Spencer Moritz Gallagher (born November 20, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, driving the No. 23 Toyota Camry for BK Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro, and part-time the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. He is the son of Allegiant Air's CEO, Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. In 2018, Gallagher announced that he would step away from full-time racing at the end of the 2018 season to take on a managerial role at GMS Racing.

Spencer Gallagher
Gallagher at Talladega Superspeedway in 2018
BornSpencer Moritz Gallagher
(1989-11-20) November 20, 1989 (age 35)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2018 position71st
Best finish71st (2018)
First race2018 Go Bowling at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
59 races run over 3 years
2018 position18th
Best finish18th (2018)
First race2016 Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 (Phoenix)
Last race2018 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
First win2018 Sparks Energy 300 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 12 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
60 races run over 6 years
2018 position106th
Best finish10th (2015)
First race2013 SFP 250 (Kansas)
Last race2018 Fr8Auctions 250 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 15 2
NASCAR Canada Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2015 position53rd
Best finish53rd (2015)
First race2015 Pinty's Presents the Clarington 200 (Mosport)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 17, 2018.

Early career

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Gallagher was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Gallagher, he and fellow driver Dylan Kwasniewski lived in the same neighborhood growing up, though their first encounter was on the racetrack. He is the son of Allegiant Air CEO Maury Gallagher. Gallagher spent time working for a Silicon Valley software company at age 19 while transitioning to a full-time racing career.[1][2]

Gallagher began racing at age 12 in the Bandolero Bandit Series, then progressing to the Legends Car Series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring.[3] Gallagher began to take his racing prospects seriously in 2009 on the recommendation of car owner and former driver T.J. Clark. He won the Silver State Road Racing Championship that year, and the INEX Legends Road Course World Finals in 2010. He also ran 6 races in the Super Late Model Series with a best finish of fourth. In 2011, Gallagher made 6 starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, then made two in the East Series in both 2011 and 2012.[2][4]

Developmental series

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2011–2013

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Gallagher's 2013 ARCA car on display at Road America

Gallagher made his debut in the ARCA Racing Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2011, and ran two more races with a best finish of 15th in the No. 05 Allegiant Air Chevrolet. He ran the full 19-race schedule in 2012, earning six top 10s and finishing 7th in points. His results improved in 2013, with 12 laps led, five top-five finishes and eight top-ten finishes. He failed to qualify for two races, however, and missed a race after a concussion at Michigan, relegating him to a 10th-place points finish.[5] Gallagher also attempted five races, failing to qualify for two, in the Camping World Truck Series, with a best finish of 20th at Texas.

2014

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Gallagher ran the full ARCA schedule in 2014, along with a partial schedule in the No. 23 in the Truck Series, sharing the ride with Max Gresham.

Gallagher was involved in an incident with John Wes Townley at the Iowa truck race in July, leading to a physical confrontation between the two and their respective crew members after the race. Townley and Gallagher, both competitors in the ARCA series as well, felt there was mutual bad blood built up between each other. The two had a friendlier conversation afterwards.[6]

In October 2014 he got his first win in the 20th and final race of the ARCA season, the ARCA 98.9 at Kansas Speedway. Gallagher started 32nd, and led the final 32 laps of the race.[1][7] Later that month, he earned a Truck Series best finish of third at Talladega on a last lap charge through the field.[8]

NASCAR

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2015

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Gallagher went full-time in GMS Racing's 23 truck for 2015.[1][2] Gallagher earned a second-place finish at Gateway Motorsports Park in June.[9]

2016

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Gallagher started the season with a low note crashing early at Daytona and recovered for a 21st-place finish. Starting at Phoenix, Gallagher ran a limited Xfinity Series schedule using the No. 21, scoring his first top 10 at Daytona. In the Truck Series he scored five straight top ten finishes until Texas. On June 25, 2016 at Gateway Motorsports Park, Gallagher was involved in a crash with John Wes Townley on lap 155 which led to an awkward fight between the two drivers for several seconds before NASCAR officials separated them.[10] He was fined $12,000 and placed on probation at the end of the year. Gallagher finished 2nd at Talladega behind teammate Grant Enfinger.

