NASCAR team announces permanent shutdown just days after split with Kris Wright

After parting ways with driver Kris Wright following the July 15 race at Sonoma, Our Motorsports has announced that it will cease all NASCAR Operations. Veteran FOX journalist Bob Pockrass relayed the news through one of his recent posts on X (formerly Twitter).

As things stand, this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series BetRivers 200 will be the last race that the team will run. Replacing Wright, Kaz Grala will get the organization’s final start in the No. 5 Chevrolet SS. Scheduled for Saturday, July 19, the 200-lap feature will stream live on the CW network, 4:30 pm ET onwards.

Reporting an official statement from Our Motorsports, Pockrass wrote:

“Our Motorsports will cease operations in NASCAR racing moving forward. Thank you to NASCAR, Chevrolet, the fans, employees, and drivers, for a good ride over the last 6 years.”

Founded by Chris Our, a Massachusetts-based businessman, and his daughter Mary, Our Motorsports made its official Xfinity Series debut back in 2020. The NASCAR team has run nearly 300 races since then and has amassed nine top fives, 41 top-10s, and a pole at Portland International Raceway in 2022.

They never won, but ended up second in the 2021 Daytona 500. Last year, Anthony Alfredo drove the No. 5 Our Motorsports machine and delivered a remarkable P4 performance at Michigan. He ended the season with seven top-10s and a pair of top-fives.

---

Back when another longtime NASCAR Xfinity team ran out of business

Last year, JD Motorsports, a South Carolina-based race team, filed for bankruptcy after more than two decades of operation in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Per reports, JD Motorsports gave NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain his first-ever full-time ride in the Xfinity Series. That was back in 2015.

The notice of JD’s filing came a few days before the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Owned by Johnny Davis, the team catapulted Chastain to his career’s maiden victory at Las Vegas in 2018.

Chastain, who now drives full-time in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, was sad when he heard the news. In a statement, the Chevy star said,

“It’s sad. Johnny’s a guy I thought would always be around. From racing against his cars to racing for him for better part of four years, we had a lot of great times together and a lot of great memories. We did a lot for each other.” “A lot of those races he kept me in the car when we were supposed to start-and-park and didn’t have sponsorship that kept my career going along,” he added.

When asked about the move, Davis said that it was because of the lagging purses and rising expenses of running full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The money they were able to gather from sponsorships was not enough. So it was simply a matter of math.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Anisha Chatterjee