Press Release | NIECE MOTORSPORTS
Salisbury, NC (August 16, 2024) – The Gould family heritage with Niece Motorsports will strengthen as the team announces Matt Gould to make his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.
Gould, a second-generation driver from Mooresville, NC, is the son of Niece Motorsports' winningest and longest-tenured crew chief, Phil Gould. The 18-year-old competes in grassroots NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly events throughout the southeast, primarily honing his craft at Hickory Motor Speedway. He has earned three wins in the Late Model Stock Car ranks, picking up victories at Orange County Speedway, Florence Motor Speedway, and Hickory.
Having made his ARCA Menards Series debut at Milwaukee two years ago, the track is the perfect site for Gould to take the next step in his career progression. In 2022, he competed in two ARCA events for Niece Motorsports which both produced top-10 finishes; 10th at Milwaukee and eighth at Toledo Speedway.
"This opportunity means a lot to me, especially having Al (Niece) and my dad help me get to this point," said Gould. "I'm looking forward to it and can't thank them enough. I've been having a lot of fun working on the truck and putting everything together in the interior knowing that this is for my truck, not someone else's. Huge thank you to Niece Equipment and Chevrolet for the support as well. I'm hoping to get into their simulator soon to get a feel for it, but I've already had some help and have leaned on so many people. I'll have a bunch of family members watching that have been waiting on this for a long time, so I'm excited to finally be able to go and do it."
Following in his father's footsteps, the younger Gould took an opportunity within the team to learn the mechanical ropes of the Truck Series while he was in high school. He picked up a nickname around the shop and became affectionately known as "LP" (Little Phil). Since he graduated in May, he has spent most of his time in the shop preparing several of the team's race trucks as a full-time crew member. Thanks to Al Niece, he'll trade in a wrench for a steering wheel next week.
"Matt has been such a great kid to have around our team," said Niece. "His determination, whether it be from behind the wheel in his late model or from lending a helping hand to our crew, has proven how much he wants this opportunity. He's always pitched in with whatever we throw at him and has continued to learn ever since he first started to come around. One of our goals here has always been to give him a chance to race in the Truck Series. We've been waiting on this for a while now, and I'm glad that we were finally able to put everything together for him in his debut. I think he'll do a great job for us."
This will be the first race of Gould's career that he won't have his father working directly with him on his team. Phil Gould believes that will create some friendly competition in the family.
"That's going to be crazy for me," said Phil. "You know, I'll have my own team to worry about when I'm working on our truck, but I'll be peeking over around him to make sure he's good. It's really cool, I'm super thankful to Al (Niece) and Cody (Efaw) and everyone here at the shop for believing in him and giving him this opportunity. He's been working really hard in the background, working on his truck and doing all the things he needs to do to prepare for it. Of course I believe in him; I'm his dad, so I'm supposed to, right? But it'll be really cool to see everyone else behind him, and I'm confident he'll do well. I'm definitely hoping for the best."
Niece Equipment will join Gould on board as his primary sponsor for the race, while the team's Competition Director, Tom Ackerman, will serve as his crew chief on the No. 44 Silverado RST. It will be the second time this year that the team enters the part-time truck which debuted at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with Conor Daly.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series heads to the Milwaukee Mile Speedway on Sunday, August 25th for the running of the LiUNA! 175. Live coverage of the race will be shown on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 4:00 PM ET. For more news and updates, please visit NieceMotorsports.com.
(Photo Courtesy Niece Motorsports)
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