Taylor Gray Makes Playoff Gains With Milwaukee Top 5

Taylor Gray (17) leads a pack of trucks at the Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile. (Rusty Jones/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Taylor Gray kicked off his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff debut with a strong top-five showing in Sunday’s LiUNA 175 at the Milwaukee Mile.

After a close call early with Bayley Currey and Matt Crafton, which almost ended the 19-year-old’s day prematurely, the Artesia, N.M., native rebounded to fifth-place by day’s end.

His charge back toward the front included a fierce late-race duel with fellow playoff competitors Tyler Ankrum and his TRICON Garage teammate, Corey Heim.

Gray made his final pass for position with 10 laps left, after Heim went wide in turn one, and pulled away from his two challengers by nearly a second by the checkered flag.

It was a positive finish after the early close call, Gray admitted after the race.

“[The race] kind of started down, but we definitely made our truck better all day,” he said. “Props to Jeff Hensley (crew chief) making awesome adjustments on the box and getting us up front and being able to contend for a top five. It’s a step in the right direction. Just got to work on getting a little bit better in terms of the speed and things like that to contend for wins right now.

“I can’t thank my guys enough at TRICON Garage for bringing me a really good JBL Tundra TRD Pro. [We] just ended the last run a little tight, and maybe needed a little bit more track position and pace to contend for a top-three or a win.”

After starting his career in dirt outlaw karts, and later late models – where managing tires is an essential skill for success – Gray noted those early lessons paid dividends during the long green-flag run to end the race.

“[Tire conservation] is something I’ve been doing since I was a little guy racing late models,” Gray explained. “I enjoy it, it’s fun and it definitely brings up a little bit more strategy in the race for sure.”

By virtue of his run Sunday, the TRICON Garage driver put his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra 13 points above the playoff cut line with two races to go in the opening round. Races at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway remain in the Round of 10.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action Thursday night, Sept. 19 at the concrete Bristol high banks for the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. Broadcast coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.