With six races remaining in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, playoff organization GMS Racing announced Aug. 23 it will shut its doors following 2023.
GMS currently fields three full-time trucks for Rajah Caruth, Daniel Dye and Grant Enfinger. The latter is sixth in the standings with a 23-point advantage over the cut line.
GMS Fabrication will also cease operations.
“During the past nine years, GMS Racing has become one of the top teams in the Truck and ARCA Series garage,” GMS owner Maury Gallagher said in a team release. “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.”
Founded in 2012 as Gallagher Motorsports, the team fielded cars in the ARCA Menards Series for Spencer Gallagher, Maury’s son, before adding a Truck entry in 2013.
Enfinger earned the team its first win in 2014 at Berlin Raceway, following it up in 2015 with six victories and the series championship. The team also competed full time in Trucks for the first time with Joey Coulter at the helm.
In 2015, Austin Dillon earned the organization its first Truck win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The next year, GMS fielded two full-time Truck entries for Gallagher and Johnny Sauter. With three wins and 19 top 10s, Sauter went on to claim the team’s first Truck title. Sheldon Creed earned the team its second title in 2020, winning five races en route to the crown. That same year, three of the GMS entries made the Championship 4.
Overall, GMS has earned 44 wins in 709 starts among its drivers. Sauter is the team’s winningest driver, capturing 13 victories.
Gallagher is also a co-owner of the NASCAR Cup Series team Legacy Motor Club alongside seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. He will remain in that role beyond this season.
Enfinger, Dye and Caruth have not yet announced 2024 plans.
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a contributor, furthering a love for racing that traces back to his earliest memories. Glover inherited his passion for racing from his grandfather, who used to help former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in his Richmond, Va. garage. A 2023 graduate from the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is the author of "The Underdog House," contributes to commentary pieces, and does occasional at-track reporting. Additionally, Glover enjoys working in ministry, coaching basketball, playing sports, and karting.
That’s a good team gone.
So LMC switches to Toyota. Did Toyota say no to GMS?
Most likely Toyota would not give GMS manufacturer support. That’s going to be my guess. Chevy was giving GMS manufacturer support that GMS needed.