Dozens Of NASCAR Employees Are Being Let Go

Jared C&period; Tilton/Getty Images

Dozens Of NASCAR Employees Are Being Let Go

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Holleran | Last updated May 18, 2026 9:30 PM ET

Dozens of NASCAR team employees are being let go as a team has decided to cease its operations.

AM Racing, a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series team, is ceasing to exist. The team has decided to shut down, as all employees have immediately been let go. The racing team had competed in NASCAR's secondary series, working with Ford. However, things had been a struggle.

Motorsports.com reported on Friday that the operation was being shut down, as the employees had been notified that they were no longer needed.

"Per our Senior NASCAR correspondent Matt Weaver, Vice President of Competition Matthew Lucas informed employees that they were being released from their duties, telling them that he made a concerted effort to stabilize the race team without success," the outlet reported.

NASCAR Cup Series photo. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Earlier this year, the team had made a big move, signing rising star driver Nick Sanchez. The driver had been dropped by Big Machine Racing (BMR) just days before the start of the 2026 season.

Efforts had been made to work things out. A team executive reportedly "told employees that he made efforts to stabilize" the team, but the "inability to continue normal business activity eventually resulted in its closure."

Employee paychecks had reportedly been bouncing, though the team is reportedly working through that situation.

Racing can be a tough business to be in

Whether it's NASCAR or IndyCar or Formula 1, racing is big business - but it doesn't always work out. It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to operate a top-tier racing team - sometime seven more - and even the lower-level racing operations can be really expensive.

When things aren't working out as they should, they can come to a screeching halt, as is the case here.

Our thoughts are with all of the NASCAR team employees now searching for a new job.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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