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Tag: Petty GMS Motorsports

  • Dave Elenz to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Talladega

    Dave Elenz to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Talladega

    In his third full-time season as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Dave Elenz, who works atop the pit box of the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by Erik Jones, is poised to achieve a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s Cup Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway, Elenz will call his 100th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Elenz, a native of Gaylord, Michigan, earned a mechanical engineering degree from Clemon University in 2003, He first worked for Jasper Racing from 2001 to 2003 before joining MB2 as he measured cars and bodies. In 2008, he joined Team Penske to work as a race engineer for Sam Hornish Jr. and the No. 77 team before joining Red Bull Racing as an engineer, a role he retained through 2011. The following season, he joined Hendrick Motorsports to work as an engineer on the No. 88 team piloted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. before shifting to the No. 48 team piloted by five-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

    The 2015 season marked Elenz’s first season as a crew chief in NASCAR as he joined JR Motorsports to lead the team’s No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro entry piloted by five different competitors throughout the Xfinity Series season. During the season, Elenz notched his first two career victories, both occurring with the reigning Cup champion Kevin Harvick and navigated the No. 88 team to a 12th-place finish in the final owner’s standings. From 2015 to 2021, Elenz worked with 14 different competitors and notched 15 Xfinity career victories, including three season-opening events at Daytona International Speedway. He also notched back-to-back Xfinity Series championships between 2017-18, the first occurring with William Byron and the second with Tyler Reddick, all while working atop the pit box of JRM’s No. 9 team.

    Coming off a strong 2021 Xfinity campaign with Noah Gragson and the No. 9 JR Motorsports team highlighted with three victories and a third-place finish in the final standings, Elenz was promoted back to the Cup Series for the 2022 season to work as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. The duo commenced the season with a 29th-place finish during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 amid a late multi-car wreck before rallying the following weekend at Auto Club Speedway by finishing third. Elenz and Jones would proceed to record seven additional top-10 results throughout 24 regular-season events, with Elenz being suspended from participating at Pocono Raceway in July amid an L1 penalty for violations pertaining to the rocker box assemblies, and they would miss the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Then during the 2022 Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Elenz notched his first Cup career victory as a crew chief after Jones capitalized on a 20-lap shootout to fend off Denny Hamlin and notch both his third Cup career win and his second Southern 500 victory. The victory for both Jones and Elenz occurred 55 years to the day when team owner Richard Petty won his first and only Southern 500 (1967) as the duo snapped an eight-year winless drought for Petty’s No. 43 team and became the first non-Playoff team to win a Cup Series Playoff opener. Following the Southern 500 victory, Elenz and Jones would finish in the top 10 in three of the remaining nine Playoff events before settling in 18th place in the final drivers’ standings.

    The following season, when Petty GMS Motorsports was rebranded to Legacy Motor Club, Elenz and Jones commenced the season with a 37th-place finish in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 following a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Then following the next 14 events, where the duo had managed to record only two top-10 results, Elenz was issued a two-race suspension and fined $75,000 after the No. 43 team was issued an L1 penalty and a 60-point dock for modifications to the car’s greenhouse.

    After being absent from Sonoma Raceway in June, Legacy Motor Club attempted to appeal the penalty, which allowed Elenz to work atop the No. 43 pit box for the following event at Nashville Superspeedway but would lose the appeal by late June as Elenz would be absent for the inaugural Chicago Street Race in early July.

    Returning atop the pit box during the following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Elenz would lead Jones and the No. 43 team to two top-10 results during the final eight regular-season events, but they missed the Playoffs for a second consecutive season. During the Playoffs, Elenz and Jones finished 10th at Darlington before recording a season-best third-place result at Kansas Speedway in September amid an overtime shootout. Finishing no higher than 14th during the final eight events on the schedule, the duo settled in 27th place in the final standings.

    Elenz and Jones commenced their third full-time Cup campaign together by finishing eighth in the 66th running of the Daytona 500. Then after racking up three additional top-15 runs over their next eight races, Jones suffered a compression fracture in his lower vertebra following a hard accident at Talladega in April, which caused him to miss the next two races as Corey Heim, a Craftsman Truck Series competitor for TRICON Garage, filled in for Jones.

