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| Photo Credit: Ryan Farley/Stock Car Media |
It was announced this afternoon (8/31/21) that JTG Daugherty Racing will halt their second entry, the No. 37 team, and return to a one car team come the end of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. JTG Daugherty Racing made this decision on the basis that they could merge their efforts to make the No. 47 team highly competitive.
For nearly five years, JTG Daugherty Racing has been known as a two car team, but now after sponsorship has faltered for the organization, the No. 47 team has become a main focus. Originally beginning the No. 37 team in the fall 2016, has put a lot of blood sweat and tears into this team. JTG Daugherty Racing signed Chris Buescher on to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the No. 37 car, and with the No. 16 charter being leased to the team, early on there was great influence from Roush Fenway Racing.
In the 2019 season Ryan Preece joined the team to drive the No. 47 Chevrolet, but after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joined in 2020, Ryan Preece moved to the No. 37 team. Now in his 3rd season with the team, Ryan Preece is facing unemployment among a heavily saturated job market for NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Drivers like Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman sit alongside Ryan Preece, knowing that they will not be returning to their current race team next season. So far there has not been opportunities for DiBenedetto or Newman, and unfortunately for Ryan Preece it’s safe to say out of the three candidates, he likely would not be a team’s first choice.
Preece has the statistics to show, scoring two Top-5 and 9 Top-10 finishes in his time with the often underfunded team, he has been a fairly good driver the No. 37 team. Modified racing is what got Ryan Preece into the NASCAR scene, and to this day he has continued to make one offs in various modified racing series. If the NASCAR Cup Series doesn’t work out for Preece, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him look straight past both the NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series, and move head on into the NASCAR Wheelen Modified Tour.
Coming into his 3rd season with JTG Daugherty Racing, it was made public information that sponsorship for the No. 37 team was very thin, and that the team may not be able to run the entire 2021 season. As of right now, the No. 37 team appears to be on the right track to continue what will be their final season, but nothing can be done at this point to save them. Something miraculous could happen for Ryan Preece, bidding the continuation of his NASCAR Cup Series career, but unfortunately his chances look very bleak.
According to Stock Car Media’s sources, employees for JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 37 team had no certain knowledge of this major change in the race team’s structure, only knowing that the overall situation was very tight, until the press release on Tuesday (8/31/21)
During a conference call previewing the playoffs, Brad Daugherty said the current plan is for JTG Daugherty Racing to field one car next season. pic.twitter.com/tMmUJGrt0P
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 1, 2021
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