Richard Petty Motorsports has agreed to sell a majority interest to GMS Racing owner Maury Gallagher, the two teams announced on Thursday. GMS Racing, a championship-winning race team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, will now acquire two Cup Series charters from Richard Petty Motorsports as it makes the move to the top division in 2022.
According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, the deal between the two teams involves the two charters owned by Petty, which were used for Petty’s No. 43 as well as for Rick Ware Racing’s No. 51. The charter that had been leased to Rick Ware Racing is now expected to be transferred to GMS’ new No. 94, which will be driven by Ty Dillon in 2022.
According to Dustin Long of NBC Sports, additional details of the merger will be announced on December 7 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“This is a special moment for both organizations, as the Next Gen car allows a new chapter to be written,” read a statement by both teams.
The deal for Richard Petty Motorsports’ majority interest has merit for both teams ahead of the introduction of NASCAR’s Next Gen car in 2022. With the acquisition of a charter, GMS Racing will now be guaranteed a spot in every Cup Series race as they seek to build on their Truck Series success. The move also serves as a potential boon to Petty’s team, which has not won a race since 2014 and scored only six top-10 finishes with Erik Jones in 2021.
The sale of Richard Petty Motorsports’ majority interest is the latest radical move that has taken place on the suddenly lucrative NASCAR charter market. Trackhouse Racing acquired two charters by purchasing Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation earlier this year, while 23XI Racing purchased another charter from StarCom Racing at the end of the 2021 season.
