Cedar Rapids’ Joey Gase now a NASCAR owner

Cedar Rapids’ Joey Gase is now a NASCAR team owner.

Gase announced Thursday he will have a “new ride with a brand-new NASCAR Xfinity Series team — Joey Gase Racing.”

“I am extremely excited to start a new chapter in my career and life,” Gase said in a news release. “To not only be a driver, but also a team owner, this is something I have been thinking about a lot the last few years.”

He said he asked several other owners about his dream.

“I expected to get a lot of push back saying not to, but to my surprise I got a lot of the opposite,” Gase said.

He thanked all the people who have helped him with teams the last 10 years — Jimmy Means, Bobby Dotter, Carl Long, Archie St. Hilaire and Rick Ware.

“They have all taught me a ton and have helped me every step of the way,” he said. “It is not going to be easy by any means but I have a big support team behind me with my family and friends.”

Gase made his first Xfinity start at 18 at Iowa Speedway, finishing 20th. He ran full time in the series from 2014 to ’19 and then part-time in 2020 and 2021 when he moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series.

He has a career-best finish of fifth in the Xfinity Series.

“In 2021, we made two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a car that I owned myself,” Gase said. “Our second start was the fall Talladega race where we finished 15th and ran in the top 10 the majority of the third stage. I am extremely proud of how we ran that day and have to give a big shoutout to Rick Bourgeois for putting the car together and setting it up.”

Gase’s team will have five cars after buying the cars and equipment of H2 Motorsports from Shane Lee. JGR plans to run full time with Rick Bourgeois as the General Manager.

Gase will drive the No. 35 car most of the season and he plans to continue driving part time in the Cup Series.