Sheldon Creed, No. 2 A.M. Ortega / United Rentals Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
This will be Creed’s first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway.
2018 Season Stats
2 starts, Best Finish: 15th (Eldora)
Notes:
– Climbing behind the wheel for his first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second of four races in 2018 with GMS Racing, Creed will utilize chassis no. 312 for Friday night’s race. The No. 2 team has used this particular chassis three times in 2018 with Cody Coughlin, including when the NCWTS raced at Texas earlier this season, finishing a chassis-best eighth.
– While this may be Creed’s first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway, this won’t be the first time the 21-year-old will have seen the facility. In June of 2017, Creed competed in the inaugural SPEED Energy Stadium Super Truck Series “No Limits Rumble” event, leading the most laps and collecting the win in the second race of the weekend.
– Like at Martinsville Speedway, Creed’s No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado will carry sponsor A.M. Ortega onboard this weekend at Texas. A.M. Ortega’s mission is to provide diverse civil engineering solutions for current and future generations with emphasis on safety, excellent workmanship and innovation. Also featured on the No. 2 at Texas will be United Rentals, another partner who has had longtime success as a part of Creed’s racing career.
Quote:
“I’ve been counting down the weeks until we go to Texas (Motor Speedway). I was excited to get in a truck for Martinsville, but I’ve had Texas circled as the track I was most excited for. The air is going to be huge for these trucks there, and I know I’ll have to get us to that compared to racing an ARCA car. GMS has fast mile-and-a-half trucks, and I know that both Johnny (Sauter) and Justin (Haley) have had success there, which helps. I raced at Texas last year in Stadium Super Trucks and got the win on night two. I burned the tires down that night, and I’m hoping to have the chance to do the same this weekend in the No. 2.”
Johnny Sauter, No. 21 ISM Connect Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
20 starts, 5 win, 10 top-fives, 16 top-10s, 3 poles
2018 Season Stats
20 starts, 6 wins, 14 top-fives, 16 top-10s
Notes:
– Sauter will run GMS chassis no. 306 at Texas Motor Speedway for the second time this year. The No. 21 team debuted this chassis at Texas in the spring with Sauter leading 51 laps on the way to his fourth win of year. Most recently, this Chevy was raced at Michigan International Speedway where Sauter started seventh and finished second, just missing out on the win.
– The Fort Worth 1.5-mile track has been good to the veteran driver who has won the last two fall events at Texas Motor Speedway. He also won this year’s spring race and has finished no worse than eighth at Texas since joining GMS in 2016.
– Sauter has locked in his position in the Championship Four and continues to lead the point standings after picking up his sixth win of the 2018 season.
Quotes:
“A lot of people would look at our situation and think that it’s a relief to start this round with a win and already have a spot locked up in Miami, but we can’t back down these next two weeks. Six wins is great, it’s something that means a lot to me and this team, everyone back at GMS, but we have a championship to prepare for and if we let our guard down now we wouldn’t be doing ourselves any favors.
“Texas is a track that we’re always strong at. We’ve got the same truck from the spring and we’ve learned a lot since being there back in June, so a strong truck plus the things we’ve been able to figure out along the way should put us in a good position to pick up another win and show that we’re not going to play it safe.”
Justin Haley, No. 24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
3 starts, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s , 1 pole
2018 Season Stats
20 starts, 2 wins, 8 top-fives, 16 top-10s
Notes:
– The Fraternal Order of Eagles team will unload chassis no. 305 this weekend at Texas, a staple in the No. 24 team’s fleet. Haley has raced this chassis six previous times in 2018, including earlier this year at Texas where Haley qualified 10th and finished a track-best, as well as a chassis-best, third in the Spring.
– After the first race of the Round of Six, Haley closed the gap and now sits only two points below the NASCAR Playoffs cutline heading into Texas with the NCWTS race at ISM Raceway remaining as well before the final field of four is set for Championship weekend in Homestead.
Quote:
“Texas (Motor Speedway) is one of my best tracks we race at. I’ve never finished worse than sixth in three starts there, plus we won the pole last fall. We always bring a fast Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet there and the GMS Fabrication guys have been working hard to improve our immediate trucks in the wind tunnel.
“Texas is a track where in Turns Three and Four you’re wide open all the way. You may be wide open in Turns One and Two if the conditions are right during a mock run, but you’ll lift quite a bit there during the race. I’m confident we’ll show up with the speed we usually have there, but hopefully we can maintain the good finishes we have at Texas. Obviously being below the Playoff cut line in the Round of Six, a good run would go a long way for our championship hopes.”
Tyler Dippel, No. 25 Turning Point USA / America First Chevrolet Silverado
Texas Stats
This will be Dippel’s first NCWTS start at Texas Motor Speedway.
2018 Season Stats
2 starts, Best Finish: 13th (Eldora)
Notes:
– The No. 25 team will utilize GMS chassis no. 303 for this weekend’s race. This Chevrolet has been raced eight times this year for two top-10 and five top-15 finishes. Earlier this year, Dalton Sargeant raced this truck to an 11th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway.
– Dippel made his debut at GMS Racing last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, earning a 17th place finish in only his second career NCWTS start. After practice was rained out, Dippel took to the track for the first time in qualifying and locked in the 25th-place starting spot.
Quote:
“After starting off at a tough track like Martinsville, I’m looking forward to heading to Texas with the No. 25 team. It’s another clean slate for me, having never raced a 1.5-mile track, but I know Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) has had a lot of success there and the team has a good plan in place for where we need to be when we unload. GMS as a whole has a strong intermediate track program and Johnny (Sauter) and Justin (Haley) will continue to help a lot with my learning process.”
ABOUT GMS RACING
GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley, Sheldon Creed and Tyler Dippel, and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Since the team’s start in 2014, GMS Racing has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication.
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