    After Heim finished no higher than 22nd during his two-race stint, Jones returned to competition at Darlington Raceway in May and finished 19th. Finishing no higher than 14th throughout the remaining 14 regular-season events, Elenz and Jones did not make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. Since the start of the Playoffs, the duo are coming off four consecutive top-35 results, with their highest result being a 26th-place run during the Playoff opener at Atlanta. Currently, Jones and the No. 43 team are ranked in 32nd place in the drivers’ standings.

    Through 99 previous Cup events, Elenz has achieved one victory, four top-five results and 20 top-10 results while working with two different competitors.

    Dave Elenz is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series career event as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 6, with the event’s coverage to occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Ty Dillon to make 200th Cup career start at Homestead

    Ty Dillon to make 200th Cup career start at Homestead

    Competing in his fifth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Ty Dillon is bound to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the driver of the No. 42 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will reach career start No. 200 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Welcome, North Carolina, and the grandson of NASCAR championship-winning team owner Richard Childress, Dillon made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August 2014. By then, he had campaigned in two Camping World Truck Series seasons for Richard Childress Racing, where he accumulated three victories and a runner-up result in the championship standings in 2013 during the two seasons, and was competing in his first full-time season in the Xfinity Series for RCR, where he claimed his first career victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. Driving the No. 33 Chevrolet SS for RCR, Dillon started 29th and finished 25th in his series debut. He returned to the Cup circuit at Phoenix Raceway in November, where he finished 27th on the track.

    In 2015, Dillon, who continued to run in the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis while part time in the Cup Series, qualified for his first Daytona 500 start in February after piloting the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet SS to a 16th-place result in the first Daytona Duel qualifying race and earning the final transfer spot to the main event. Starting 31st, Dillon finished 28th in his first 500 attempt after being involved in a late incident. He then competed in four additional Cup races in the No. 33 Chevrolet throughout the 2015 season, where he achieved his season-best result of 14th place at Michigan International Speedway in June.

    The following season, Dillon remained as a full-time Xfinity competitor for RCR and as a part-time Cup Series competitor for two organizations. His first Cup start of the season was the 58th running of the Daytona 500, where he finished 25th while driving the No. 95 Chevrolet SS for Leavine Family Racing. The following race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dillon served as an interim competitor for three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, who was recovering from injuries from a dune buggy accident in January. Driving the No. 14 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in three races, Dillon recorded finishes of 17th, 15th and 25th at Atlanta, Phoenix and at Bristol, respectively. He also relieved for Stewart for the remainder of the Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway in May, where he finished sixth despite the points being awarded to Stewart since Stewart started the race. Along with his interim role at SHR, he made six additional starts in Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Chevrolet. His best results were a 20th-place run at Texas Motor Speedway in April and a 21st-place run at Pocono Raceway in June.

    After three full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series, Dillon was promoted to the Cup Series in 2017 to drive the No. 13 Chevrolet SS for Germain Racing on a full-time basis. In Dillon’s first Cup season, he recorded eight top-15 results, 40 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.7 throughout the 36-race schedule as he concluded the season in 24th place in the final standings and in third place in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings behind Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez. His best results throughout the season were a pair of 11th-place results at Talladega in October and at Phoenix in November.

    Remaining at Germain Racing for a second full-time Cup season in 2018, Dillon achieved his first top-10 career result in NASCAR’s premier series after finishing sixth at Daytona in July. Throughout his sophomore campaign, he recorded four additional top-15 results and an average-finishing result of 24.1. When the final checkered flag of the 2018 season flew, he concluded the season in 27th place in the final standings.

