Ty Dillon departing Petty GMS after one season

Ty Dillon has gone from being the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series driver for GMS Racing to leaving the merged Petty GMS Motorsports after just one year. On Friday, the two parties announced they have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the 2022 season.

“Petty GMS and Ty Dillon have mutually agreed to part ways following the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season,” said the team. “We are appreciative of what Ty has done this year to help grow Petty GMS. As we continue the season, we remain focused on strong runs and getting the #42 Chevy Camaro to Victory Lane. We wish Ty all the best in the future.”

After spending 2021 as a journeyman following Germain Racing‘s shutdown, Dillon signed with GMS for the Camping World Truck Series outfit’s maiden Cup season in the #94, which was renumbered to #42 after merging with Richard Petty Motorsports. Nineteen races into the season, he is twenty-seventh in the standings with a single top ten in the Bristol Dirt Race in April as he placed tenth. Although he finished around this points range during his four-year tenure with Germain, he is ten positions behind team-mate Erik Jones, who despite also being winless has six top tens and two top fives.

Since making his Cup début in 2014, Dillon has seven career top tens and a best finish of third at the 2020 fall Talladega race with Germain.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to drive the #42 for Petty GMS this year. However, at the conclusion of the 2022 Cup Series season, we have mutually agreed to go our separate ways,” read a statement from Dillon. “I’m looking forward to what is next in the future.”

Dillon did not immediately announce his future plans, though some have speculated he would rejoin his grandfather’s Richard Childress Racing, potentially driving for a Cup or Xfinity Series ally until the #8 car is formally vacated by Tyler Reddick in 2024. He is running Saturday’s Xfinity race at New Hampshire for Big Machine Racing Team, who has a technical partnership with RCR.

While Petty GMS also did not reveal Dillon’s successor, reports state Noah Gragson is a prime candidate to fill the #42. Currently pursuing an Xfinity championship, Gragson has also run seven Cup races in 2022 for Beard Motorsports and Kaulig Racing.