Taylor Gray continues to be a rising prospect making a name for himself in NASCAR. After making starts between the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West the past couple of seasons with David Gilliland Racing, Gray got his shot in the team’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series No. 17 Ford. He made five starts in 2021, recording his first top 10 with an eighth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.
In 2022, the 17-year-old returned with DGR and has made several starts between the three ARCA Series, winning five races and sitting second in the ARCA East standings. He has also returned to the No. 17 in the NCWTS, where he has competed in six races so far in 2022. Gray’s breakthrough start nearly came at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park when he attained the lead with two laps to go. Just as it was looking like Gray would earn his first career win, John Hunter Nemechek turned him and sent his hopes up in smoke.
Frontstretch caught up with Gray at Richmond Raceway, where he finished in sixth. Gray discussed the aggression of the Trucks, any potential grudge with Nemechek, his future in the sport and what it has been like racing against his brother, Tanner Gray.
Luken Glover, Frontstretch: What have you learned in your part-time season in Trucks and what has stood out the most?
Taylor Gray: It’s been hard because we’ve had issues of not being able to finish races. The majority of the time, we’ve gotten wrecked before we finish the second stage almost every race. It’s hard to say. At IRP, I feel like we were able to show what we can do when we don’t get wrecked by other people making not so smart decisions. We were at the front in the end and didn’t get to finish it off, obviously. I think it’s been a learning curve with how aggressive everybody is compared to what I’ve been used to. So just amping the aggressiveness up has definitely been something I’ve had to learn. Besides that, it’s been hard racing. You’re racing as hard as you can every single lap, and here on to [the NASCAR Cup Series], that’s how it is. So just learning and getting adapted to that has been pretty good so far.
Glover: Going back to IRP with John Hunter Nemechek, is there anything there as far as bad blood or are you looking to just stay focused on the task?
Gray: Yeah, I’m focused on my race team and performing to the best of our abilities. That’s out of my control. If he wants to race like that he can, but…
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