As far as Tricon Garage is concerned, the NASCAR Truck Series race at the Circuit of the Americas was one to remember with Corey Heim and Taylor Gray bringing home the top finishes. Part-time racer Jack Hawksworth also impressed massively in his debut race in the competition as he finished P6. At the end of the proceedings, it was clear that Tricon Garage was the team to beat and Gray re-iterated that fact in a post-race media interaction.
Taylor Gray could have been the one celebrating on Victory Lane instead of his teammate. However, he exceeded track limits around the dreaded esses of the COTA track, earning himself a penalty that set him back a few places. The 18-year-old did a great job of making it back up the pack and finishing just behind Corey Heim.
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After the race, the Tricon Garage star was incredibly proud of his NASCAR Truck Series team and claimed that they were the ones to beat so far this season. It will be interesting to see if the team can keep up this form going ahead into the season but for now, they surely seem to be on top of the world and anyone involved with them would be bursting with pride.
“I don’t think me and the #11 finished outside the top 10 all year, well Daytona for me but besides that, really good. He just won the race, I finished second, the #1 finished sixth and there on out. I don’t think you can really debate the fact that we’re executing at the highest level and we’re the team to beat right now,” Gray said in an interaction with Frontstretch.
However, there still was a sense of disappointment in the tone of the driver of the #17 truck. More than a teammate to Crey Heim, Taylor Gray is a race car driver and highly competitive. He would have liked the win and rued the track limit error he made early on in the race which robbed him of the opportunity.
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Teenage Truck Series star rues track limits as he misses out on race win
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Besides the penalty for exceeding track limits, Fuel was also a factor for the #17 Tundra TRD Pro. Towards the end of the XPEL 225, Taylor Gray seemed to be getting within the striking distance of Corey Heim but his truck just did not have enough in the tank to make a move that would stick until the end. The 18-year-old displayed maturity beyond his years as he put the team first and brought home P2 safely but still, he was a bit disappointed about not winning.
“We got a penalty at the beginning of the race, me cutting the course there through the esses. I just got to clean that up on my end and go back and look where I needed to be better and know how much I needed to be more out to the right to not get failed. I can’t thank all these TRICON Garage guys enough, they got me a really good JBL Tundra TRD Pro. Just, it’s a shame that at the end…started running out fuel there. Couldn’t really attack and give the #11 any pressure,” he added.
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Tricon Garage will be the team to look out for when the NASCAR Truck Series goes to the Richmond Raceway next weekend. Will the Toyota team be able to claim back-to-back wins? Only time will tell.
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