GMS Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
GMS Racing previously competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2016 to 2019 and in the ARCA Menards Series from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2019 to 2022. The team had a driver development program, Drivers Edge Development, operated in conjunction with JR Motorsports.
Owner Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. is the chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company, which intermittently sponsored the team through its Allegiant Air brand.
On August 23, 2023, the team announced that it would cease operations at the end of the 2023 racing season, along with GMS Fabrication, a separate entity affiliated with the team.
History Before forming his own team, Maurice Gallagher was involved in NASCAR with local Las Vegas driver and friend Spencer Clark's team, which competed in the NASCAR Busch East Series and Busch Series until Clark's unexpected death in 2006.
GMS Racing, initially known as Gallagher Motorsports, was formed in 2011 when they entered ARCA competition. The team expanded operations into the Camping World Truck Series in 2013, and later entered the Xfinity Series in 2016. The team was originally based in Charlotte, North Carolina, occupying the former BAM Racing shop. They later relocated, and BK Racing took over their previous facility.
In 2014, GMS Racing acquired the assets of Richard Childress Racing's Truck Series program and entered into a technical alliance with the organization. In 2015, former crew chief Mike Beam became competition director, and both Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet increased their technical support. That same year, the team relocated to Statesville, North Carolina, to a facility previously used by Evernham Motorsports and later Richard Petty Motorsports. The facility had been vacant since 2010.
GMS Racing also adopted a number font previously used by Braun Racing and Turner Scott Motorsports. Starting in 2016, the No. 21 team in the Xfinity Series alternated between its usual number style and the font used by Wood Brothers Racing. In early 2017, GMS Racing formed an alliance with Halmar Friesen Racing, which was later expanded in August of the same year.
In early 2019, GMS Racing announced the creation of a driver development program, Drivers Edge Development, in a partnership with JR Motorsports. The program placed drivers in GMS's NASCAR K&N Pro Series, ARCA Menards Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams, as well as JR Motorsports' Late Model and NASCAR Xfinity Series teams. Mentors included Mardy Lindley (GMS crew chief) and Josh Berry (at the time a JR Motorsports Late Model driver). The inaugural class of drivers, which was announced on January 24, 2019, were Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, and Adam Lemke. Carson Hocevar also joined the program later on in 2019. The 2023 season was the last for the program when GMS Racing closed down. The class of drivers in the DED program that year included GMS Truck Series drivers Rajah Caruth and Daniel Dye as well as JRM late model driver Carson Kvapil.
On December 1, 2021, Gallagher purchased a majority interest in the former Richard Petty Motorsports for $19 million. The deal included both of RPM's charters; the No. 43 continued to operate under its charter, while a second charter, leased to Rick Ware Racing for the No. 51 from 2019 to 2021, was transferred to a new No. 42 car for the team. The team was subsequently rebranded as Petty GMS Motorsports. However, GMS Racing continued to operate independently from Petty GMS, and Richard Petty did not buy into GMS' Truck and ARCA teams. In 2023, Petty GMS Motorsports was renamed to Legacy Motor Club after seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson purchased a stake in the team.
On August 23, 2023, GMS Racing announced that the team and GMS Fabrication would cease operations at the end of the 2023 season. Gallagher, alongside Johnson, will shift focus to developing Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series. The former GMS Fabrication building was acquired by Rackley W.A.R. in late-2024.
Xfinity Series Car No. 21 history Part-time (2016) On February 4, 2016, GMS Racing announced that they would field a part-time Chevrolet Camaro for Spencer Gallagher in 13 races, starting at Phoenix. The car would carry the No. 21. Gallagher finished 23rd in his debut race. Gallagher competed in a total of seven races in the No. 21 car during the 2016 season, with his best finish being eighth at Daytona in July.
Car No. 21 results YearDriverNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233Pts 2016 Spencer Gallagher 21 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO23 CAL24 TEX BRI RCH17 TAL DOV CLT29 POC MCH IOW DAY8 KEN NHA IND IOW GLN22 MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT24 KAN TEX PHO HOM 42nd 347
Car No. 23 history Spencer Gallagher (2017–2018)
On December 1, 2016, GMS Racing announced that they would field a full-time No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro for Spencer Gallagher, as the No. 21 was occupied by Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric. Gallagher had a disappointing rookie season in 2017, achieving only one top-10 finish at Richmond and recording eight DNFs.
However, the organization secured its first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory with Gallagher in the spring of 2018 at Talladega Superspeedway. Just four days after his win, on May 2, 2018, NASCAR announced that Gallagher was suspended indefinitely for a violation of NASCAR's substance-abuse policy.
Johnny Sauter was named as a substitute driver. Brennan Poole tested the car at Charlotte, leading to speculation that he might drive in the upcoming Charlotte race. However, it was later confirmed that Cup Series driver Chase Elliott would drive the car for races at Pocono, Chicagoland, Daytona, and Bristol.
Alex Bowman was subsequently announced as the driver of the No. 23 for Michigan and Kentucky, while Justin Haley made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the No. 23 at Iowa. Casey Roderick returned to the series to drive the No. 23 in the July Iowa race, and later that evening, it was revealed that A. J. Allmendinger would drive the No. 23 at Watkins Glen the following weekend.
On August 4, 2018, GMS Racing announced that NASCAR Hall of Famer and 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott would come out of retirement to drive the No. 23 at the Road America race on August 25.
