Sheldon Creed, No. 2 LiftKits4Less Chevrolet Silverado
START: 4th
FINISH: 9th
POINTS: 5th
- Sheldon Creed entered Martinsville five points above the cutline as he looked to advance and defend his title. Creed would start in the fourth position and run up front for the first half of the race.
- With stage points at a premium, Creed and the No. 2 team would put those as the main focus, finishing second in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2. Early on, it appeared as if the defending champion had a clear route to making it to Phoenix.
- As the race progressed, differing strategy would mire Creed back in traffic, putting him in some precarious positions on restarts. Contact between two other trucks sent Sheldon in the wall, resulting in major right front damage.
- Creed would rally back and cross the line with a ninth place finish, but ultimately, he would come up three points shy of advancing. The driver, who is advancing to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2022, will have one more shot to win a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race next Friday at Phoenix Raceway.
Quote: “Frustrating way to end our Playoffs run, I feel like I gave respect to everyone all day in an effort to gain our points the honest way, but we just got driven into. Not that I haven’t done that in the past, but with all of the circumstances, not making the final four, it’s just tough. What a frustrating way to end that, just not a whole lot of respect.”
Zane Smith, No. 21 MRC Construction Chevrolet Silverado
START: 9th
FINISH: 1st
POINTS: 1st
- Zane Smith and the No. 21 GMS Racing team had one agenda in mind entering Martinsville: win. Due to the points situation, Smith would need to win in order to advance to the final round of the Playoffs at Phoenix. The sophomore driver would start from the ninth position in the 200 lap race.
- Smith would gain several spots early on in Stage 1, notching a sixth place finish, but would have to overcome adversity when he radioed to his crew saying that he was down on power and that the truck was smoking in the cockpit. A strategy call brought Smith down pit road before the end of Stage 2, where he would rally back to finish eighth, but would cycle out to the lead from that point on.
- Going for his first win of the season, Smith would race aggressively, hanging onto the lead for the majority of the final run. On the green-white-checkered finish, the No. 21 MRC Construction Silverado would dart to the bottom in a daring three wide pass to take the lead, and ultimately, the win at Martinsville.
#21in21: With the win at Martinsville, Zane Smith advanced to the next round of the Playoffs and will compete for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. Last season, Smith would finish second to GMS Racing teammate Sheldon Creed in the race and the championship. This year, he looks to better that spot by one as he races into the Valley of the Sun.
Quote: “Man, I did not want Todd in front of me, he’s a good buddy of mine, but I got hit from the No. 16 so it wasn’t all on me. Man, such hard racing, thank you so much to MRC Construction, Mike Avila, Mike Beam, and Maury Gallagher. I’ll tell you what, after last year, I haven’t been able to sleep right all year, so I’m going to do my best to win the thing.”
Chase Purdy, No. 23 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado
START: 13th
FINISH: 40th
POINTS: 19th
- Chase Purdy made his second start at Martinsville Speedway, starting in the 13th position after a Top 10 showing in the series’ last race at Talladega. Purdy would slot in line right around where he started, holding his own in the opening laps of the race.
- Purdy would remark that he smelled smoke inside the cockpit of his No. 23 Bama Buggies Chevrolet with an apparent issue very early on. On lap 33, he would bring his truck down pit road to the attention of the crew, where they diagnosed the issue as a rear gear failure.
- With no way to fix the issue, the rookie was forced to park his truck early, resulting in a disappointing 40th place finish.
Quote: “Man, what a super frustrating way to end our day. I really thought that we were able to get our truck handling great there, but we just weren’t able to get a chance to show for it there. Looking forward to wrapping up the season next weekend in Phoenix and ending our year on a high note with our No. 23 GMS Racing team.”
Jack Wood, No. 24 Chevy Cares Chevrolet Silverado
START: 34th
FINISH: 27th
POINTS: 30th
- Jack Wood made his first start at Martinsville Speedway starting deep in the field, rolling off from the 34th position. In Stage 1, Wood was able to pass ten trucks en route to a 24th place finish. He would also gain his lap back via the free pass.
- On lap 65, Jack was spun by another competitor off turn two. Luckily, the No. 24 Chevrolet did not suffer any damage, and the rookie was able to continue onwards. In Stage 2, Wood backed up his Stage 1 finish with another 24th place run. Once again, he would gain a lap back from the free pass.
- Wood continued to run consistently for the remainder of the race, learning more each lap at ‘The Paperclip’. Unfortunately for Jack, he would be caught up in the last lap crash, resulting in a 27th place finish.
Quote: “What a crazy racetrack, that place is so small and you race so rough around there, definitely not a lot of give and take there. I felt like where our starting position was, we were able to make up some solid ground. Congrats to Zane and all the No. 21 guys, we have one more race this year in Phoenix and I’m ready to go back there. I can’t thank my No. 24 guys, GMS Racing, and Chevrolet enough for all the support, we are going to take these experiences and put them towards next year.”
Tyler Ankrum, No. 26 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado
START: 19th
FINISH: 26th
POINTS: 15th
- Tyler Ankrum entered the penultimate race of the season with high hopes of a solid finish to finish out the season. Starting from the 19th position, Ankrum would begin to gain ground on the nearest competition.
- Ankrum would pass numerous trucks to finish 15th in Stage 1, and gained one additional spot to finish 14th in Stage 2. Tyler would note that his No. 26 LiUNA! Chevrolet would swing to the tight side, prompting crew chief Charles Denike to make adjustments to help the overall balance.
- The adjustments would help Tyler gain spots in the closing moments of the race, but similarly to teammate Jack Wood, Ankrum would also be caught up in the last lap fiasco which took out multiple fast trucks. Tyler would come home with a disappointing 26th place finish.
Quote: “Another unfortunate finish here at Martinsville today, I was frustrated because I thought that we were able to get our truck to drive pretty well there, but we just ultimately got caught up in others’ messes there at the end. We’ve got one more shot to go out and have a good run in Phoenix, and I’m looking forward to ending our season on a positive note.”
ABOUT GMS RACING:
GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Chase Purdy and Jack Wood. The team also competes in the ARCA Menards Series with Daniel Dye. Since the team began in 2014, GMS Racing won the 2016 and 2020 Camping World Trucks Championship, the 2015 ARCA Menards Series championship as well as the 2019 & 2020 ARCA East championship. GMS has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication. More information can be found at https://gmsracing.net
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