Nearly three years since his last start, Joey Gase will race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, this time on dirt. On Wednesday, Gase announced he will drive the #31 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for On Point Motorsports at Knoxville Raceway on 18 June.
Gase does not have much of a background on dirt, having grown up on pavement short track racing before entering NASCAR. Although his four career Truck starts came in 2018 and 2019 when the series raced at Eldora Speedway, all of his races came on 1.5-mile asphalt ovals (save for Talladega 2018 where he failed to qualify). The Xfinity Series, where he has raced since 2011 and co-owns Emerling-Gase Motorsports, does not have a dirt track on the schedule. Gase also did not run the Cup Series’ Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt event in 2021 nor 2022.
Despite his lack of dirt experience, the start gives him a chance to return to his home state of Iowa; Knoxville is located approximately two hours away from Gase’s native Cedar Rapids. Iowa Speedway in Newton was a frequent stop for Gase and the Xfinity Series before its removal from the calendar in 2020.
“Ever since Xfinity stopped going to Iowa Speedway, it has been a huge disappointment to me,” said Gase. “Now thanks to the Camping World Truck Series, the great people at Sparks Energy and On Point Motorsports I get to race in front of my friends and family again in the great state of Iowa.”
The #31 will be On Point Motorsports’ first time fielding a second entry. The team currently fields the #30 full-time for Tate Fogleman, who sits twenty-second in points after ten races. Danny Bohn scored a top ten in the #30 at the inaugural Knoxville event last year.
Gase has made five Xfinity starts for EGM in 2022 with a best finish of sixteenth at Talladega; he co-operates the team alongside Patrick Emerling. All four of his Truck starts came in start-and-park roles as he retired from each one.