A former championship-winning team, GMS Racing, intends to close its doors after the conclusion of the 2023 NASCAR Truck Series season.
The race team announced on Wednesday that the GMS Racing NASCAR team and GMS Fabrication both intend to shut down operations at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
The squad will make its final Truck Series appearance on Friday, November 3, during the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. The squad is currently running the Nos. 23 Chevrolet for Grant Enfinger, 24 Chevrolet for Rajah Caruth, and No. 43 Chevrolet for Daniel Dye.
This year’s rookies Caruth and Dye failed to make the playoffs, but veteran Enfinger did so thanks to two victories during the regular season. Enfinger is now seeking to conclude GMS Racing’s Truck Series run with the team’s third series title.
Since they began competing in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2013, GMS Racing, who folded their championship-winning ARCA Menards Series team before the 2023 season, have earned a total of 44 victories.
They won the championship in 2016 with Johnny Sauter driving the No. 21 Chevrolet, and they won it again in 2020 with Sheldon Creed driving the No. 2 Chevrolet.
The team campaigned in the Xfinity Series from 2016 to 2019, and from 2017 to 2019, it did so as a full-time team. At Talladega Superspeedway in April 2018, Spencer Gallagher, the owner of the team Maury Gallagher’s son, achieved their only victory.
“This morning, GMS Racing officials announced it will cease operations at the conclusion of the 2023 race season,” GMS Racing stated via social media.
“GMS Febrication, a separate entity which has operated alongside the NASCAR Truck Series race team, will also close its doors following the championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
The future of Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series is unaffected by the news of GMS Racing’s closure.
After the 2022 season, Petty GMS Motorsports changed its name to Legacy Motor Club with Jimmie Johnson joining the ownership group as a co-owner. Following the 2021 season, Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Racing merged to form Petty GMS Motorsports, which marked the latter’s entry into the Cup Series.
The switch to Toyota for the 2024 season was announced by Legacy Motor Club in May. Erik Jones is expected to return for a fourth season at the wheel of the No. 43 vehicle and re-align with Toyota after his final campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020.
John Hunter Nemechek, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, is anticipated to be named the No. 42 Toyota’s full-time driver for the upcoming season. Nemechek re-aligned with Toyota in 2021 by switching teams from Front Row Motorsports Cup Series to Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck Series.
