Chris Hacker, Cram part ways despite planned Truck debut
On Wednesday, Chris Hacker revealed he would make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series début at Nashville Superspeedway for Cram Racing Enterprises. By Thursday, however, those plans were out the window as he and CRE have parted ways at his request.
“I greatly appreciate the opportunity that I was given, but sadly we could not come to an agreement regarding future events,” Hacker said. “I wish the best of luck to them and hope they are able to succeed in the future. I apologise for the inconvenience that has been brought to anyone involved. This has been a huge learning experience, and on the business side of everything I feel like this is the best outcome for me.”
Hacker joined CRE in 2020 as a development driver with planned starts in the ARCA Menards Series and Truck Series. He ran his first race for the team in a partnership with Fast Track Racing in the ARCA Menards Series West season finale at Phoenix that year, where he finished fifteenth. In May, he placed tenth in his first ARCA Menards Series start at Charlotte for the team. The run culminated in Hacker announcing he would run the Nashville Truck race in a second CRE truck, and opened communications for sponsor opportunities that included racing with a blank white truck covered in the phrase “SPONSOR ME” if necessary.
Of course, Thursday’s news puts an end to that possibility. Team and family member Kimberly Cram had noted Hacker’s reveal was “made prematurely”.
“Everyone at Cram Racing Enterprises wishes to extend our best wishes to them moving forward and we hope to see them continue to excel in whatever comes next,” said co-owner Kevin Cram in a CRE statement. The release did not mention Hacker by name, simply calling him a “former development driver”.
The situation took a bizarre turn on social media—particularly Twitter where Hacker built a following with his sponsorship campaigning and memes—when a CRE fan account tweeted about the consequences of breaking news too early. The tweet drummed up support from those like Xfinity Series driver Josh Williams, who tweeted a GIF of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character from The Wolf of Wall Street applauding, and Xfinity crewman Sebastian Laforge, who explained “someone jumping the gun can easily throw everything for a loop” and that one “can get excited about moving up, but there’s a lot more at stake here for a team than just a check.”
Hacker responded to said fan page by commenting, “I would like to make it very clear that the separation was 100% my decision…” Said tweet also aligns with CRE’s statement which added that Hacker left on his own volition.
He and CRE have not revealed their own plans for Nashville or the future; the latter currently fields the #41 full-time for owner/driver Dawson Cram. Ironically, Cram’s Twitter account was hacked on the evening of Hacker’s departure, prompting him to quip on Reddit that he could “see the irony unfortunately lol”.