IRVING, Texas – Gray Gaulding will make his return to the NASCAR Cup Series on May 20 at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway, driving the No. 27 Ford Mustang with backing from Panini America.
Panini America, the world’s largest licensed sports and entertainment collectibles company and the exclusive trading card manufacturer of NASCAR, will serve as the primary sponsor of Gaulding’s entry for both the 400-mile race at Darlington on May 20, as well as the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on Memorial Day Weekend.
Gaulding’s upcoming two starts will mark his first appearances in NASCAR Cup Series action since a start with Rick Ware Racing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2019.
“Panini proved in so many ways last year that they’re much more than a sponsor,” Gaulding said. “They were a true partner, like a member of the family, that helped me and our team realize so many accomplishments and I’m beyond ecstatic to be with them again this year. It would be enough if I just appeared on their NASCAR trading cards. But this relationship is so much deeper than that. I’m proud to have Panini riding shotgun with me.”
Panini has backed Gaulding previously in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, including a runner-up finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last April that stands as Gaulding’s best-career finish in NASCAR national series action.
Gaulding has 50 career NASCAR Cup Series starts dating back to 2016, with a career-best finish of ninth at NASCAR’s top level from 2017 at Talladega.
“Gray and his team were instrumental last season in helping us establish a strong presence at NASCAR tracks across the country and to educate diehard NASCAR fans about the many positive aspects of our NASCAR trading cards,” said Jason Howarth, Panini America Vice President of Marketing. “As NASCAR, brings about the return to sports during this Covid-19 pandemic, we felt like this was a great opportunity to celebrate sports that fans everywhere are clamoring for and promote our Panini trading card products that help deepen that connection and are available at Walmart, Target, hobby stores nationwide and online at www.paniniamerica.net.”
Gaulding’s starts in the No. 27 Ford come in conjunction with veteran NASCAR team owner Jay Robinson as well as Rick Ware Racing, which will officially field the entry that the 22-year-old Colonial Heights, Va., native will drive during the Darlington and Charlotte races.
Prior to Gaulding’s Cup return at Darlington in Wednesday night primetime, NASCAR will return to action at the 1.366-mile South Carolina oval at 3:30 p.m. ET on May 17.