    Dillon commenced the 2019 Cup season by finishing in sixth place during the 61st running of the Daytona 500 in February. After finishing no higher than 15th over the next six races, he finished 15th at Bristol in April after winning the first stage in a photo finish over Clint Bowyer. Two races later, Dillon made his 100th Cup career start at Talladega in April, where he won the first stage before being shuffled back to 17th place in the final running order. He would then achieve his first top-five career finish (fourth place) at Daytona in July during a rain-shortened event. For the remainder of the season, he achieved an additional top 10 and four additional top-15 results before he concluded the season in 24th place in the final standings. Throughout his junior Cup season, he earned an average result of 20.6 and led a total of 14 laps.

    Throughout the 2020 season, which marked his fourth season at Germain Racing, Dillon recorded an average-finishing result of 22.0 as he also achieved two results in the top 10 throughout the 36-race schedule. His lone highlight of the season was achieving a career-best third-place finish at Talladega in October following a two-lap shootout to the finish. In spite of the result, he settled back in 26th place in the final standings.

    Two months prior to the conclusion of the 2020 season, Germain Racing announced plans to cease all operations in NASCAR at season’s end due to longtime sponsor GEICO not renewing with the team for the future, which left Dillon without a full-time ride for the 2021 season. A month prior to the 2021 season, he managed to secure a part-time ride with Gaunt Brothers Racing, where he attempted to qualify for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. Prior to the 500, he competed in the newly-formed No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry for the Busch Clash at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in February, where he started 14th and finished 18th. Despite finishing sixth during the first of two Bluegreen Vacations Duel event at Daytona, Dillon did not qualify for the 500 and waited a week until he made his first Cup start with Gaunt Brothers Racing at the Daytona Road Course, where he finished 19th. His other Cup starts of the season with Gaunt Brothers Racing occurred at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, Circuit of the Americas in May and at Road America in July, where he finished 26th, 21st and 26th, respectively.

    After spending the 2021 season as a part-time competitor with starts across all three NASCAR national touring series, Dillon returned to the Cup Series as a full-time competitor, where he joined forces with the newly-merged Petty GMS Motorsports to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. He commenced the season with an 11th-place result during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 followed by four additional top-20 results through the first six scheduled events before he collected his first top-10 result of the season at the Bristol Dirt Course in April, where he finished 10th. Despite earning an additional eight top-20 results and an average-finishing result of 21.7 throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Dillon did not qualify for the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Coming off five top-25 results during the previous seven Playoff events, including a 16th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in September, he is currently ranked in 29th place in the driver’s standings.

    Through 199 previous Cup starts, Dillon has achieved two top-five results, seven top-10 results, 76 laps led and an average-finishing result of 22.1. While he is set to depart Petty GMS Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2022 season, he is set to join Spire Motorsports as a full-time driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2023 Cup Series season.

    Dillon is scheduled to make his 200th Cup Series career start at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 23, with the event’s coverage to start at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Ty Dillon departing Petty GMS Motorsports following 2022 Cup Series season

    Ty Dillon departing Petty GMS Motorsports following 2022 Cup Series season

    Ty Dillon took to social media to announce that he will not be returning to Petty GMS Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, thus placing himself on the free agency list for the upcoming season.

    The 30-year-old Dillon from Welcome, North Carolina, commenced this season by joining Petty GMS Motorsports, a newly merged team between Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Racing as the driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Through the first 19 of 36-scheduled events, Dillon’s best on-track result has been a 10th-place run at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April. To go along with a total of nine top-20 results and an average-finishing result of 21.6, he is currently in 27th place in the drivers’ standings and trails the cutoff to make the 2022 Cup Playoffs by 213 points.

    The 2022 Cup season marks Dillon’s first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series since 2020, where Dillon had spent four seasons competing for Germain Racing. When Germain Racing ceased operations following the 2020 season, Dillon ended up competing in a total of four Cup events in 2021 for Gaunt Brothers Racing.

    Through 185 previous Cup starts, Dillon has achieved two top-five results, seven top-10 results, 75 laps led and an average-finishing result of 22.0.

    Petty GMS Motorsports also issued a statement through social media regarding Dillon’s announcement.

    Petty GMS Motorsports also fields a second car, the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, that is currently being piloted by Erik Jones. Plans for Jones and the team’s driver lineup for next season are yet to be determined.

