The Craftsman Truck Series championship race at the Phoenix Raceway was an unfortunate gift that kept on giving disastrous consequences for all associated with it. While the winningest Championship 4 contenders were led astray by on-track rivalries, the impact was felt by non-contending drivers as well.

The latest victim of the overtime chaos is GMS Racing driver Daniel Dye. With 21 laps to go, the #43 Chevrolet driver was involved in a multi-truck crash that resulted in crushing news soon after.

GMS Racing driver Daniel Dye loses career-defining Xfinity Series opportunity

After nine prolific years in the Craftsman Truck Series, this was not the conclusion imagined by the 2x champion team GMS Racing. The championship race acted as the final ride for the team which announced its closure earlier this year. Their #23 driver, Grant Enfinger, had hoped to secure the championship trophy in his team’s last NASCAR venture. 

Unfortunately, after multiple caution-induced restarts, Enfinger fell 0.306 seconds short of title winner Ben Rhodes on the last lap of the race. The trophy had already slipped away from GMS Racing. On Saturday, it landed in the hands of ThorSport Racing. But the misery did not end there for Enfinger’s team. Their #43 driver was caught in a crossfire between Stefan Parsons and Bayley Currey. 

As Currey crashed into Parsons on Lap 129, Parsons was spun around and collided with Daniel Dye in the final race of his rookie NASCAR season. The damage was severe enough to bring out the red flag, and the race stopped for 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Dye was set to appear in the Xfinity Series finale in his third-ever career start. His #44 team, Alpha Prime Racing, shared that incredible opportunity would have to wait another season for Daniel Dye could not be declared medically fit for the race the next day.

Watch this story: Hailie Deegan’s Bold Leap from Trucks to Xfinity Series

While that spot would be filled by part-time Xfinity driver Leland Honeyman, Richard Childress Racing driver Sheldon Creed, who won the Truck championship with the #2 truck in 2020, had high expectations from the now-injured driver.

Sheldon Creed had hoped to transfer his Truck Series championship magic to the GMS Racing team

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Before Sheldon Creed was involved in the Martinsville crash with RCR teammate Austin Hill, the #2 driver was moments away from a Championship 4 position. Although Creed will no longer be racing for a title in the Xfinity race this weekend, the former Craftsman Truck Series champion was hit with a wave of nostalgia prior to the season-ending truck race.

Creed had driven the #2 truck for GMS Racing before he moved to the Xfinity Series. In his second year with the team, Sheldon Creed won the Phoenix race and the 2020 championship for the outgoing truck racing team. The #2 driver was thrilled to discover that Daniel Dye was going to sport the design of his triumphant truck in the final race of the season.

Sadly, Sheldon Creed’s winning design could not bring the desired run for GMS Racing or Daniel Dye as the legendary team ended its NASCAR run on an underwhelming note.

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