2017

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Gallagher racing at Road America in 2017

Gallagher moved up to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2017 with GMS, driving the No. 23 Chevy.[11] During practice for the OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway, Gallagher spun Joey Gase going into turn three after Gase slowed down. Gase, running for single-car team Means Racing, blasted Gallagher in an interview with Fox Sports 1 afterwards, claiming that Gallagher "really, really sucks" for only being one spot ahead of Gase in the standings despite running for a top-tier team.[12] This came after Gallagher told Gase to "get the hell away" in their conversation after the incident.[13]

2018

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In April, Gallagher scored his first career Xfinity win at Talladega; he passed leader Tyler Reddick on the final lap in overtime to record the victory.[14] Four days later, however, he was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR for violating its substance abuse policy.[15] Due to the suspension, Gallagher lost his Dash 4 Cash spot for the next race to Ryan Sieg and lost his playoff eligibility as well.[16] His suspension ended, and he was back in the No. 23 car at Kentucky.

In August, Gallagher joined BK Racing for his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen International.[17] After starting 34th, he finished 35th.[18]

Gallagher was originally supposed to replace Dalton Sargeant at Mosport due to his release, but aggravated his shoulder in a workout session a few days prior and Timothy Peters drove the No. 25 truck instead.[19] While Peters continued piloting the truck for the next few races, Gallagher stepped in for Cody Coughlin at the Talladega Race in the No. 2 truck because of his release. He got caught up in the big one in the middle of the race and finished 25th. On October 19, 2018 it was announced that Gallagher will be stepping away from NASCAR competition to be focusing on managing his father's racing organization in efforts to bring exploring new opportunities off the track.

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Monster Energy Cup Series

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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 MENCC Pts Ref
2018 BK Racing 23 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH SON CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN
35
MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 71st 01 [20]

Xfinity Series

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NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts Ref
2016 GMS Racing 21 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO
23
CAL
24
TEX BRI RCH
17
TAL DOV CLT
29
POC MCH IOW DAY
8
KEN NHA IND IOW GLN
22
MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT
24
KAN TEX PHO HOM 105th 01 [21]
2017 23 DAY
36
ATL
28
LVS
23
PHO
18
CAL
19
TEX
14
BRI
18
RCH
10
TAL
39
CLT
37
DOV
31
POC
18
MCH
18
IOW
30
DAY
24
KEN
13
NHA
35
IND
28
IOW
37
GLN
32
MOH
36
BRI
23
ROA
24
DAR
34
RCH
22
CHI
14
KEN
15
DOV
24
CLT
34
KAN
21
TEX
15
PHO
17
HOM
19
19th 433 [22]
2018 DAY
6
ATL
14
LVS
10
PHO
14
CAL
11
TEX
10
BRI
5
RCH
17
TAL
1
DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN
20
NHA IOW GLN MOH
8
BRI ROA DAR IND LVS
10
RCH
12
CLT
19
DOV
5
KAN
33
TEX
9
PHO
10
HOM
17
18th 524 [23]

Camping World Truck Series

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCWTC Pts Ref
2013 GMS Racing 21 Chevy DAY MAR CAR
DNQ
KAN
22
CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW ELD POC MCH BRI MSP IOW CHI LVS TAL MAR
DNQ
TEX
20
PHO HOM
32
42nd 58 [24]
2014 23 DAY MAR
32
KAN
30
CLT DOV TEX GTW KEN IOW
11
ELD POC
15
MCH
13
BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS
13
TAL
3
MAR TEX PHO
31
HOM
14
27th 234 [25]
2015 DAY
21
ATL
13
MAR
14
KAN
17
CLT
10
DOV
12
TEX
12
GTW
2
IOW
7
KEN
24
ELD
17
POC
14
MCH
16
BRI
22
MSP
8
CHI
8
NHA
28
LVS
15
TAL
18
MAR
29
TEX
12
PHO
6
HOM
11
10th 677 [26]
2016 DAY
21
ATL
10
MAR
6
KAN
10
DOV
6
CLT
6
TEX
27
IOW
13
GTW
22
KEN
16
ELD
29
POC
15
BRI
12
MCH
25
MSP
22
CHI
7
NHA
14
LVS
11
TAL
2
MAR
29
TEX
7*
PHO
32
HOM
21
12th 402 [27]
2017 DAY
13
ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 87th 01 [28]
2018 2 DAY ATL LVS MAR DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW CHI KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP LVS TAL
25
MAR TEX PHO HOM 106th 01 [29]

K&N Pro Series East

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NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSEC Pts Ref
2011 Clark Racing 23 Chevy GRE SBO RCH IOW BGS JFC LGY NHA
20
COL GRE NHA
22
DOV
DNQ
39th 264 [30]
2012 BRI
17
GRE RCH IOW BGS JFC LGY CNB COL IOW 50th 43 [31]
David Hirsch NHA
28
DOV GRE CAR

