Gray Gaulding made an unexpected and emphatic announcement via Twitter on Wednesday evening. At 7 PM ET, the 24-year-old racer Tweeted out, “I’m back!!!”
While the Tweet only included a photograph of Gaulding, and did not have a link to a press release attached to it, the Tweet gave plenty of information as to what Gaulding’s 2023 NASCAR plans are.
Here is the Tweet from Gaulding:
I'm back!!!
Sponsor announcements coming soon!@SSGLR0708 @XfinityRacing @NASCAR @DAYTONA #FullSeason #NeverGiveUp pic.twitter.com/2jEw1mKKmT
— Gray Gaulding (@graygaulding) January 26, 2023
It appears that Gaulding will return to NASCAR Xfinity Series competition for the 2023 season and that he will pilot the No. 08 SS Green Light Racing entry, as Gaulding tagged the race team in the text of the Tweet, and he also tagged them in the photo that accompanied the Tweet.
Gaulding also included the hashtag #FullSeason, which draws the natural conclusion that he will run the full 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. Gaulding will become the teammate to Blaine Perkins.
In the tweet, the native of Colonial Heights, Virginia stated that sponsorship announcements will be coming soon, but the post heavily hints that Gaulding’s longtime partner — Panini Trading Cards — will be involved, as he utilized a photo of him standing next to the No. 08 SSGL car, which was sponsored by Panini, from 2019.
Gaulding last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series back in 2019, and in that campaign with SSGL, Gaulding impressed as he scored a top-five finish, four top-10s and came home 13th in the year-end championship standings.
In the three years since, Gaulding has only competed in a total of 27 NASCAR Xfinity Series events, two of which came during the 2022 season with Mike Harmon Racing (now known as CHK Racing) and JD Motorsports.
Overall, Gaulding has made a total of 146 starts in NASCAR National Series competition over the course of his career, and the driver has scored top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series despite battling in underfunded equipment for the majority of his career.
