NASCAR: An underdog's quest for a competitive full-time ride

After running full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last year, Gray Gaulding has only competed part-time this year. But he has “lot of really good things in the works” moving forward, and he credits primary sponsor Panini for making it possible.

Gray Gaulding may not have the money or the name that several of his competitors — both on the track in terms of the actual racing and off the track in terms of simply landing a seat — do. But that hasn’t stopped him from grinding his way to the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series with a shot to further his career in stock car racing.

The 22-year-old Colonial Heights, Virginia native is the youngest winner ever in a NASCAR-sanctioned series (15 years old), the youngest winner ever in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (15), the youngest Legend Car winner ever (12) and the youngest Legend Car champion ever (12).

It’s almost hard to believe he’s in his fifth year of competition at the Cup level and at the Xfinity level this year, given the fact that he is still only 22.

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This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, like last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, Gaulding is set to compete in both the Xfinity Series race and the Cup Series race, and he is set to run the Cup race with primary sponsorship from Panini America.

His relationship with the company began early last year in the Xfinity Series when he competed full-time for SS-Green Light Racing, his first full-time ride in a NASCAR national series, and evolved into a sponsorship that has seen him run a Panini primary car in multiple Cup Series races this year as well despite not having a full-time ride.

He spoke to Beyond the Flag about his relationship with Panini, including how that got started and the opportunities that that his created for his career in NASCAR’s national series.

“Our relationship started, it was in April of last year, right before the Bristol race. I remember my dad calling me up and he’s like ‘Hey, we got a new partner that’s going to go on the car.’ He was telling me a little bit about it. I already knew of Panini, and I already had a prior relationship as far as I was signing cards for them, so we had that type of agreement, but I’m talking about the real personal relationship and getting to know everybody at Panini, getting to know Jason [Howarth, Panini America Vice President of Marketing].

“That was when I considered like ‘Wow these people, Panini America, it’s an amazing brand and company, but it’s obviously the people that are inside and make everything work the way it works.’ When we started that relationship at Bristol last year, it just grew and grew, and then a few weeks later, we went on to Talladega, Panini stepped up big time, which, if I look back on my career, this was the turning point of really getting my name out there and giving me a shot to win a national series race.

“I cut my teeth in my earlier years with smaller teams, but when I went to Panini and me and my dad and our management team said ‘Hey, we need you to step up and get this engine for Gray at Talladega,’ and when everyone signed off on it and they were on, we almost won that thing and finished second. So it’s a really cool story for me because they really took a gamble on me being an ambassador and my career, and it just really worked out great.

“And now here we are looking forward to the future together. Our relationship has really grown a lot over the last year. I look at these guys, when I go out and about I’m wearing my Panini shirt…I’m a very avid card collector myself, not just because they’re one of my main partners and sponsors. So it’s just a good fit, and like I said, it’s growing and growing each race, each weekend, each day, and I’m just really thankful that they’ve done everything they’ve done and I’m just really looking forward to what we can build on throughout our future together.”

Gaulding also discussed the Prizm Racing card brand that Panini is aiming to release this October.

“I think we’re actually, me and my dad and our management team, we were talking about it the other day, I think we’re going to try to do something. We have to learn a little bit more, talk with Jason a little bit more about it.

“We’re going to possibly run it on a car during the [Charlotte Motor Speedway] Roval because I’ll be running the Roval and I’ll probably be running another one after that — some things that are hopefully in the works, obviously whenever they come out with a new card brand and a new collection.

“Obviously the fans love it and I love talking about it just because our racing fans, when I got with Panini, I was surprised. NASCAR card collecting is huge. It’s unbelievable. I think when that comes out, it’s going to be pretty cool. Obviously I’m going to tell Jason to send me a few more boxes that I can keep in my own personal collection.

“But I think it’s going to be exciting for the fans, the fans obviously love it. I haven’t seen all the new designs yet, but the ones that I did sign, they look pretty sweet. I don’t want to say too much before it releases, but I think everyone is going to be like ‘Wow these things are slick-looking!” so I’m pretty excited about it also.”

Gaulding got the best opportunity of his career last year to compete full-time for SS-Green Light Racing in the Xfinity Series, and Panini played a big role in making that happen. While he wasn’t able to qualify for the playoffs, he proved that he could run competitively on a weekly basis for a team that had not had a ton of previous success. He finished outside of the top 20 in just five of the 33 races on the schedule.

“Last year was a big year for my career from the get-go. That was my first time in a long time since the K&N Pro Series that I was able to run a full-time series, throughout the entire season. Not part-time, not in this week, out next week, that whole deal.

“Like I said earlier, I cut my teeth with smaller opportunities. I didn’t come from a lot of money. We’ve had to raise every sponsor and every opportunity that I’ve ever gotten. Last year when Bobby Dotter came to me, the owner of SS-Green Light Racing, and said ‘Hey man’, this is in like December, he’s like ‘I got an opening for this ride this year, if we can put something together, I want you to drive full-time and see what we can do together.’

“And when that happened, the whole landscape of everything we were looking forward to changed because we’re like ‘Well man, this is a decent car. If I get with the right crew chief and the right guys, I can go out and run competitive week in and week out.’

“And I think we proved so many people wrong, and I feel like I’ve been doing that my entire career, but that’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps me driving and keeps me motivated day in and day out to get up and train and really try to put my game at another level. So last year when we started out the year, it took us a few weeks to get rolling, but once we did, by mid part of the season, we were hitting on all cylinders week in and week out.

“We were inside the top 15, top 10 here and there, almost won Talladega, sixth at Bristol, so there were a lot of highlights from where we started the year to the end. As far as team owners looking at what I did, I think a lot of people did look at my resume and realize like ‘man, this guy, he’s really done a lot with little’, but as we know, NASCAR, it’s all about the business.

“You hate to say it sometimes. Guys are getting rides because they might have a bigger check or whatever. That doesn’t bother me; it’s part of it, and I get it. But I think it has hurt me a few times in my career with not getting a top ride because someone showed up with a bigger check than I did or however you want to word it.”

While he isn’t competing full-time this year, as Joe Graf Jr. replaced him behind the wheel of the #08 Chevrolet, he has made the most of his opportunity to be back with the team part-time, all while continuing to run part-time for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series as well.

He tied his career-high second place finish from Talladega Superspeedway last April with another runner-up result at Daytona International Speedway last month.

Unfortunately, he is in back in a position where he has been before in terms of trying to go from part-time to full-time with a competitive team, but he believes that his grind will pay off very soon, much like it did ahead of last year.

“But like I said, that’s what just keeps me rocking and rolling day in and day out, and I think my day is coming. I just know that at the end of this year, next year — we are going to have the same goal that we had last year: to bring Panini, Walk-On’s, another partner of ours, we want to get back full-time, and I know I can go make the playoffs, especially in the Xfinity Series, and compete for wins. I just gotta get that opportunity. We got a lot of really good things in the works, and we’re just going to keep pushing.”

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This weekend’s Xfinity Series race, the Alsco 300, is set to be broadcast live from Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET this evening. The Cup Series race, the South Point 400, is set to be broadcast live beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET tomorrow evening.

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NASCAR: An underdog’s quest for a competitive full-time ride

By Asher Fair | Sep 26, 2020

After running full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last year, Gray Gaulding has only competed part-time this year. But he has “lot of really good things in the works” moving forward, and he credits primary sponsor Panini for making it possible.