The Most Disappointing New Team in NASCAR

NASCAR's Next Gen car brought an abundant promise of new race teams to the sport. In no time, new teams made announcements with some never coming off paper but others actually hitting the race track. 

Connor Daly on Pit Road During the 2023 Daytona 500. Image: TMT Racing FB

In late 2019 the rumor mill started swirling about Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather's The Money Team brand coming to NASCAR. They even teased their TMT logo with a checkered flag on it's own website as The Money Team Racing. Mayweather's "The Money Team" promotional company has some power and some money behind it, so the expectation of that time of financial, sports promotion, and star power coming to NASCAR led many to expect this team to be a true contender in just a few years. 

The team stated that they would run the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami that season with that never coming to fruition. The team wouldn't even be heard from again until late 2020 when they were in talks with Spire Motorsports for a partnership for a few races to be run in 2021 with the team going full-time in 2022. Well, that never happened. 

But in February 2022, The Money Team Racing shared what would be one of the most famous paint scheme renderings of the season. A fantastical multi-colored Chevrolet Camaro boasting the sunglass giant Pit Vipers, as the primary sponsor with Kaz Grala behind the wheel for the Daytona 500. And they actually brought the car, and made the show!

Kaz Grala's No. 50 The Money Team Racing Chevrolet at the 2022 Daytona 500. Image: TMT Racing FB

2022 Season

Grala and the 50 team would make the Daytona 500 field in 2022 by finishing 18th in his Duel race. Despite becoming one of the first teams to lose a wheel with NASCAR's new single lug, Kaz and The Money Team Racing finished the 2022 Daytona 500, and they did so in 26th place only 4 laps down. A respectable finish for the team's first outing and an improvement for the driver's second 500 entry. 

There would be a short absence from the grid with the team not appearing again until Circuit of the Americas 5 weeks later. Grala would wheel the 50 to a 25th place finish at the F1 track and then 23rd at the Coke 600 at Charlotte a couple months later. 

The team would not make another appearance until the Roval at Charlotte in the Playoffs, but this time with IndyCar driver Conor Daly behind the wheel. Daly would wheel the 50 car in its final 2022 entry to a 34th place finish of the 39 entries and 3 laps down. 

Many expected the end of the learning season for TMT Racing to mark a new beginning going into 2023, maybe even full-time.

2023 Season

Right back where they started at Daytona in February, but this time Conor Daly would be the driver of the No. 50 Chevrolet. But trouble would start early for the team. Thanks to NASCAR's "No Practice" decision, Daly would not even get a chance to make a qualifying lap with the car basically braking coming off pit road that could have been caught and fixed during practice.

he team would spend the entire qualifying session attempting to fix the handling issues. The team would however get the car out to finish 17th during their Duel qualifying race despite continuing to face those same issues, putting him in the show. Daly and the 50 team would start 34th of 40 cars and would finish P. 29 at the 500. 

The final start of the 50 team would come again with Conor Daly behind the wheel at Circuit of the Americas where he would finish 36th. 

As of writing this, it is not known when we will see The Money Team Racing enter another Cup race. I have reached out to the team but have not yet received a response. As a fan, it's a shame to see the new team with the best chance at success only make 6 starts with a best finish of 23rd. Does this mean it is over for the team? Of course not. We could potentially hear an announcement that the team is going full-time in 2024 with several more starts this season, but until that time comes... It's a shame we have not seen much success from The Money Team Racing. 

To me, the team is not so much a disappointment in their performance, it's the fact they really don't seem to be trying. 

By: Tom Luttermoser