Gaulding began racing
motorbikes at the age of four, and raced cars five years later. When he was ten, Gaulding received two
Bandolero cars, and won in his first Bandolero race. At age 12, Gaulding was the youngest driver in a NASCAR
Legends Division, and won a Legends car national championship, gaining sponsorship from firearm distributor
GunBroker.com. Also at the age of twelve, Gaulding defeated NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series driver
Kevin Harvick at Harvick's karting track, which prompted Harvick to sign Gaulding to
Kevin Harvick Incorporated's
driver development program. After KHI shut down in 2011, he was released from the team's driver development program. When he was fourteen, Gaulding was volunteering at the Victory Junction Gang Camp when he agreed to five one-year contracts with
Krispy Kreme as a sponsor.
K&N Pro Series East In 2013, Gaulding ran the No. 20 Krispy Kreme
Toyota in both the
K&N Pro Series East and
West. He won the
pole position at
Richmond International Raceway at fifteen years, two months, fifteen days, becoming the youngest pole-sitter in NASCAR history, more than four months younger than
Cole Custer, the previous record holder. In the season-ending Pro Series West race at
Phoenix International Raceway, Gaulding spun out Custer on the final lap to win, becoming the youngest race winner in K&N series history at 15 years, 8 months and 30 days. During the year, Gaulding was named to the NASCAR Next program, which highlights NASCAR's future stars.
Truck Series Gaulding joined NTS Motorsports in the No. 20, and ran eight races in the
2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season; On lap 243, Gaulding was running three-wide, and was turned around. Gaulding finished nineteenth. Gaulding recorded his best finish of the year at
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, finishing fourth in the
Chevrolet Silverado 250. On March 23, 2015, Gaulding was released by NTS Motorsports, and joined
Red Horse Racing, making his debut for the team at Martinsville where he finished seventeenth. He later joined
Kyle Busch Motorsports, driving the No. 54
Toyota Tundra in three races at Mosport,
New Hampshire and Martinsville.
O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2019 In 2016, Gaulding joined
Roush Fenway Racing's driver development program and made his
NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the No. 60 at
Bristol Motor Speedway, while also running another round at Richmond. For the 2019 season, Gaulding drove No. 08 Chevy for
SS-Green Light Racing full-time. In April's
MoneyLion 300 at
Talladega Superspeedway, Gaulding finished a career-best second behind
Tyler Reddick. On January 16, 2020, it was announced that
Joe Graf Jr. would take over the No. 08 car for the
2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, leaving Gaulding without a ride. Despite losing his full-time seat with the team, Gaulding returned to SS-Green Light for Talladega, where he piloted the No. 07 to an eighth-place run. Another ride opportunity with the same team saw Gaulding score another second-place finish in the
Wawa 250 at
Daytona International Speedway, being beaten by eventual winner
Justin Haley. Gaulding later joined
Mike Harmon Racing for a late-season drive at the
Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. in 2021 On January 26, 2021, it was reported that Gaulding would return to the Xfinity Series full-time for
Jimmy Means Racing. At the conclusion of the
Martinsville race, a fight broke out on pit road between Gaulding and
Joe Graf Jr. after Gaulding wrecked Graf on lap 177. Gaulding would only make a handful of starts in 2022, splitting time between
Mike Harmon Racing and
JD Motorsports with a best finish of 21st at
Talladega Superspeedway. in 2023 In 2023, Gaulding would return to
SS-Green Light Racing in the No. 08 in a mix of
Chevrolets and
Fords with
Blaine Perkins as his teammate. On April 8, 2026, it was announced that Gaulding would drive the No. 74
Chevrolet for
Mike Harmon Racing at
Bristol, marking his first race since 2023.
Cup Series in 2016 In late 2016, Gaulding attempted to make his
Sprint Cup Series debut at Martinsville, driving the No. 30 car for
The Motorsports Group. Gaulding joined
BK Racing's No. 23 car for the 2017 season, driving in 33 races. Gaulding was not approved to run the Daytona 500 due to lack of experience on larger tracks (1.5 miles or greater). On June 13, 2017, he was replaced by
Ryan Sieg at
Michigan. Later in the month, Gaulding announced he had joined
Premium Motorsports' No. 55 Camry for the Cup races at
Kentucky and
Loudon. On June 5, 2017, BK Racing released Gaulding because of financial issues; however, he would later return to the team at Darlington. At Talladega, Gaulding survived a crash-filled race to post his career-best finish of ninth. Gaulding would return to BK Racing in 2018, but left the team after running the first seventeen races as it fell into financial turmoil. He joined
StarCom Racing for two races in the No. 99 before moving to
Rick Ware Racing. He returned to Ware for the
2019 Food City 500 and a part-time schedule in 2020. ==Personal life==