Niece Motorsports

Niece Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. Owned by Al Niece, it currently fields four Chevrolet Silverado teams: the No. 44 full-time for part-time drivers Natalie Decker, Jeb Burton, Ross Chastain, Bayley Currey, and Jett Noland, the No. 45 full-time for Ty Majeski, the No. 40 part-time for Ross Chastain, Garrett Smithley, Ryan Truex, T. J. Bell and Carson Hocevar, and the No. 42 part-time for Ross Chastain. Niece Motorsports formerly had a technical alliance with GMS Racing.

Niece Motorsports
Owner(s)Al Niece
BaseStatesville, North Carolina
SeriesNASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Race drivers40. Ross Chastain, Garrett Smithley, Ryan Truex, T. J. Bell, Carson Hocevar (part-time)
42. Ross Chastain (part-time)
44. Natalie Decker, Jeb Burton, Ross Chastain, Bayley Currey, Jett Noland
45. Ty Majeski (R)
Sponsors40. Plan B Sales, Trophy Tractor, Marquis Hot Tubs, Cypress Ridge Hunting Preserve, GM Parts
42. Watermelon.org
44. N29 Technologies, REMarkable Pillow, State Water Heaters, Alsco, Watermelon.org
45. Plan B Sales, iRacing
ManufacturerChevrolet
Opened2016
Career
Debut2016 Striping Technology 350 (Texas)
Latest race2020 Pocono Organics 150 (Pocono)
Races competed147
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories3
Pole positions1

Xfinity Series

Car No. 17 history

In 2018, the team attempted to make their NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with Victor Gonzalez Jr. driving at Watkins Glen.

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

Truck No. 22 history

On October 30, 2017, it was announced that Austin Wayne Self moved to Niece Motorsports to drive the No. 22 truck full-time in 2018.[1]

Truck No. 40 history

In 2017, the No. 38 truck ran two races with T. J. Bell as a start-and-park team.

In 2018 the No. 38 truck planned to run at least four races with Max McLaughlin as the driver, starting at Eldora. McLaughlin qualified the race and finished 12th in his NASCAR debut. However, the deal fell through and McLaughlin only ran at Eldora. Ross Chastain ran 3 races (Bristol, Texas 2 and Homestead-Miami) with the best finish of 12th at Bristol. Bell returned to the No. 38 at Las Vegas in September and finished 21st due to a crash. Landon Huffman also drove for the team, he failed to qualify at Martinsville 2 and finished 25th at ISM Raceway.

In 2019, Bell returned once again to the No. 38 as a field-filler at Kansas, since only 30 trucks showed up. Chastain drove the No. 38 with sponsorship from TruNorth Global at Texas 2 and finished 10th.

In 2020, the No. 38 truck renumbered to the No. 40 and it is being shared by Ross Chastain, Garrett Smithley, Ryan Truex, and Carson Hocevar.

Truck No. 42 history

In 2020, Ross Chastain announced that he would drive the No. 42 part-time.

Truck No. 44 history

On January 31, 2019, Timothy Peters announced that he would join Niece for the first three events of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series schedule.[2] After two top-tens in his first two events, Peters said that there is the possibility to run more races with the team.[3] Reid Wilson drove the No. 44 truck in 2 races (Martinsville 1 and Dover) with a best finish of 13th at Dover.[4] Angela Ruch is scheduled to drive the No. 44 truck in 12 races in 2019. Jeb Burton drove the truck in the July race at Kentucky.[5] Ty Majeski drove the truck at ISM.[6]

Natalie Decker signed with the team for the 2020 season. On February 14, 2020, she finished fifth at Daytona, becoming the highest-finishing female driver in Truck Series history.[7]

Truck No. 45 history

Niece Motorsports made their debut in 2016 with Casey Smith driving for two races.

The team returned in 2017, at first planning on running only part-time but were able to run the full schedule with various drivers, with T. J. Bell driving most of the races.

In 2018, it was announced that Justin Fontaine would drive the No. 45 truck full-time.[8] Fontaine started the season with a top 10 finish at Daytona and Las Vegas.

On January 18, 2019, it was announced that Ross Chastain and Reid Wilson would split driving duties for the upcoming season.[4] Chastain started off the year with two of the best results in team history, a third at Daytona and a sixth at Atlanta.[3] In April, Kyle Benjamin joined the team for a seven-race schedule starting at Texas in June.[9] On May 10, 2019 Ross Chastain delivered his first truck win and the team's first win at Kansas after Stewart Friesen's underfueled truck ran out of gas with three laps remaining.[10] In June, he announced his intention to switch to Truck Series points to compete for a championship in the series.[11] Chastain finished the season with 3 wins, 10 Top-5, 19 Top-10, 1 pole and finishing 2nd in the standings.[12]

On December 10, 2019, it was announced that Ty Majeski would drive this truck full-time for the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season, replacing Chastain.[13]

References
  1. "Austin Wayne Self to join Niece Motorsports in 2018". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  2. DeGroot, Nick. "Timothy Peters joins Niece Motorsports for three Truck races". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  3. Massie, Michael. "Ross Chastain, Timothy Peters Continue Niece Motorsports' Strong Start". Fontstretch. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  4. Brooks, Amanda. "Ross Chastain and Reid Wilson to drive for Niece Motorsports in 2019". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  5. Utter, Jim. "Angela Ruch joins Niece Motorsports for 12-race Truck schedule". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  6. Brooks, Amanda (November 4, 2019). "Majeski joins Niece at ISM Raceway". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  7. "Natalie Decker scores best finish by a female competitor in NASCAR Truck Series history". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  8. "Justin Fontaine to run Trucks full-time with Niece Motorsports in 2018". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  9. Nolen, Bryan (April 29, 2019). "Kyle Benjamin, Niece Motorsports Team for 7 Races". Frontstretch. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  10. "Ross Chastain scores first career Gander Trucks win". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. May 10, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  11. "Chastain Switches Gears, To Chase Truck Title". Speed Sport. June 4, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  12. "Ross Chastain". Racing Reference.
  13. Brooks, Amanda (December 10, 2019). "Ty Majeski joining Niece Motorsports full time in 2020". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
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