 |
| Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images (Edited by Ryan Farley) |
As many of us know, Ty Dillon, the grandson of NASCAR Hall of Farmer Richard Childress and the little brother of NASCAR Cup Series winner Austin Dillon lost his ride at Germain Racing at the end of last season, when Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan purchased the team’s assets to begin the already successful 23XI Racing. While the past season has been a difficult one for Ty Dillon, it seems as though a door may be opening for the unemployed driver.
GMS Racing, a long time participant in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Mendards Series, and NASCAR Xfinity Series made it clear earlier this season that they had intentions of joining the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022 as the NASCAR Gen 7 era begins.
Leveling up in 2022. #WeAreGMS #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/adOTa6cYyx
— GMS Racing (@GMSRacingLLC) June 17, 2021
Since then, the world of NASCAR has heard few detail’s of the team’s plans, but we do know that they hope field a car full time, and more recently we found out that Ty Dillon is at the top of their list of drivers to consider. Read below as Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported earlier this week:
GMS President Mike Beam said Cup car will be full time next year. Wouldn't say the driver (as I said, Ty Dillon is the front runner). Will be at the Oct 11-12 Next Gen test at Charlotte. As far as trucks, likely will have 3-4. Enfinger, Wood & TBA (Purdy possibly in one).
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 1, 2021
It’s no surprise that a driver with as much experience and talent as Ty Dillon would be one of the team’s top candidates to drive their car next season, but sponsorship does rise a decent concern. In Dillon’s time in the NASCAR Cup Series with Germain Racing, Geico Insurance was the team’s only major sponsor, and when the popular insurance company parted ways with the team at the end of last season it left Ty Dillon and Germain Racing in a vulnerable position. One that 23XI took advantage of when they purchased the team’s assets.
The kind of sponsorship that Dillon might bring to GMS would once again be fairly limited, as in all honesty the driver never really formed any personal relationships with any large companies on his own.
During Ty Dillon’s time in the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series with his grandfather’s team, Dillon drive race cars under the Bass Pro Shops, General Mills (Cheerios), and Alsco Uniforms banner. Ty Dillon had significant success in Richard Childress Racing’s well built race cars, but this success never truly caught the attention of major sponsors. Geico, who sponsored Dillon at Germain Racing, was not exactly a sponsor of Dillon and more a sponsor of the team, as Geico sponsored Germain Racing with drivers like Max Papis and Casey Mears since 2008.When Ty Dillon made the move from RCR to Germain Racing, indeed his skill was a big selling factor for the team, but the transition was almost definitely facilitated by the technical alliance that his grandfather Richard Childress had with the team.
In 2021, following the closure of Germain Racing, Dillon has struggled to find opportunities to race. A few part-time opportunities arose as Dillon would drive the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for four races, a handful of races for Our Motorsports’ Xfinity Series team, and a few starts for Gaunt Brothers Racing driving the team’s No. 96 Camry in the NASCAR Cup Series. One detail that ties all of these deals together is that in each ride he obtained sponsorship from companies that sponsored his grandfather’s team, especially Bass Pro Shops.
Bass Pro Shops’ relationship with Richard Childress Racing arose from the late great Dale Earnhardt who drove the team’s No. 3 from the 1980’s through 2001, until the famed driver was involved in a fatal accident. Since then Johnny Morris’ popular outdoor brand has appeared on many of Richard Childress’ race cars, and it appears they have stayed loyal to Childress’ grandsons, including Ty Dillon. It is not completely out of the realm of possibility to assume that Bass Pro Shops could follow Ty Dillon as a sponsor if he returns to the NASCAR Cup Series next season with GMS Racing, though that would mean the company providing primary sponsorship to four full time race teams, the No. 19 of Martin Truex, Jr. , the No. 3 of Austin Dillon, the No. 9 of Noah Gragson (Xfinity Series), and then presumably Ty Dillon in a number that is still unknown.
While for many race teams the incoming driver is expected to bring in significant funding, we must not forget that GMS Racing itself has some reliable sponsors, especially those who currently support their NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. One of those sponsors would be LiftKits4Less.com, who has sponsored the underfunded Sheldon Creed for a majority of the 2021 season. Due to the fact that Sheldon Creed will be joining Richard Childress Racing's Xfinity Series team next season, it does put this sponsor into question. They will likely follow Creed to Xfinity, meaning their budget to sponsor GMS will be limited, though the truth of the matter is that it seems LiftKits4Less is dedicated to GMS. LiftKits4Less.com CEO Christopher Davenport commented on the GMS Racing's move to the Cup Series, saying "I wonder what company will be on their new GMS Cup Car? I know who I would like it to be…". This statement implies that Christopher Davenport has intention's of sponsoring GMS's full time Cup Series entry, and with LiftKits4Less potentially joining forces with Richard Childress Racing, Ty Dillon's familial relation could come in handy when trying to land this sponsor.
Now, according to Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass (in the tweet above), GMS Racing will appear in the Next Gen test at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on October (2021) 11th and 12th which could very well reveal some important details, but before that GMS has some major news to break. It is scheduled that on the October 10th, 2021 at 10:00 PM ET (live on NASCAR.com), GMS Racing will hold a press release pertaining to their 2022 Cup Series entry. While we have absolutely now way of knowing for certain as of yet what the press release will include, and leave out, we can expect that the team will probably announce their driver lineup and the car number for their full time Cup Series team. As we've expressed, Ty Dillon is the top candidate to drive GMS Racing's car, and I would expect him to join the team, though until the press release occurs we must not rule out other options.
One notable option that GMS Racing may be considering is Wood Brothers Racing's Matt DiBenedetto. Though the fan favorite DiBenedetto has told fans, time and time again that he has not had any luck in the procedure of finding a ride in 2022, we've heard fibs like those before, and obviously things in the racing world can change quite quickly. Matt DiBenedetto is a fairly talented stock car driver, I would say about as skillful as Ty Dillon, and his ride at Wood Brothers Racing has up and disappeared. Last season, DiBenedetto was given a one season notice, as close team partner, Team Penske had Austin Cindric slated to fill the seat of WBR's No. 21 car in 2022. That all changed this past summer when long time Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski announced his recent partial-ownership of Roush Fenway Racing and and that he would be leaving Penske's No. 2 car to drive Roush Fenway's No. 6 in 2022. That left an opportunity for Cindric to join Team Penske more directly, and an open spot at Wood Brothers Racing, one that Harrison Burton would fill. As far as the NASCAR media community is aware Matt DiBenedetto remains unemployed for the 2022 NASCAR season, but GMS Racing very well could be his last real shot at a NASCAR Cup Series ride in the following season. DiBenedetto really has little to zero sponsorship of his own, which is not a leg up against Ty Dillon, therefore I feel that DiBenedetto very well could be a candidate for GMS Racing but he would not be their first choice.
To find out the real truth to this story, unfortunately investigative reporting can only go so far, meaning that all that any of us can really do is sit and wait for further information. Regardless of any official announcements, the possibilities look to be in favor of Ty Dillon. With any luck we may see the Dillon brothers, Ty and Austin, racing together in the NASCAR Cup Series once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment