Ryan Truex Remains Focused On Growing With Joe Gibbs Racing In 2024

Ryan Truex always dreamed of celebrating in victory lane. He witnessed his older brother, Martin Truex Jr., win some of Nascar’s biggest races and the 2017 Nascar Cup Series championship. But the younger Truex never pulled into the winner’s circle himself in any of the top three national touring divisions.

That changed in late April, when the No. 19 Toyota dominated the A-GAME 200 Xfinity Series race at Dover, as Truex claimed his first Nascar victory. The celebration was incredible. But most of all, it proved that this part-time racer has what it takes to get the job done if he can secure funding for an entire season.

“The win was a big deal, for sure,” Truex said. “It’s no secret that I’ve been around for a while, and I’ve been working for opportunities like this. I’ve been around the garage and I’ve done a lot of stuff. To do it at the home track and to do it the same weekend as my brother, it was special to be a part of.”

Martin won the Cup Series race at Dover, which was delayed to Monday due to inclement weather.

Life isn’t much different for Truex since his triumph in April. The main difference is he got rid of the goose egg in the win column.

“Most of my time is dedicated to figuring out how I can be on the racetrack more,” he said. “I’m doing things to keep myself relevant and learning as much as I can behind the scenes.”

Truex frequently works as Joe Gibbs Racing’s primary simulator driver to assist the team with its setups entering race weekends on the Cup Series side. He’s getting more experience, and he’s also helping the team as it advances through the playoffs with three of its four drivers still in quest for the championship in the Round of 8.

Now that Truex is competing with Joe Gibbs Racing, one of Nascar’s premier teams, he’s also reevaluating the decisions he made near the start of his career. Specifically, he’s reminiscing about the jump to the Cup Series in 2014 with BK Racing, which came at a time when he never ran more than 17 Xfinity Series races in a season.

“As a 21-year-old, that was definitely a tough portion of my life and my career,” Truex said. “At the end of the day, going into this opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing, my goal is to have the same thing happen to me that happened to Ryan Preece or Ross Chastain. I want to run a few races with a top team, win and turn it into a full-time opportunity.”

Preece and Chastain were each journeymen drivers, who eventually struck up part-time deals with top Xfinity Series teams. Both drivers won at the Xfinity Series level and are now racing full time in the Cup Series – Preece even got a second chance.

If Truex can earn a full-time opportunity — whether it be Xfinity or Cup — he’s ready for the challenge.

“I have to keep on the path I’m on,” he said. “One thing I’ve lacked over the years is a solid home, a place where I’m comfortable and felt like I knew everybody from the shop floor to management to the team owner. I finally have that now.”

The challenge at hand right now is to find additional partners for the 2024 season. Truex ran six races in each of the last two seasons with JGR, but at 31, the clock is ticking.

“I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to put that perfect deal together to go out and make everybody happy,” Truex said.

Truex said there is no specific deadline to put together a full-time deal for next year, but he’s already secured a part-time schedule in 2024.