GMS Racing NCWTS Martinsville Speedway Preview

Sheldon Creed, No. 2 LiftKits4Less Chevrolet Silverado

Martinsville Speedway Stats

– NCWTS Starts: 4, Poles: 1 (2020), Top 10s: 1, Best finish: 8th (2020)

2021 NCWTS Season Stats

– Starts: 20, Wins: 3 (Darlington I, II, & Gateway), Top 5s: 8, Top 10s: 9, Poles: 2 (Darlington II, Bristol II), Stage wins: 7, Laps led: 602 (Most out of any driver)

– Sponsor spotlight: LiftKits4Less returns this week to feature on Sheldon Creed’s No. 2 Silverado. Creed will once again sport a special Breast Cancer Awareness paint scheme that will feature pink as the primary color instead of the familiar orange. As part of the Martin Truex, Jr. Foundation and NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero program, riding along with Sheldon will be Karen Morgan, a Glioblastoma cancer fighter who unfortunately lost her life to the terrible disease in 2020.

– Chassis history/info: Creed and the No. 2 crew will race with chassis no. 310 at Martinsville Speedway. This chassis was last raced at Bristol in August, where Sheldon was able to dominate and lead a race high 189 of 200 laps before receiving contact from another competitor and finishing 19th. The truck has four Top 10 finishes to its credit, including an eighth place finish last year at Martinsville after leading 65 laps.

– #Back2Back: Sheldon Creed enters the penultimate race of 2021 above the Playoffs cutline by a mere five points. In order to advance to Phoenix and contend for the championship, the No. 2 driver needs to net as many points as possible to ensure that he remains fourth or better. The defending champion has been a threat to win week in and week out since the Playoffs began at Gateway in August, but nothing is a given until the checkered flag flies at “The Paperclip”.

– Quote: “Everything’s going to be on the line in Martinsville this Saturday. With nobody truly locked into the Championship 4 yet, the aggression level is going to be through the roof. Thankfully, I know that my team has been putting in so much work to make sure that our No. 2 Chevy will be as fast as possible. We know what we need to do to advance, so it’s all on us to make it happen. I’ll be ready to fight as hard as I can to make sure we contend for this championship in Phoenix.”

Zane Smith, No. 21 MRC Construction Chevrolet Silverado

Martinsville Speedway Stats

– NCWTS: 1, Top 5s: 1, Top 10s: 1, Best start: 2nd, Best finish: 3rd (2020)

2021 NCWTS Season Stats

– Starts: 20, Top 5s: 1, Top 10s: 12, Stage wins: 3, Best start: 2nd, Best finish: 4th (Nashville), Laps led: 66

– Sponsor spotlight: MRC Construction will serve as Zane Smith’s primary sponsor for the fifth time this season at Martinsville Speedway. Smith will drive a special Breast Cancer Awareness paint scheme featuring a new design with pink as the primary color on the No. 21 Silverado. As part of the Martin Truex, Jr. Foundation and NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero program, riding along with Zane will be Gene Noltkamper, who is currently fighting kidney cancer.

– Chassis history/info: Smith and the No. 21 team will utilize chassis no. 325 under the lights in Southern Virginia. Zane has raced this chassis ten times, earning Top 10 finishes in six of those races. Most recently, this Silverado competed at Gateway to open up the Playoffs, where it led 19 laps before having a rear gear failure. Last season, the truck started second and finished a stout third at Martinsville.

– #21in21: Due to some bad luck and poor finishing results in the Round of 8, Zane Smith is in a must win situation heading into Martinsville in order to compete for a championship. Though winless this year, Smith has historically been hard to beat at short tracks, with wins all over the country in ARCA and Super Late Model competition. Down, but not out, Zane Smith looks to fight hard and come in clutch to earn himself a grandfather clock en route to Phoenix.

– Quote: “I’m ready to go up to Martinsville; last year was my first time there and we ended up finishing third with a great shot at winning at the end. I’ve been prepared to go into this race on either side of the cutline, either good or bad. Obviously, we all know which side we would rather choose, but we’re on the outside looking in so it’ll be fun to race for the win while battling the pressure the Playoffs bring. I’m hoping to grab a grandfather clock along with a ticket to the Championship 4 race in Phoenix.”

Chase Purdy, No. 23 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado

Martinsville Speedway Stats

– NCWTS Starts: 1, Best start: 27th, Best finish: 21st (Oct. 2018)

2021 NCWTS Season Stats

– Starts: 19, Top 10s: 2, Best start: 4th, Best finish: 6th (Gateway), Laps led: 8

– Sponsor spotlight: Bama Buggies returns this week to feature on Chase Purdy’s No. 23 Silverado. As part of the Martin Truex, Jr. Foundation and NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero program, riding along with Chase will be Karen Morgan, a Glioblastoma cancer fighter who unfortunately lost her life to the terrible disease in 2020.

