BK Racing Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Gray Gaulding is scheduled to race the no. 23 at Daytona

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BK Racing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a North Carolina court on Thursday afternoon, just hours before the team was due to compete in the Can-Am Duel Daytona 500 qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway.

BK Racing's bankruptcy filing was made in response to a lawsuit filed by Union Bank & Trust of Virginia, and a court request to appoint a receiver to oversee BK Racing's operations. BK Racing is current in default of a $9 million load from the bank, which took BK Racing's NASCAR racing charter for it's no. 23 and no. 83 teams as collateral on the loan, and is now seeking to have the charter that is scheduled to compete this weekend at Daytona. BK Racing sold the no. 83 charter to Front Row Motorsports before the beginning of the season, who then in turn leased it to TriStar Motorsports.

In their bankruptcy filing, BK Racing listed more than $10 million in liabilities among 20 creditors.

While there has been no official word from the BK Racing, the team is scheduled to compete in this weekend's Daytona 500 with driver Gray Gaulding behind the wheel of the no. 23 Toyota.

In a statement, NASCAR said they were aware of the situation but we not planning on taking any action against BK Racing or to revoke their charter.

“We have a clear process around charter member governance," the statement said. "It is incumbent upon charter members to be ready to race and compete at the highest level. BK Racing remains the holder of the Charter."