K&N Pro Series West

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NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSWC Pts Ref
2011 Clark Racing 23 Chevy PHO
27
AAS
DNQ
MMP
17
IOW
DNQ
LVS
24
SON
27
IRW EVG PIR
7
CNS MRP SPO AAS PHO
27
18th 792 [32]

Canadian Tire Series

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NASCAR Canadian Tire Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 NCTSC Pts Ref
2015 22 Racing 24 Dodge MSP ACD SSS ICAR EIR SAS ASE CTR RIS MSP
22
KWA 53rd 22 [33]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ARSC Pts Ref
2011 Clark Racing 05 Chevy DAY TAL SLM TOL NJE CHI POC MCH WIN BLN IOW IRP
17
POC ISF 64th 355 [34]
Chris Diederich Racing MAD
15
DSF SLM KAN
33
TOL
2012 23 DAY
29
MOB
28
SLM
22
TAL
19
7th 3720 [35]
Clark Racing TOL
34
ELK
14
POC
13
MCH
8
WIN
7
NJE
14
IOW
8
CHI
26
BLN
15
GMS Racing Chevy IRP
9
POC
29
ISF
10
MAD
15
SLM
9
DSF
C
KAN
21
2013 DAY
21
MOB
22
SLM
2
TAL
27
TOL
26
ELK
8
POC
8
MCH
17
ROA WIN CHI
13
NJE
16
POC
5
BLN
11
ISF
2
MAD
4
DSF IOW
14
SLM
16
KEN
3
KAN
7
10th 3790 [36]
2014 DAY
DNQ
MOB
7
SLM
2
TAL
5
TOL
13
NJE
17
POC
11
MCH
5
ELK
12
WIN CHI
6*
IRP POC BLN ISF MAD DSF SLM KEN KAN
1*
12th 2320 [37]
20 DAY
20

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Wolkin, Joseph (April 14, 2015). "Spencer Gallagher rising through the ranks". motorsport.com. motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Levine, Steve; Staff Report (August 13, 2014). "Video: GAINING TRACTION: SPENCER GALLAGHER". NASCAR.com. NASCAR, NASCAR Illustrated. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Off Axis Podcast S2E16 Spencer Gallagher". Off Axis Paint. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  4. ^ "GMS Racing: Drivers". gmsracing.net. GMS Racing. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Spencer Gallagher cleared for Take-Off in No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevy for Chicagoland". arcaracing.com. Mooresville, North Carolina: ARCA. July 15, 2013.
  6. ^ Albert, Zach (July 11, 2014). "TENSIONS RISE POST-RACE BETWEEN TOWNLEY, GALLAGHER: Peters and Hornaday Jr. exchange words as well at Iowa". NASCAR.com. Iowa Speedway: NASCAR. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  7. ^ Palmer, Tod (October 3, 2014). "Mason Mitchell takes ARCA title; Spencer Gallagher wins the ARCA 98.9". The Kansas City Star. Kansas Speedway: The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Trucks: Peters beats Talladega "system overload"". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. October 18, 2014. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  9. ^ "CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES HIGHLIGHTS: Gallagher: 'Bringing Home P2 Man, Come On!'". nascar.com. NASCAR. June 14, 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  10. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (June 26, 2016). "Townley, Gallagher wreck, wrestle and then slug it out after Gateway wreck". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  11. ^ "GMS Racing To Join NASCAR XFINITY Series Full Time In 2017 with Gallagher". GMS Racing. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  12. ^ Joey Gase rips Spencer Gallagher after wreck in Dover Xfinity practice, 2 June 2017, retrieved 2017-06-02
  13. ^ "Gase calls out Gallagher after practice collision and confrontation". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  14. ^ "Spencer Gallagher nabs Talladega lead, Xfinity victory on overtime lap". USA Today. Associated Press. April 28, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  15. ^ McMillen, Gabrielle (May 2, 2018). "NASCAR driver Spencer Gallagher suspended indefinitely for violating substance abuse policy". Sporting News. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  16. ^ "Gallagher issued Substance Abuse Policy penalty". NASCAR.com. 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  17. ^ Crandall, Kelly (July 30, 2018). "Gallagher to make Cup debut with BK Racing at Watkins Glen". Racer. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  18. ^ "2018 Go Bowling at the Glen". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  19. ^ Southers, Tim (August 22, 2018). "Dalton Sargeant out at GMS Racing". Motorsport.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  20. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  21. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2016 Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  22. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2017 Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  23. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2018 Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  24. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2013 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  25. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2014 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  26. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2015 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  27. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2016 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  28. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2017 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  29. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2018 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  30. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  31. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  32. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  33. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2015 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  34. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  35. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  36. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2013 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  37. ^ "Spencer Gallagher – 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
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