GK Racing
GK Racing (formerly Clay Greenfield Motorsports and Alger Motorsports) is an American professional stock car racing team that competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, fielding the No. 95 Toyota Tundra/Chevrolet Silverado for Clay Greenfield, who is also a co-owner of the team. The other co-owners of the team are Greenfield's wife Tandra, a former NFL cheerleader, and Jordan and Theresa Kiss, who own Backyard Blues Pools, one of the team's sponsors.[1] The team was previously co-owned by Billy Alger, who drove for the team in what is now the ARCA Menards Series.
| Owner(s) | Clay Greenfield[1] Tandra Greenfield[1] Jordan Kiss[1] Theresa Kiss[1] Billy Alger (former) |
|---|---|
| Base | Clarksville, Tennessee |
| Series | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series |
| Race drivers | 95. Clay Greenfield |
| Sponsors | 95. Backyard Blues Pools |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet |
| Opened | 2011 |
| Career | |
| Debut | 2011 WinStar World Casino 400 (Texas) |
| Latest race | 2021 In It To Win It 200 (Darlington) |
| Races competed | Truck Series: 55 ARCA Menards Series: 4 |
| Race victories | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
History
The team debuted as Alger Motorsports, running a part-time schedule in the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. After failing to qualify at Daytona, the team debuted in the spring race at Texas. Wayne Edwards drove the team's No. 68 truck at Chicago but failed to qualify.
In 2012, the team fielded two trucks, the No. 68 for Greenfield and the No. 86 for Scott Riggs and Blake Koch in a start and park effort.
In 2013, the team was renamed to Clay Greenfield Motorsports. The team started out strong by earning the fastest time at the Daytona International Raceway during practice. Greenfield's 2013 season was most memorable in the last chance qualifier at the Eldora Speedway when he put up a hard fight against Norm Benning to qualify for the race.[2] The season concluded with six starts with a best finish of 13th. The next few seasons were based on a part-time effort whenever funding was available as starts have mainly been attempted at super speedways.
The team also fielded a part-time ARCA Racing Series team, the No. 70 Chevrolet SS, for team co-owner Billy Alger in 2015 and 2016. Sometime after this, Alger would leave the team, making Greenfield its sole owner.
Greenfield's team intended on running 8 races in 2020. However, the team ended up running nearly the full season, which was due to the fact that after the two month break in the season due to COVID-19, the field size for the series was expanded from 32 to 40 trucks due to the absence of qualifying. Also that year, CGM hired NASCAR on Fox studio commentator Jeff Hammond to come out of retirement and crew chief the truck in its part-time schedule of races.[3] Bobby Reuse was also scheduled to drive the No. 68 at the Daytona RC in a partnership with Jordan Anderson Racing, but failed to do so due to the chassis not properly admitted.
For 2021, Greenfield announced that his team would run the full season in the Truck Series for the first time. However, Greenfield himself would only run three races while the team seeks funded drivers who bring sponsorship to run the remaining 19 after the team's primary sponsor, Rackley Roofing, left the team to partner with Willie Allen to form a new team, Rackley WAR.[4] CGM only ended up attempting four races that year, all with Greenfield driving.
The team did not attempt any races in 2022 and Greenfield drove part-time for Cook Racing Technologies in their No. 84 truck instead with his own team's former crew chief, Tucker Wingo, also moving over to crew chief him at that team. In 2023, Greenfield re-started his own team with new co-owners Jordan and Theresa Kiss, who own Backyard Blues Pools, one of the team's sponsors and also one of Greenfield's sponsors when he drove the No. 84 truck for Cook Racing Enterprises. As a result, the team was renamed GK Racing, which stands for each of their last initials.[1]
References
- Srigley, Joseph (May 31, 2023). "GK Racing Attempting Truck Series Debut at Gateway with Owner-Driver Clay Greenfield". TobyChristie.com.
- Pockrass, Bob (July 25, 2013). "Norm Benning flips the bird, thrills Tony Stewart, fans at Eldora". Sporting News. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- "Clay Greenfield Motorsports plans 8 races, Jeff Hammond to crew chief". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 28, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
- Christie, Toby (November 30, 2020). "Clay Greenfield to Run Three Races With Rackley Roofing, Seeking Sponsors and Funded Drivers For Balance of 2021". TobyChristie.com.