Dale Earnhardt Jr Suffers Massive Loss as Petty GMS Announces Hendrick Motorsports Level “Huge W”

Past the midway point earlier in this season, Noah Gragson, arguably one of the best, if not the best young drivers in NASCAR, was announced as a future Petty GMS Motorsports driver, putting a full stop to his time with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s JR Motorsports at the end of 2022.

This was a move that many saw coming, a step-up to the Cup from the Xfinity, even Dale Jr. did.

But regardless of his foresight, it’d still hurt to lose a generational talent like Gragson from your team.

And now, it’s going to hurt even more. Because not only is Gragson leaving JR Motorsports behind, he’s also taking a key asset from the team with him to Petty GMS.

Luke Lambert, the current crew chief of Gragson at JRM, was recently announced to be following his driver in his move to the new team.

This was something that many NASCAR fans considered a big win for Noah Gragson and his new team, because, well, just look at his record in the Xfinity Series this season.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s loss is Richard Petty’s gain

Speaking after announcing Noah Gragson to his team, Maury Gallagher, the owner of Petty GMS, described how he saw the current #9 JRM driver from a young age, and ever since then he’s been sure of his commitment, desire, and ability to win at every level.

“As we move into our second year of competition in the Cup Series, Noah is a great fit for our organization and I think with Erik and his experience, the two will prove to be contenders each week,” he added.

Gragson himself emphasized his new team’s environment being somewhat identical and, as a result, attractive to him as his current one.

“With where I am at right now with my racing career and JR Motorsports, how that operation is run, the whole atmosphere they have… that’s kind of what I see over here at Petty GMS,” Gragson said.

“It’s a family atmosphere, great people, great leaders, and for a 24-year-old guy, for them to take the opportunity and want to hire me, it is truly humbling.”

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