Getty Tyler Ankrum (bottom) races for GMS at Talladega Superspeedway.
GMS Racing has just provided some big news about the 2022 Camping World Truck Series season. The NASCAR team has revealed that it will field fewer entries on a weekly basis than in the 2021 season while competing in two national series.
GMS Racing executives met with media members on Sunday, October 10, to reveal that Ty Dillon will be the full-time driver for the team’s first Cup Series season. However, president Mike Beam also answered questions about the Truck Series team. According to Racer’s Kelly Crandall, GMS Racing’s current plan is to field three entries in the Truck Series while keeping Daniel Dye in the ARCA Menards Series.
GMS Racing fielded five trucks during the 2021 season. Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, and Chase Purdy, and Tyler Ankrum all ran full-time schedules while Jack Wood ran part-time. Though Purdy missed the race at Watkins Glen International on August 7 after testing positive for COVID-19.
2 Drivers Have Signed Deals for the 2022 Truck Series Season
GettyTruck Series drivers race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
With GMS Racing moving to only three Trucks for 2022, there is a guarantee that the lineup will look very different from the 2021 iteration. Recent moves — including the departure of one driver and new contracts given to two others — have only further ensured this outcome.
The first big step in GMS Racing’s silly season was the announcement that Jack Wood will return to the team in 2022 and run a full schedule in the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado. The part-time schedule in 2021 served as a solid test run and led to a 10th-place finish at Worldwide Technology Raceway on Friday, August 20. Now Wood will compete for wins and a spot in the playoffs.
The moves continued with the news that defending Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed will leave the team at the end of the 2021 campaign. He will move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series and join Richard Childress Racing on a full-time basis with Whelen Engineering as his primary sponsor.
Finally, GMS Racing announced on October 1 that ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger will make his long-awaited return in 2022. The Alabama native won an ARCA Menards Series championship with GMS Racing in 2015 and then he won a Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in 2016. Now Enfinger will return to the team, drive the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado, and pursue more wins during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Questions Remain About Other GMS Racing Drivers
With Wood and Enfinger locked up for the 2022 season, there is only one seat remaining at GMS Racing. However, there are multiple drivers fighting for that spot, so someone will be left on the outside looking in.
According to Frontstretch, there are questions about the three remaining drivers. Beam told the outlet on October 1 that he thinks Ankrum is “going to go do something else” after failing to make the playoffs in 2021. He added that Purdy and his backers remain undecided about the upcoming season.
Smith would seem to be the logical choice after he secured a spot in the 2021 playoffs and reached the Round of Eight. However, Beam told Frontstretch that Smith remains undecided about the season like his teammates.
There is a scenario where one of these three remaining drivers lands with GMS Racing for the 2022 Truck Series season. However, the team could also go in a new direction and bring in a new face to partner with Wood and Enfinger.
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