NY Racing Team were one of two part-time teams that fielded a non-chartered (open) car in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway this past weekend.
It marked their 11th start of the 2025 season, but it marked just the second time that it was Derek Kraus behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet. Unfortunately for Kraus, his Southern 500 came to an end early, with a mechanical issue and fire in the car bringing out a late caution. He was classified in 36th place with a DNF.
The DNF was the team's fifth of the year and third in their five most recent appearances. It was their fourth non-crash-related DNF of the season, and they will not be returning to the series for this weekend's Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
NY Racing Team not competing at Gateway
When Kraus competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May, he finished in 32nd place, which matched the team's best of the year (J.J. Yeley at Talladega Superspeedway) at the time. Joey Gase's 28th place finish at Daytona International Speedway has since eclipsed that mark.
NY Racing Team do not currently have plans to return to the Cup Series until the November season finale at Phoenix Raceway with Yeley behind the wheel of the No. 44 car, but that will likely change at some point, as the team have largely operated on a week-to-week basis all season.
Yeley leads all drivers with seven starts in the No. 44 car this year, followed by Kraus with two and Brennan Poole and Gase each with one.
The other part-time open car that ran the Southern 500, the No. 66 Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports) Ford, is also not on the entry list for this Sunday's 240-lap race around the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) Madison, Illinois oval. Only the 36 full-time cars are set to compete in the second race of the playoffs.
The Enjoy Illinois 300 is set to be shown live on USA Network from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 7. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the second race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series postseason!