Christian Rose will not contest the full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule for Niece Motorsports as originally announced, the team revealed Feb. 10.
Rose was initially set to drive the No. 44 full time but will now be a part-time competitor due to sponsorship issues.
Bayley Currey, who was previously announced for a part-time season with Niece’s No. 41, will drive the No. 44 at Daytona International Speedway.
“Unfortunately, with the high costs associated with running a race team, we had to make this difficult business decision to keep everyone’s best interests in mind,” Niece GM Cody Efaw said in a release. “We would love to see Christian compete for us once funding is secured on his end and greatly appreciate our existing partners at Masked Owl Technologies for stepping up their commitment to Bayley and our company as a whole.”
Currey ran the full Truck schedule for Niece in 2024, earning one top 10. He was previously scheduled to split the No. 41 for the team with Matt Gould and Ross Chastain in 2025.
Rose was set to move up to the Truck Series from the ARCA Menards Series, where he landed three top fives and 10 top 10s in 2024 for AM Racing.
Rutherford is the managing editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2015 after serving on the editing staff for two years. At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
Will we ever see a time again when drivers are selected based on their talent?
No.
I agree, no sponsors should be allowed at all, none. All cars are to be painted flat black without numbers. Then we will see the all time greats like Buckshot Jones win races.
Great snarky reply!
Slippery slope the ole sponsorship question.
Yes… it takes tons of money, but we can’t have just rich boys racing…. Ty and Austin, Carson, Joey , plus the others we don’t know about.
But as ZZ Top said…. money…it’s the root of evil, you know the rest.. but it’s way ahead of what’s second best…
let the season begin.