Ty Norris’ departure from Trackhouse Racing sent shockwaves throughout the NASCAR community. The experienced motorsports executive had been with the team since its inception in 2021, playing a key role in making it the powerhouse it is today. Norris has joined Kaulig Racing as Chief Business Officer, where he will work alongside owner Matt Kaulig and team president Chris Rice to build partnerships and devise strategies for the racing team.

Having left Trackhouse Racing on amicable terms, the team’s co-founder Justin Marks shared his views about Ty Norris’ sudden departure, hailing him as one of the best executives in NASCAR history at building race teams.

Trackhouse Racing’s co-owner has high hopes for Ty Norris

Ty Norris has been on quite a journey with Trackhouse Racing. When he joined the team in 2021, the organization only had one Cup Series entry driven by Daniel Suarez. In the three years since they have purchased Chip Ganassi Racing, bought a third charter for Shane van Gisbergen from Stewart-Haas Racing, and founded PROJECT91 that was “creating a racing brand that transcends the sport attracting the world’s best drivers to NASCAR”. Under Norris’ leadership as President and Business Officer at Trackhouse, the team has gone from underdogs to potential title challengers, with Daniel Suarez currently competing in the Round of 12 playoffs at NASCAR’s highest level.

If you didn’t know, Norris has been in NASCAR for 35 years, starting his career covering races as a sports writer and then moving to Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 1996. The motorsports executive then briefly worked as Vice President of Special Projects for Speedway Motorsports before moving on to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2005(-2015). However, 2013 brought a huge dent in his career, leading to a four-month suspension from NASCAR…

Dubbed as the ‘SpinGate’ scandal, the incident unfolded during the Richmond race when he was spotting for MWR driver Brian Vickers. After the team’s other driver Clint Bowyer intentionally spun out to force a caution, Norris was caught on radio instructing Vickers to pit to help Martin Truex Jr make The Chase. “You respect history, you learn from history and you do everything you can in order to make history. I think if anyone has respected the history and has learned from our history, you won’t see any of that going on in the future,” Norris had later lamented. Since then, he’s emerged into one of the most respected fugures in the sport—something even Justin Marks couldn’t help but reiterate.

Sharing his views about Norris’ departure, the team owner told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “He’s going to do some great things. We’re still going to be working together. Trackhouse has a great partnership with Kaulig, our pit crew goes over there and works with them. We got SVG over there and all that stuff. We’re still very connected and I think he saw an opportunity to go to a team like Kaulig and really sort of help them take the next step, very much like he did in the creation of Trackhouse. This is a guy that’s one of the best, if not the best, in our sport’s history at building race teams.”

For the unversed, this is one of two high-profile exits that the nascent team has seen in recent times. Apart from Norris, Zane Smith “mutually agreed to separate” with the organization, after an unlucky charter situation left the 25-year-old out of a seat at all. You see, the team already has Supercars Championship phenom Shane van Gisbergen under contract and he will join the team for a full-time Cup Series ride next year after Marks likely acquires a charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. With the caliber the Kiwi has already shown, it wasn’t before long that Smith was left as the odd one out. Smith is currently on loan to Spire Motorsports for his debut Cup season and has zero wins, three Top-10s and two Top-5s so far.

SvG, on the other hand, already has one win—in his debut race in Chicago in 2023—and three Top-10s in the Cup Series. In the Xfinity Series, where he’s currently running his debut season, the 35-year-old already has three wins, two poles, eight Top-10s and six Top-5s. So, it’s understandable why Trackhouse would ultimately choose him…

As for Norris, the 59-year-old will now begin a new chapter at Kaulig Racing, a team that has won two Cup Series races since 2016 and 26 Xfinity Series races in its history.

Ty Norris welcomed by Kaulig Racing with open arms

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Trackhouse Racing and Kaulig have built a strong partnership through their many collaborations lately. When Justin Marks’ team wanted a new crew chief for Daniel Suarez, Kaulig was happy to help by swapping Travis Mack for Matt Swiderski. The two teams have also collaborated to give Shane van Gisbergen a chance in the Xfinity Series, with the Kiwi driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro for Matt Kaulig’s team, despite being a Trackhouse driver.

Given how strong the relationship is between the two teams, it should come as no surprise that Ty Norris’ switch has been so seamless. Welcoming him to the organization, the team released a statement on social media that read, “Today Kaulig Racing announces the addition of NASCAR industry veteran Ty Norris to the team. Norris will serve as the team’s Chief Business Officer, focusing on partnerships and long-term strategy alongside owner Matt Kaulig and team President Chris Rice. Bringing Norris and his wealth of knowledge to the executive team is one of several major moves Kaulig and Rice are making to solidify the trajectory of its NASCAR Cup Series program well into the future.”

It will be interesting to see what sort of impact Norris manages to make at Kaulig Racing. The team is looking to become regular playoff contenders in the Cup Series, and the motorsports executive will have his work cut out for him as he takes over the role. Will Norris manage to change their fortunes, just like he did with Trackhouse Racing? Time will tell, but the appointment seems to be a step in the right direction for Kaulig Racing’s ambitions at NASCAR’s highest level.