Las Vegas businessman buys Richard Petty’s NASCAR team
Las Vegas businessman and Allegiant Air CEO Maurice Gallagher will be expanding his NASCAR Cup Series program in 2022 after purchasing a controlling interest in Richard Petty Motorsports, the team headed by stock car legend Richard Petty.
The race teams released a joint statement Wednesday that read in full: “Richard Petty Motorsports has agreed to sell a majority interest to Maury Gallagher, owner of GMS Racing. Two charters are included in the agreement and will be operated during the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
“This is a special moment for both organizations, as the Next Gen car allows a new chapter to be written.”
The statement said additional details regarding the transaction would be announced Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A charter is an agreement between NASCAR and its teams that says those teams will show up to race for as long as the agreement stands. It is comparable to owning a franchise in professional team sports. Next Gen is the common name for the new car that will be used in the Cup Series starting in 2022.
GMS Racing in October had announced its intention to move up to the Cup Series with veteran Ty Dillon as driver. The team also competes full time in the NASCAR Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series and raced in selected NASCAR Xfinity Series events from 2016 to 2019.
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.
