DGM Racing Kicks Off the 2022 Season with a Top 10
The season-opener at Daytona International Speedway was much different from previous seasons for DGM Racing. The team entered the weekend with three new drivers between its four entries. Alex Labbé returned in the No. 90, while DGM Racing welcomed Josh Bilicki, Kyle Weatherman, and Mason Massey to the Florida-based team.
Mason Massey is scheduled to run all of the oval tracks in DGM Racing's No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro. Kyle Weatherman has funding confirmed to run the first five races of the 2022 season in DGM Racing's No. 92. Alex Labbé will compete in the No. 36 for 18 races in the 2022.
No. 36
Josh Bilicki earned DGM Racing its first Top 10 of the 2022 season, finishing P9 at the Beef. It's What's For Dinner 300. Bilicki started the race P31 and quickly guided the Zeigler Auto Group / Elliot's Custom Trailers No. 36 through the field. He kept out of trouble and in the final stage, maneuvered his way to the front of the field. Bilicki led 10 laps in the Beef. It's What's For Dinner 300 - which is more laps than he's led in his prior 72 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts combined.
Stage One: P21
Stage Two: P13
Race Results: P9
No. 92
Kyle Weatherman made his DGM Racing debut in the LS Tractor No. 92. In one of the most competitive fields the NASCAR Xfinity Series has seen, Weatherman qualified into the race just outside the Top 20. He began the Beef. It's What's For Dinner 300 P23 and ran most of the race within the Top 20 before he was collected in an accident on the front stretch with less than 30 laps to go. With no where to go, a competitor spun right into Weatherman, damaging the car beyond repair and ending his day P32.
Stage One: P18
Stage Two: P19
Race Results: P32
No. 90
After making the decision to sit out of the opening race, Labbé's plans were quickly changed in the weeks leading up to the Beef. It's What's For Dinner 300. The DGM Racing crew had to quickly shift gears from preparing its cars for the West Coast Swing to focus time and effort on preparing an additional car for its fourth Daytona entry. The news was announced February 12 (exactly one week before the race) that Labbé would pilot DGM Racing's No. 90.
The No. 90 is a newly assembled car and has never been raced by DGM Racing. The team was starting from scratch. With a lot of hard work and a couple long nights, the the car was ready to hit the track by the end of the week. However, in Friday's practice session, Labbé and his crew identified a few issues and areas that needed to improve to perfect the car. (This is not unusual at all when bringing a new car to a track for the first time.) After the practice session, the No. 90 crew worked on the exhaust, brake calipers, engine, and ignition before the Qualifying session that took place Saturday morning. Unfortunately, these changes were not enough to make the race. Labbé missed the race by six hundredths of a second.
No. 91
Mason Massey hopped in DGM Racing's No. 91 for the first time at Daytona International Speedway. Massey was one of 47 drivers looking for a spot in Saturday night's 38-car field; nine drivers would be going home. The Top 33 drivers would be locked in on speed and the final five drivers would be determined based on 2021 Owner's Points. In Practice, Massey posted a 29th place lap time, and even without a good qualifying lap, his starting position should have been secured with Owner's Points that he acquired from DGM Racing's No. 36 car. (21st place points.) Unfortunately, there were other forces at play and a different plan in place. The competition was fierce. And the field was honestly stacked. Massey missed the race by two tenths of a second.