Toyota Racing – Taylor Gray
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Quotes
CHARLOTTE (August 20, 2024) – TRICON Garage driver Taylor Gray was made available to the media today as part of the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Media Day.
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
What type of advice have you got on how to handle the pressure of the Playoffs?
“Honestly, just taking it a race at a time. Luckily, I think this first round of the Playoffs for our company as a whole has a pretty good set of tracks coming up, so more so, looking at a bigger picture. Yeah, just taking it one race at a time – focusing, and not changing much to what we’ve done all year long. Just show up to the race track prepared, and kind of just have to go through the weekend and do the same thing we’ve been doing all year long – I don’t know if much will change.”
What do you feel like you have to do in the Playoffs that you haven’t done yet in the regular season?
“The big thing is we are going to have to go and win races, starting in Milwaukee hopefully. If you go back and look, I think it is fair to say that we should have three wins on the side of our truck this year – just kind of failed to execute some of these races out, so I think the big thing is executing these races, especially executing at the end of these races and picking up some of those wins.”
What has led to your upward performance this season?
“I think the big thing is working with Jeff Hensley (crew chief) that is on the box and working with him as mentor and also as a crew chief – just kind of picking his brain and gain the experience that he has had over the years with racing. I think that is one of the biggest factors with me, running a lot better than I have in the past, is just having Jeff to work with and picking his brain, and also it is experience. This is my second year – I guess technically first full-time year in trucks – just gaining the experience and being better.”
When you look ahead to the Playoffs are their tracks that you are looking forward too?
“I think Kansas, Milwaukee is one of them coming up, Homestead – I’m really excited for. Bristol, I think we have a good package for Bristol. I think there is quite a bit of race tracks coming up for us that are really good race tracks for us. Whenever we do make it to that final round, Phoenix is a really good race track for our company as a whole.”
Are there anything that your crew chief Jeff Hensley has explained to you about the pressure of the Playoffs?
“Not a whole lot, I think for a lot of guys – it will be okay for a little bit, it really comes down those cut races, whenever you are on the cut line or somebody is in a must win situation, that is where you will see some crazy moves happen and you just have to be aware of that and be aware of who you are around, and not get in there mess, but that is Truck racing every weekend. We shouldn’t have many issues with that.”
How has your pit crew helped your success this weekend?
“In terms of pit crew stuff, I don’t know the exact stats – but I think we are either first or second on pit road by a good bit. I want to say the last time I heard we were first on average on pit road, that is obviously exciting. Those guys work their butts off and are really good at what they do. At terms of pit road stuff, I’m not really worried about it – those guys seem to perform pretty well.”
Do you think a win in the Playoffs would help you reach your full potential?
“I think winning fixes a lot of things and when you win, you get on this roll and this routine, where it seems like nothing can really go wrong, and when you get on that roll – I’ve experienced that back when we raced ARCA, I think I won three or four in a row, and I’ve experienced that. I know what it feels like. You feel like you are Superman, so to start that right now in the Playoffs, that would be huge to get us going rounds and make the Final 4 – that would be huge. To answer your question, winning fixes everything.”
Did your Xfinity Series experience help you reach the Playoffs?
“I don’t know if it helped me reach the Playoffs. I feel like we were in a pretty good spot throughout the year from the padding we build ourselves at the beginning of the year. Obviously, we had a rough stretch of races there in the summer months, but then started getting back on track here of late, I don’t know if it necessarily helped me, I think it helped me gain experience and get overall seat time to make me better as a driver, but in terms of just making the Playoffs, I don’t know that it helped me there.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
