As expected, GMS Racing announces Brett Moffitt as 2019 Truck Series driver
The wheels on this crazy train sure do move fast …
Just one day removed from a surprising announcement courtesy of GMS Racing that 2016 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter was released from the team, the organization announced 2018 Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt as the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for the 2019 season.
“Brett will be an excellent addition to the GMS organization,” said team president Mike Bean in a statement. “Last year he showed the racing world the amount of talent and determination he has, especially while facing some adversity throughout the season. We look forward to helping him win his second championship and ours as well.”
Of course, this was not a surprise to Sauter, who said in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio shortly after the announcement of his release that he expected Moffitt to take his place.
“I’m excited to be given the chance to defend my 2018 championship,” Moffitt said. “I have to thank the Gallagher family and everyone at GMS for this opportunity. I can’t wait to start working with (crew chief) Jerry (Baxter) and the guys to kick off the season at Daytona in a few weeks.”
Sauter and Moffitt both tied for the most wins of the season with six apiece, though Sauter finished fourth in the standings while Moffit went on to win his first career championship.
Moffitt was released from his championship-winning team — Hattori Racing Enterprises — shortly after the end of the 2018 season due to a lack of funding, something the team struggled with all year despite contending for a title. The team instead picked up driver Austin Hill.
Moffitt will be teammates with 2018 ARCA Racing Series champion Sheldon Creed, who will drive the No. 2 Chevrolet. GMS Racing will also continue their technical alliance with Halmar Friesen Racing and driver Stewart Friesen.
The season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway is Friday, February 15th.
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Oscar Meyer will sponsor Ryan Newman in the Daytona 500
17-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran driver Ryan Newman is moving over to Roush Fenway Racing from Richard Childress Racing for the 2019 season and will have a sponsor on his car for the Daytona 500 that may stir up memories of an old, familiar jingle.
Oscar Mayer, the iconic meat and cold cut production company, will sponsor Newman’s No. 6 Ford in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The company will also appear as a primary sponsor in the March 10th race at ISM Raceway, as well as “a number of races throughout the year”, according to a team release.
“The Daytona 500 is obviously one of the biggest and most iconic races in the world,” Newman said in a team release. “And I can’t think of a better way to kick off the season and our partnership with Oscar Mayer; one of the most beloved brands in the world.”
Oscar Mayer will serve as an associate on Newman’s No. 6 car throughout the entire season as well.
The bologna with a first name goes way back with Jack Roush, having been featured on the cars of Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch when they won back-to-back championships for Roush back in the early 2000s.
The 41-year-old Newman won the 2008 Daytona 500 and has won a total of 18 races throughout his career. His last victory came in the 2017 Camping World 500 at ISM Raceway while driving for RCR.
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Harrison Burton will run five ARCA races for Venturini Motorsports
18-year-old Harrison Burton is already going to have a full plate in 2019, driving full-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
And now he has added five more races to his schedule.
The son of 21-time winner and former Monster Energy Cup Series driver Jeff Burton, Harrison will compete in five races in the ARCA Racing Series driving the No. 20 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports.
Burton’s schedule includes the season opener on Saturday, February 9th at Daytona International Speedway; the May 23rd race at Charlotte Motor Speedway; the May 31st event at Pocono Raceway; the June 27th event at Chicagoland Speedway; and the October 18th season finale at Kansas Speedway.
Burton has competed in 11 ARCA races since 2016 and has earned two victories in that time frame: the 2017 race at Toledo Speedway and at Pocono Raceway in July of 2018. He was driving for Matthew Miller in both events.
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Hattori Racing Enterprises expands to NASCAR K&N East
Hattori Racing Enterprises earned the 2018 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship with driver Brett Moffitt, but released Moffitt at the end of the season and will have Austin Hill driving for them in 2019.
HRE will be making another change this season — they will expand into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, a regional NASCAR touring series.
Max McLaughlin will drive the team’s full-time entry in the No. 1 Toyota with Robert Huffman serving as crew chief. McLaughlin is the son of six-time XFINITY Series winner Mike McLaughlin.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to further my career,” McLaughlin said in a team release. “This will be my first concentrated effort in asphalt racing and this will be a big change and challenge. I’m definitely looking forward to the variety of racetracks and our expectation is to go win races and be a contender for the championship. This will be a big transition for me, but there are a lot of great people at HRE and I’m confident we’ll be one of the teams to beat throughout the season.”
Max McLaughlin has spent the past couple of years in the Super DirtCar Series Big Block Modified tour, finishing third in the driver standings last season.
He also has one Truck Series start to his credit, driving the No. 38 truck for Al Niece to a 12th-place effort at Eldora Speedway last July.
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BJ McLeod Motorsports will have three full-time XFINITY Series teams
In the team’s fourth year in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, BJ McLeod Motorsports will have three full-time entries, with Vinnie Miller driving the team’s flagship No. 78 car and Matt Mills piloting their No. 8 entry.
The team’s No. 99 entry will include a rotating group of drivers, such as team owner BJ McLeod himself, Tommy Joe Martins and JA Avila Jr. The team still has open seats for the 2019 season.
“After going straight to work the week after Homestead, all in preparation for 2019, we feel like we got a great start for the upcoming season,” said McLeod. “We are stoked to announce our driver line-up and we are all looking forward to spend our weekends at the track.”
16 different drivers made starts for BJ McLeod Motorsports in the XFINITY Series in 2018: Avila, Caesar Bacarella, Ray Black Jr., Angela Ruch, Bayley Currey, Ryan Ellis, Scott Heckert, Blake Jones, Stephen Leicht, Martins, McLeod, Miller, Mills, Dylan Murcott, Cole Rouse and Cody Ware.
The team’s best finish was a 13th-place result by Bacarella in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
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Interesting, to me, that there is relatively little on the internet about this week’s tire test in California. There were some articles about some of the Wednesday test, but I have not seen anything about the Thursday test. Given this is the only on-track action so far this month, I would have expected Nascar and the track to generate more publicity than I have seen (but then, maybe the track is sold out for all of its Nascar races this year, and sees little need any any more publicity).
Also, I have not seen any writers comment (or explain, complain, whatever) on why Chevy was not represented at the tire test.
Interest, at least to me, that there have been relatively few internet articles about this week’s tire test at Fontana. I saw some articles about Wednesday’s testing, but I have not seen anything about the Thursday testing. Given that this is the only on-track driving so far this month, I would have expected more publicity from Nascar and the track (on the other hand, maybe the track has sold out all of its Nascar races this year, and sees little need for any more publicity, and maybe Nascar does not see any need to generate any buzz in the relatively nearby LA market).
Also interesting to me is the lack of comments (ie, explaining, complaining, whatever) from writers about the Chevy absence at the tire tests (three cars were present – two Fords and a Toyota).