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Bayley Currey to Drive No. 44 for Niece After Christian Rose's Sponsor Woes

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Seth Eggert | Last updated Feb 10, 2025 6:52 PM ET

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Christian Rose won’t be in the No. 44 Chevrolet Silverado RST at Daytona Int’l Speedway due to sponsor changes.

In December last year, Niece Motorsport had announced that Rose would move up from the ARCA Menards Series, where he competed full-time the past two years, to drive the No. 44 full-time for the team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. On Monday, four days before the season-opening Fresh from Florida 250, the team announced that Bayley Currey would drive the truck instead.

Rose will remain with the team as the former college baseball player turned racer continues to pursue competition in NASCAR’s three National Touring Series.

In addition to Currey taking the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet in the interim, Masked Owl Technologies has hopped onboard as a sponsor. That combination was originally scheduled to debut this season with the No. 41 Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"Unfortunately, with the high costs associated with running a race team, we had to make this difficult business decision to keep everyone's best interests in mind," said Cody Efaw, General Manager of Niece Motorsports. "We would love to see Christian compete for us once funding is secured on his end and greatly appreciate our existing partners at Masked Owl Technologies for stepping up their commitment to Bayley and our company as a whole."

pic.twitter.com/P3NVCwXdvd
— Niece Motorsports (@NieceMotorsport) February 10, 2025

Currey has one previous Truck start at “The World Center of Racing” last season. He started ninth and finished 13^th. In 67 career starts he has three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Currey’s best finish, fourth, came at Atlanta in 2023.

The team did not state how long Rose will be sidelined. Missing the season opener eliminates the potential rookie of the year contender’s eligibility for the Truck Series playoffs.

Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. The race will also be broadcast on both the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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