GMS Racing announced late last Wednesday that they had purchased a majority stake in Richard Petty Motorsports.
The deal will include the charters for the famed 43, and the 51 charter RPM shared with Rick Ware Racing.
Bob Pockrass tweeted the following shortly after the announcement:
The two teams formally announced the merger Tuesday, and the team has been rebranded to Petty GMS Motorsports.
The deal now means the team will field two cars in 2022, with Ty Dillon driving the 42 and Erik Jones remaining in the 43. The team will operate out of GMS Racing’s current shop in Statesville, NC.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity to work with Richard (Petty), arguably the greatest driver in NASCAR history, and form Petty GMS Motorsports,” Maury Gallagher said as part of a a press release. “Petty GMS will have a sole focus of winning. Both teams have a track record of winning and we have a strong desire to continue this legacy in a new chapter. Ty (Dillon) and Erik (Jones) have proven themselves through the years and we are looking forward to the success they will have as teammates.”
Richard Petty will serve as chairman of the Organization.
Maury (Gallagher) and Mike (Beam) have built a really solid organization at GMS,” said Petty as part of the release. “They’ve won a lot of races and a couple of championships in the Truck Series, and I really look forward to doing the same in the Cup Series. Maury’s commitment to competing and winning is obvious in everything he does, that’s something we really needed. The opportunity to combine our two organizations on the Cup front makes a lot of sense for all of us for a number of reasons, one of which is the talent we have between the two organizations; this will make us a lot stronger together.”
And of course, King Richard is excited about the return of the 42 to the Petty stables.
“As for the car number for the second car, I don’t know that I can express how special it is to me personally to have the No. 42 number racing alongside the No. 43 again,” Petty continued. “I grew up watching my dad race that car, I worked on cars with that number way before I started racing. Dad had a lot of success winning races and championships with that number. Kyle drove cars and won races with the No. 42 as well. It’s really special to me that Petty GMS will be racing that car number.”
Mike Beam was announced as president of the organization. “Mike (Beam) will lead the effort as President of Petty GMS,” said Gallagher. “During the seven years we have been together, he has won at all levels, producing hall-of-fame numbers – five championships, 65 wins, and 41 second-place finishes. We look forward to competing at the highest level of motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series.”
“The legacy of GMS Racing has been focused on winning and achieving high success, no matter the series,” added Beam. “Our 25-acre, three-building complex in Statesville has roughly 150,000 square feet and is equal to many current Cup shops in size and sophistication. We are ahead of most of the new Cup entrants this year because of our infrastructure. This highly functioning race shop will allow us to hit the ground running. This facility combined with our race-winning personnel gives me confidence that we can make an impact as soon as this season. I have competed in the Cup Series before and understand how things should work.” said Beam.
Featured photo from @KellyCrandall on Twitter.
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