    With his racing plans for next season unknown, Dillon continues his pursuit to make the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs by competing in this weekend’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 17, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Erik Jones to make 200th Cup career start at Nashville

    Erik Jones to make 200th Cup career start at Nashville

    Competing in his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Erik Jones is within striking distance of achieving a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at Nashville Superspeedway, the driver of the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 200th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones, who was vying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers’ championship with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2015, made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway in April 2015. During an early rain delay at Bristol, Jones relieved veteran Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota Camry due to Hamlin suffering neck spasms and opting to sit out for the remainder of the event. Dropping to the rear of the field when the race restarted, Jones nursed the No. 11 Toyota to a 26th-place result in his unofficial Cup debut.

    A month later, Jones made his official Cup Series debut at Kansas Speedway in the No. 18 JGR Toyota Camry in place of Kyle Busch, Jones’ Truck Series boss and teammate who was recovering from injuries that included a compound fracture to his right leg stemming from the Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. During the event at Kansas, Jones, who started 12th, was competitive as he led a single lap and ran upfront against the sport’s elite. His race, however, came to an end with 72 laps remaining when he got loose entering Turn 4 and made contact with the outside wall while battling Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson in the top five. The wreck relegated Jones to a 40th-place result in his premier series’ debut.

    Another six months later, Jones returned to the Cup Series and campaigned in two of the final three scheduled events in JGR’s No. 20 Toyota Camry, where he replaced Matt Kenseth as the 2003 Cup champion was serving a two-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville Speedway in early November. Making his first start in the No. 20 car at Texas Motor Speedway, Jones started sixth and finished a season-high 12th place. He went on to finish 19th at Phoenix Raceway, which was shortened due to rain.

    After winning the 2015 Truck Series title and finishing in fourth place in the 2016 Xfinity Series driver’s standings with four victories along with claiming the Rookie-of-the-Year title, Jones earned a full-time ride with Furniture Row Racing, which expanded to a two-car effort for the first time in the team’s history. Piloting the No. 77 Toyota Camry, Jones’ rookie Cup season started off on a rough note when he was involved in a multi-car wreck past the midway portion of the Daytona 500 that also involved his Joe Gibbs Racing affiliated teammates Kyle Busch and Kenseth. He rallied three races later by achieving his first top-10 career finish in the Cup circuit at Phoenix Raceway, where he finished eighth.

    Through the first half of the 2017 Cup Series season, Jones recorded five top-10 results, including a career-best third-place result at Pocono Raceway in June, and was in 14th place in the regular season standings with an opportunity to make his first Playoff appearance as a title contender. Five races later, he recorded another third-place result at Michigan International Speedway, his home track. Then at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, he achieved his first career pole in the Cup circuit and led a race-high 260 laps during the main event before settling in a career-best runner-up result behind Kyle Busch. Despite finishing fifth and sixth in the following two races, Jones was unable to move into the top-16 cutline to make the 2017 Cup Playoffs. Nonetheless, he went on to post three top-10 results throughout the 10-race Playoffs and cap off his rookie Cup season in 19th place in the final standings. By then, Jones claimed the 2017 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title and became the first competitor to achieve the Rookie-of-the-Year title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck).

    In 2018, Jones reunited with Joe Gibbs Racing and replaced Matt Kenseth as driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry. In a similar approach to his rookie Cup season, Jones was involved in a multi-car accident during the Daytona 500 and was strapped with an early DNF in 36th place. Hee rebounded by finishing in the top 10 in four of the following six events.

    Through the first 17 events of the 2018 Cup season, Jones achieved seven top-10 results, a best on-track result of fourth place at Texas Motor Speedway in April and were in 14th place in the regular-season standings. Then during the following race at Daytona International Speedway, Jones rallied from being involved in a multi-car wreck near the midway point to overtake ex-teammate Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap and score his first Cup victory in his 57th series start. By becoming the 190th different competitor to achieve a victory in NASCAR’s premier series and the ninth to do so while competing for Joe Gibbs Racing, Jones guaranteed himself and his No. 20 JGR Toyota team a spot to the 2018 Cup Playoffs. 

