: 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Staff Report (January 13, 2014). "JOEY COULTER JOINS GMS RACING FOR '14 SEASON". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Estrada, Chris (January 8, 2015). "NASCAR: Truck Series vet Joey Coulter climbing out of driver's seat". MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Brennan Poole to Drive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway". Statesville, North Carolina: GMS Racing. September 28, 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 4 McFadin, Daniel (December 3, 2015). "GMS Racing announces Truck Series driver-crew chief lineup for 2016". NBC Sports. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Olsen, Jeff (February 19, 2016). "Christopher Bell being evaluated after scary flips in Daytona Truck race". USA Today. Daytona Beach, Florida. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Drivers". gmsracing.net. GMS Racing. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  16. ↑ "Trucks: Peters beats Talladega "system overload"". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. October 18, 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Levine, Steve; Staff Report (August 13, 2014). "Video: GAINING TRACTION: SPENCER GALLAGHER". NASCAR.com. NASCAR, NASCAR Illustrated. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  18. ↑ "Spencer Gallagher Cleared for Takeoff". GMS Racing. January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  19. 1 2 Knight, Chris (March 28, 2016). "Kyle Larson To Race Fourth GMS Racing Truck At Martinsville". Catchfence. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Ben Kennedy Continues to Build Toward Success with GMS Racing at Dover International Speedway". Ben Kennedy Racing. Dover, Delaware. May 15, 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "2016 Iowa: Kaz Grala NASCAR Truck Race Recap". PaddockTalk. June 20, 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  22. ↑ Utter, Jim (October 22, 2016). "Grant Enfinger scores first career Truck win at Talladega". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  23. ↑ Press Release (October 14, 2014). "Brandon Jones to Join GMS Racing for the Remainder of the 2014 NCWTS Season". Catchfence.com. Charlotte, North Carolina: Catchfence.com. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "Brandon Jones to Finish NCWTS Season with GMS Racing". Pitgrit.com. Liberty Alliance, LLC. October 17, 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  25. ↑ "Brandon Jones joins GMS Racing for 2015 season". GMS Racing. January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  26. ↑ Knight, Chris (January 29, 2015). "Dillon Brothers Pair For Seven Race Stint With GMS Racing". Catchfence. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  27. ↑ Knight, Chris (April 25, 2016). "Ben Kennedy Set To Join GMS Racing". Catchfence. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  28. ↑ Utter, Jim (August 17, 2016). "Kennedy becomes first France family member to win NASCAR race". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  29. ↑ Gelston, Dan (February 15, 2014). "GALLAGHER GETS 2ND CHANCE AT DAYTONA ARCA RACE". Associated Press. Daytona Beach, Florida. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  30. 1 2 GMS Racing (April 2015). "Scott Sheldon 2015 ARCA International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 Race Preview". Catchfence.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  31. 1 2 3 "Enfinger plans full season with GMS Racing". arcaracing.com. Statesville, North Carolina: Automobile Racing Club of America. February 4, 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "No wonder he's smiling; Gallagher Motorsports taps Williams to wheel the 23 car at Winchester". arcaracing.com. Mooresville, NC: ARCA. June 26, 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  33. ↑ Palmer, Tod (October 3, 2014). "Mason Mitchell takes ARCA title; Spencer Gallagher wins the ARCA 98.9". The Kansas City Star. Kansas Speedway: The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  34. ↑ Bret Holmes Racing (February 9, 2016). "Bret Holmes Gears Up For ARCA Season". WEAC-CD. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  35. ↑ Seelman, Jacob (June 3, 2016). "RAPID RESULTS: Enfinger Steals Pocono ARCA Victory On Gutsy Fuel Mileage Call". Race Chaser Online. Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  36. ↑ Inabinett, Mark (July 25, 2014). "Grant Enfinger changing teams in ARCA Racing Series". al.com. Alabama: Alabama Media Group, Advance Digital. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  37. ↑ "Victory sweet for Enfinger, GMS Racing team". arcaracing.com. Marine, Michigan: ARCA. August 9, 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  38. ↑ Inabinett, Mark (September 1, 2014). "Grant Enfinger gets dirty in pursuit of ARCA Racing Series championship". AL.com. AL.com, Advance Publications. Retrieved 27 December 2014.

External links

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