John Hunter Nemechek (2019) John Hunter Nemechek joined the No. 23 car from Chip Ganassi Racing to run the full season in 2019. Despite leading only 14 laps, Nemechek qualified for the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs (known as "The Chase") and performed well, finishing seventh in the final points standings—the best result for GMS Racing. After the season, Nemechek announced that he would be leaving to join Front Row Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series, leaving the No. 23 car without a driver for the 2020 season. During his one year at GMS Racing, Nemechek recorded six top-5 finishes and 19 top-10s.
Car No. 23 results YearDriverNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233Pts 2017 Spencer Gallagher 23 Chevy DAY36 ATL28 LVS23 PHO18 CAL19 TEX14 BRI18 RCH10 TAL39 CLT37 DOV31 POC18 MCH18 IOW30 DAY24 KEN13 NHA35 IND28 IOW37 GLN32 MOH36 BRI23 ROA24 DAR34 RCH22 CHI14 KEN15 DOV24 CLT34 KAN21 TEX15 PHO17 HOM19 19th 433 2018 DAY6 ATL14 LVS10 PHO14 CAL11 TEX10 BRI5 RCH17 TAL1 KEN20 MOH8 LVS10 RCH12 CLT19 DOV5 KAN33 TEX9 PHO10 HOM17 11th 2178 Johnny Sauter DOV6 NHA19 Chase Elliott CLT37 POC2 CHI10 DAY29 BRI8 DAR6 IND4 Alex Bowman MCH21 Justin Haley IOW12 Casey Roderick IOW A. J. AllmendingerGLN2 Bill Elliott ROA20 2019 DAY8 ATL20 LVS2 PHO9 CAL28 TEX9 BRI5 RCH7 TAL6 DOV8 CLT12 POC12 MCH8 IOW8 CHI11 DAY22 KEN12 NHA36 IOW3 GLN12 MOH31 BRI3 ROA26 DAR21 IND31 LVS8 RCH15 CLT7 DOV8 KAN8 TEX5 PHO4 HOM6 7th 2253
Car No. 24 history Justin Haley (2018) Although there were rumors for many months that Brennan Poole and Brett Moffitt would share the car full-time in 2018, the car did not return until later in the year, renumbered as the No. 24. Justin Haley drove the car at the July race in Daytona and again at Watkins Glen in August. At Daytona, Haley was running third on the last lap coming off Turn 4. He made a bold move to pass both Kyle Larson and Elliott Sadler and crossed the finish line first. However, it was determined that Haley had driven below the yellow line while passing, even though there appeared to be enough room to make the pass. As a result, NASCAR penalized Haley, stripping him of the win and awarding it to Kyle Larson, with Haley being placed as the last car on the lead lap. Many expected Haley to drive this car full-time in 2019, but he moved on to Kaulig Racing instead.
Car No. 24 results YearDriverNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233Pts 2018 Justin Haley 24 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY18 KEN NHA IOW GLN38 MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 45th 92
Car No. 96 history Ben Kennedy (2017) On April 17, 2017, it was announced that Ben Kennedy would pilot a new second Xfinity entry for GMS Racing in twelve races, starting with the May race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jeff Stankiewicz, who had served as Kennedy's crew chief during his 2016 Truck Series playoff run, was also appointed crew chief for the No. 96. Brett Moffitt drove the No. 96 at the second Iowa race, securing an 11th-place finish. However, the No. 96 team did not compete in another race after Darlington Raceway, and the team withdrew from several races afterward due to a lack of sponsorship.
Car No. 96 results YearDriverNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233Pts2017 Ben Kennedy 96 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL CLT25 DOV18 POCWth MCH36 IOW DAY KEN32 NHA IND18 BRI19 ATL DAR12 RCHWth CHIWth KEN DOVWth CLTWth KAN TEX PHO HOM 28th 326 Brett Moffitt IOW11 GLN MOH
Closure On November 21, 2019, GMS Racing announced the closure of their Xfinity Series program to concentrate on their Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series teams.
Craftsman Truck Series Truck No. 2 history Cody Coughlin (2018) On January 16, 2018, it was announced that Cody Coughlin would drive the No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet for the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. On September 24, 2018, Coughlin was released due to sponsorship issues. Spencer Gallagher drove the truck at the Talladega race, where he finished 25th. Sheldon Creed was then announced as the driver for the remainder of the season.
Sheldon Creed (2018–2021)
Sheldon Creed took over the No. 2 truck full-time in 2019, after running the last four races of the 2018 season. On July 22, 2019, GMS Racing announced that Jeff Stankiewicz would replace Doug Randolph as the crew chief for the No. 2 truck. On August 6, 2019, NASCAR suspended Stankiewicz, truck chief Austin Pollak, and engineer Jonathan Stewart for three races through September 10 after the No. 2 truck was found to have a ballast container violation during post-race inspection at Eldora Dirt Derby. Darren Fraley served as interim crew chief during Stankiewicz's suspension. Creed finished 11th in points with four top-5 finishes and 11 top-10 finishes.
Creed had a breakout season in 2020. He won his first race in a rain-shortened Buckle Up in Your Truck 225, and his first non-rain-shortened win in the BrakeBest Select 159 five weeks later. Creed eventually won the championship with five wins, nine top-fives, and thirteen top-tens.