CONCORD, N.C. – Love him or hate him, Gray Gaulding has worked hard to become a professional driver in NASCAR’s top-three national series.
But as Gaulding has worked to make a name for himself and earn the respect of his competitors and those in the garage, it certainly hasn’t come without its highs and lows.
Within the last month, the peaks and valleys of being in NASCAR have certainly taken aim at Gaulding and his SS Greenlight Racing team.
After nearly pulling one of the biggest upsets of 2019 and in contention to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Gaulding settled for a career-best second. It was a good day. A career-day for the driver, a career-day for team owner Bobby Dotter who has made NASCAR his life and at the time, Gaulding believed he had a 14-race deal done with a new sponsor.
Three days later though, Gaulding got a swift reality check on how quickly things can go from good to bad. Days before their expected debut at Dover International Speedway, the sponsor executive called Gaulding and his team and said they would not only be unable to fulfill the 14-race commitment – but wouldn’t be involved at all.
For Gaulding, it was an instant reminder on how humbling the sport can make you.
“Right before Dover after finishing second at Talladega – we got the worst news probably of the entire season,” Gaulding said Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We got the call from a previous partner that was going to take 14 races – and 14 races for us is a big deal and unfortunately they had some things happen and it fell through.
“You can’t be mad at anybody, it’s part of business, part of life. You’re going through hurdles; it just, unfortunately, came at such a terrible time.
“Finishing second and almost winning and then on Tuesday getting the call. Unfortunately, we were sitting pretty, and everything was going to be great and now we’re back to square one.”
Since Talladega, Gaulding and his team made of his father Dwayne and business associate Barry Tisdale have relentlessly been pounding the pavement –doing what they know best – putting themselves front and center trying to collect enough dollars to put new tires on the car and cover Dotter’s expenses.
The sponsorship hunt had been going before Talladega and before the new sponsor turned out to be a bust. In fact, through the Dover race – the team had been able to raise funding for five consecutive races.
In his return to the Monster Mile – despite starting the week with a bare car, everything was gravy. Their hard work and dedication paid off.
“We’ve been able to raise partnerships for five straight weeks during the week of the race. It’s a grind. I ain’t going to lie. It’s one of those deals you have to figure out a deal to make it work,” added Gaulding.
When it comes to Charlotte Motor Speedway though – Gaulding thought it would have been an easy sell.
Racing in the Queen City – the limited cost to run being so close to the race shop, but the reality fairy quickly reminded them just hard the sponsorship game really is.
To help put the word out – not only about Charlotte but their upcoming stretch of races, the team decided to decorate Gaulding’s No. 08 Chevrolet with the signage sponsorGray.com.
Their idea gained traction and attracted attention and even on Saturday morning, hours before the 11th race of the season and Gaulding’s Xfinity debut at the 1.5-mile speedway, Panini, a company specializing in sports trading cards, bailed the Mooresville, N.C.-team out enough where the race wouldn’t be a financial strain.
“We see a lot of people do it and it seems to work out,” said Gaulding of the sponsorGray.com initiative.
“The reason I said, let’s do it because we wanted to let people know that we need help, whether its race fans, people watching on TV or at the race. We’re trying to get the word out the best we can. We’re being blunt about it.
“Things aren’t going as planned or as good as we’d like them to be. That’s why we’re are reaching out and putting sponsorGray.com on the race car.”
Gaulding finished 14th on Saturday afternoon without a set of true sticker tires and endured an afternoon where temperatures inside the race car soared to over 140 degrees. No complaints from the driver though, he’s just thankful to still be here.
“It’s been a fun year,” sounded Gaulding. “We’ve been through some hills and valleys, but you know what we still manage to work hard and do the best we can and work toward our goal is to run up front and do what we do best, which is running inside the top-15, finish second at ‘Dega.
“I wanted to be blunt about it and let people know that this business is hard. I feel like what I can do on and off the race track will be a bang for anybody’s buck. Not for people to hurt with us or cry for us – we’re laying it out there on the line.”
In all, the effort was the Colonial Heights, Va. native’s ninth top-20 finish of 2019. Continuing to post solid finishes for a team that runs weekly on a limited budget, Gaulding is hoping that their situation will eventually change – but if it don’t, they’ll keep plugging along.
“We have a commitment to run full-time and that’s what we’re going to do with Bobby (Dotter),” he said.
“Bobby signed me and hired me to come and drive. To be quite honest, every Monday – we race the weekend and then I’m on the phones on Monday like a telemarketer doing what I can to try and
drum things up. We’ll keep going. Pocono’s next.
“This sport is so humbling. Every week I show up though, I’m thankful to be here because it’s so hard to be here. Just one of those deals, you just have to keep on keeping on.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
