UPDATE: John Wes Townley will not race in 2017. A source says that the 27-year-old Watkinsville, Georgia native has decided to end his racing career and take some college courses. Townley also got engaged to girlfriend Laura Bird in the autumn of 2016 and his settling down includes not competing in NASCAR. Concord, North Carolina-based Athenian Motorsports, owned by Townley’s father and Zaxby’s co-founder Tony Townley, is also ceasing operations. The team had fielded entries for Townley in the Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and ARCA Racing Series the past couple of seasons. Several drivers also filled-in for Townley in some respect for the team the past two seasons, due to either scheduling conflicts or injuries. Athenian Motorsports is in the process of selling its inventory.
Townley has raced since his childhood and has competed in NASCAR since he was 18. With Zaxby’s sponsorship in almost every race, Townley was able to stay in NASCAR with first other teams and then his own. In 2015, Townley won his first-career NCWTS race “Â a fuel mileage gamble to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Townley also won the 2013 and 2016 season-opening Daytona International Speedway races in the ARCA Series. Townley had a down final season in 2016, despite his ARCA win. He missed two races mid-season with a concussion and the final three with an ankle injury. Townley did score two NCWTS poles, but had only two top 10 finishes in 18 races. His final race saw the #05 Chevy place 21st at Texas Motor Speedway. That race was fittingly right around the time that he got engaged.(WSB Radio Race Blog )(1-10-2017)