– Chassis history/info: Purdy and the No. 23 team will compete with chassis no. 313 at Martinsville Speedway, a track that has seen this truck parked in victory lane once before with Johnny Sauter in 2018. This truck has also visited victory lane with Sauter at Bristol Motor Speedway as well, and was most recently driven to a sixth place finish at Gateway, where Purdy earned his best finish of the season.

– Where it all began: Martinsville Speedway is the track where Chase Purdy made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at in 2018. It has been quite some time since he has raced at “The Paperclip”, but Purdy will look to lean on his short track prowess and finish out the season with another solid run at the 0.533-mile bullring.

– Quote: “Looking forward to this weekend! Martinsville is a really cool racetrack that suits my driving style. I’m sure that it’s going to be an exciting, nerve wracking day since it’s a cutoff race, but man, I love short track racing. “

Jack Wood, No. 24 Chevy Cares Chevrolet Silverado

Martinsville Speedway Stats

– Jack Wood has no previous experience at Martinsville Speedway in any series.

2021 NCWTS Season Stats

– Starts: 10, Top 10s: 1, Best start: 2nd, Best finish: 10th (Gateway), Laps led: 1

– Sponsor spotlight: Jack Wood’s No. 24 Silverado will feature a special Chevy Cares paint scheme at Martinsville Speedway. Chevrolet has partnered with American Cancer Society® to help make strides against all forms of cancer, including helping the 1 in 8 women being diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Chevrolet has contributed over $15 million so far to benefit breast cancer screening, patient care, research and supporting the special people on the front lines of this fight. As part of the Martin Truex, Jr. Foundation and NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero program, riding along with Jack will be Karen Morgan, a Glioblastoma cancer fighter who unfortunately lost her life to the terrible disease in 2020, and Debbi Fiore, a cancer survivor.

– Chassis history/info: Wood and his No. 24 team will run chassis no. 301 at Martinsville Speedway. This Chevy started out life as an intermediate truck, posting wins at Chicagoland Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway with Johnny Sauter in 2017, but has recently been converted over to a short track spec. Jack qualified second at Nashville earlier this season driving 301, and it was most recently used by Doug Coby at Bristol, where it finished 12th.

– Short Track Rookie: Not only will Jack Wood be making his first ever laps around Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, he will also make his first ever start at a short track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Wood hopes to net a clean finish and rebound from some recent misfortunes in his previous races at Darlington, Las Vegas, and Talladega.

– Quote: “I’m looking forward to getting back on track at Martinsville. Over the downtime, I’ve been putting in a lot of work off the track trying to be as prepared as I possibly can. Short tracks are places that I’ve struggled with in the past, so I’ve been putting a lot of focus on getting better there. I’m excited to race at The Paperclip, and hopefully our No. 24 GMS Chevy Cares Silverado runs great.”

Tyler Ankrum, No. 26 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado

Martinsville Speedway Stats

– NCWTS Starts: 4, Best start: 5th, Best finish: 12th (2020)

2021 NCWTS Season Stats

– Starts: 20, Top 5s: 3, Top 10s: 5, Poles: 1 (COTA), Best finish: 3rd (twice), Laps led: 13

– Sponsor spotlight: LiUNA! returns this week to feature on Tyler Ankrum’s No. 26 Silverado with a spooky Halloween-themed paint scheme. As part of the Martin Truex, Jr. Foundation and NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero program, riding along with Tyler will be Karen Morgan, a Glioblastoma cancer fighter who unfortunately lost her life to the terrible disease in 2020.

– Chassis history: Ankrum and his No. 26 crew will compete using chassis no. 305 at “The Paperclip”. This Silverado has been raced five times previously with Tyler behind the wheel, posting three Top 10 finishes. In 2018, this chassis visited victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway with Justin Haley as the driver.

– From Humble Beginnings: In October of 2018, Tyler Ankrum made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway as one of the youngest drivers in the field. On that day, a then seventeen-year-old Ankrum started 19th and finished 18th in his first ever truck race. Fun fact, GMS Racing emerged victorious in that race with longtime veteran Johnny Sauter, who at that time was thirty nine years old.

– Quote: “I’ve never really had the best of luck at Martinsville, but there’s always one thing that I look forward to when we go there – the Martinsville hot dog. I think we will have a pretty fast truck there this year, we had a pretty fast one last year as well, but it’s so hard to pass because both lanes get plugged up. It’s tough to be fast on a long run, because the runs aren’t really long enough, but it’s also hard to be fast on a short run, because you’ll give up speed on the ‘long’ run. The race should go by really quickly if it’s under green, but it takes forever under cautions. Either way, I think we’ll be alright and have a fun day.”

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 Racing Series championship as well as the 2019 & 2020 ARCA East championship and 2020 Sioux Chief Showdown 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/.

SOCIAL MEDIA: To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.