MOORESVILLE, N.C. – DGR-Crosley announced Wednesday that Tanner Gray will make his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 26.
Gray will pilot the No. 15 Gray Motorsports/Valvoline Toyota Tundra at the .526-mile Virginia paper clip, before following up his debut with starts at ISM Raceway in Arizona and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway to close out the season.
Gray, a 20-year-old NHRA Pro Stock champion, made the transition back to oval-track racing in 2019, competing full time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series as well as picking up select ARCA Menards Series races.
In his rookie K&N season, Gray closed out the year with a second-place finish at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway, moving him up to third in the K&N Pro Series East point standings.
With combined results between his 15 K&N Pro Series East and West starts, Gray collected one win, nine top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. He also collected three poles as well.
“I’m excited to make the step up to the Truck Series,” said Gray. “I think it’s going to be challenging, but I’m ready to take the next step with my DGR-Crosley guys. We’ve been preparing for this all season, and I think the best way to learn is to go out and do it. Between testing and spending time in the Toyota simulator, I think I have a good feel for Martinsville and will be able to adapt quickly.
“We will have three practice sessions to get acclimated and get the truck where it needs to be; we just need to keep our nose clean in the race and have a solid day on pit road.”
Gray’s K&N Pro Series team will make the transition to the Truck Series with him for the remainder of the season. Seth Smith will cover crew chief duties, while veteran Cup Series spotter Eddie D’Hondt guides the young driver from the spotter stand.
“I’m really looking forward to Tanner’s Truck debut after the building season that he’s had,” said Smith. “He’s learned a lot from where he started at the beginning of the season to where he’s at now. We tested at Martinsville and I feel like we had a really successful test session. I’m looking forward to racing there, as well as Phoenix and Homestead to finish out the year.”