    Following his victory at Daytona, Jones went on to finish in the top 10 in six of the remaining eight regular-season events, including a runner-up result at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September, before entering the Playoffs as one of 16 competitors vying for the title. During the first round of the Playoffs, however, Jones finished 40th, 11th and 30th respectively, which were enough to eliminate him from title contention along with names like Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon and teammate Denny Hamlin. He went on to finish in the top 10 in four of the remaining seven Playoff races before concluding his sophomore Cup season in a career-best 15th place in the standings. By then, he had nearly doubled his top-five results in a season and collected four additional top-10 results in comparison to his rookie season. He also recorded a career-best average-finishing result of 14.0.

    Remaining at JGR for the 2019 season, Jones achieved his first top-five result in the Daytona 500 by finishing in third place behind teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Through the first 24 events of the 2019 Cup season, Jones achieved 12 top-10 results, a best result of second place at Pocono in and was in 14th place in the regular-season standings. For the following race at Darlington Raceway in September, where marked his 100th career start in the Cup circuit, Jones held off a late challenge from teammate Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson to claim his first elusive Cup victory of the season and the second of his career. The Southern 500 victory, which marked Jones’ first crown-jewel victory in NASCAR, was enough for him to race his way into the Playoffs for a second consecutive season, where he joined teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. for the title fight.

    Despite entering the 2019 Cup Playoffs with late momentum, Jones’ title run came to an early end following three consecutive results outside of the top 30 in the Round of 16. During the first round of the Playoffs, he initially finished in fourth place at Richmond Raceway in September, but was then disqualified due to his car failing post-race inspection. Jones spent the remaining seven scheduled events by finishing in the top 10 three times, which included a third-place result in the season-finale event at Homestead, as he capped off his junior Cup season in 16th place in the final standings. While he achieved one victory throughout the entire season, he also achieved a career-high 10 top-five results.

    Jones commenced the 2020 Cup Series season by winning the non-points Busch Clash at Daytona in February with a heavily damaged race car after being involved in three separate multi-car wrecks. Despite the damage, Jones, who managed to continue, received drafting help from teammate Hamlin, who was a lap behind, on the final lap to overtake the heavily reduced field and rocket away to the victory. Compared to his previous two Cup seasons, however, Jones did not record a single victory throughout the 2020 season and did not return to the Playoffs as he only achieved nine top-five results, a season-best result of second place at Talladega Superspeedway in October, 13 top-10 results and a final points result of 17th place.

    Three months prior to the conclusion of the 2020 season, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Jones will not be remaining as the driver of the No. 20 Toyota in favor of Christopher Bell. Nonetheless, Jones secured a ride for the 2021 season in the iconic No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with Richard Petty Motorsports. The 2021 season was a difficult season for the Michigan native, who commenced the season by finishing 39th in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after being eliminated in an early multi-car wreck. He then recorded a total of three results in the top 10 throughout the 26-race regular season stretch, including a season-high seventh place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, as he missed the Playoffs for a second consecutive season. Jones went on to post three additional top-10 results throughout the 10-race Playoff stretch before settling in 24th place in the 2021 standings.

    Remaining as the driver of the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Richard Petty Motorsports merged with GMS Racing to form Petty GMS Motorsports, Jones, who was paired with crew chief Dave Elenz, has achieved a total of five top-10 results through the first 16 scheduled events with his best result occurring at Auto Club Speedway in February, where he led 18 laps and finished third. His other highlight occurred at Talladega Superspeedway in April, where he led 25 laps and was leading on the final lap before getting shuffled through the tri-oval and settling back in sixth place.

    Through 199 previous Cup starts, Jones has achieved two career victories, two poles, 34 top-five results, 73 top-10 results, 707 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.8. He is currently trailing the cutline to make the 2022 Cup Playoffs by 55 points with 10 regular season events remaining to the schedule.

    Jones is scheduled to achieve his 200th Cup Series career start at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 26, with coverage to commence as 5 p.m. ET on NBC.