PCC Motorsports owner Craig Sims announced Monday evening that he'll scale back his Hope, Indiana-based racing program at the conclusion of the 2023 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series campaign, ending his association of more then two seasons with driver Spencer Hughes of Meridian, Mississippi. 

Hughes, who turns 23 on October 30, will run two more events this year — October 13-14’s Coors Light Fall Classic at his hometown’s Whynot Motorsports Park and October 20-21’s Lucas Oil Series season-ending Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio — to close his stint with Sims. He joined the team during the 2021 season and has spent the past two years as a regular on the Lucas Oil tour.

“I think of Spencer as a son and all of the guys that have worked on the car as part of our family,” Sims said in a press release. “It all comes down to the rising cost of our sport. It costs twice as much now as it did when we started this team three-and-a-half years ago with Hudson O’Neal driving the car. When it comes down to it, it just doesn’t make any financial sense anymore.

“Hopefully, everything works out for Spencer and he lands on his feet somewhere that can help him keep progressing in this sport. I greatly appreciate his dedication and talent behind the wheel, the hard work of each of our crew guys that we had this year and in the past, and of course all of our great sponsors.”

Hughes currently sits 12th in Lucas Oil standings with six top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. Overall in 2023 he’s made 76 starts for PCC Motorsports with eight top-five and 29 top-10 finishes.

“It’s disappointing, but when Craig (Sims) broke down the numbers and showed me the budget, I don’t blame him one bit,” said Hughes, whose two victories with PCC Motorsports came in 2021 Baltes Classic at Eldora (worth $5,000) and last year’s Fall Classic at Whynot ($12,000). “The costs have just skyrocketed and we didn’t have the type of season that we wanted to have, but that wasn’t from lack of effort I can promise you that. There were a lot of late nights and sleepless nights trying to put our heads together to find that extra speed but we just couldn’t hit on anything.

“I’ll always think of Craig and (wife) Shannon as family and can’t thank them enough for allowing me to live out my dream of racing full-time with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series the past two years.”

Hughes, who finished ninth in last year’s Lucas Oil standings, will return to his native Mississippi following the DTWC and look to assemble a racing program for 2024.