TAYLOR JAMES GRAY - 03/25/2005
Taylor is the younger brother of Tanner Gray, who also drives for David Gilliland Racing in their #15 vehicles in the ARCA and NASCAR Truck Series. He is also the son of Shane Gray, an NHRA driver, and grandson of Johnny Gray, a Funny Car driver. Gray made his debut in a late model in March 2018 at age 12, driving for Lee Faulk Racing and Development at Hickory Motor Speedway in the Paramount Auto Group Limited Late Model Series. He had an impressive showing, finishing sixth in the race. Two months later, he returned to Hickory in the same series and won his first late model race after running in either first or second place for the entire race. Both Gray and his brother Tanner were signed by DGR-Crosley in 2019, with Tanner driving full-time in the K&N Pro Series East and Taylor driving full-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour since; he was under the age of 15 and therefore not eligible to compete in a NASCAR series at that time. In his season racing in CARS, Gray picked up a win at Hickory Motor Speedway in just his second start, which meant he now had two wins at the track. Gray ended the year ninth in
points, competing in all but two races which he skipped mid-season. Additionally, he entered the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race at Martinsville, where he flipped and his car came to a halt upside down, but he was uninjured in the crash. Just a few weeks later, he was already back in action, again at Hickory, where he ran the Whelen All-American Series' Fall Brawl event. Gray would have an outstanding performance, leading all 200 laps in the race en route to the win, and this put him with a total of three wins there at only age 14. In December, 2019, it was announced that Gray would drive all races in the ARCA Menards Series East (formerly the K&N Pro Series East) in 2020 with DGR. In addition, he will run the nine races of the 10-race ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown that he will be able to compete in after he becomes age-eligible to race in the series. He ended up making 12 starts in the ARCA Series
2019 Fall Brawl winner - Hickory Speedway
First ARCA win - Bakersfield CA 2020
and posted an impressive eight top five finishes. He had a best finish of third on two occasions; coming at Toledo OH and Lebanon MO. He also made five of eleven starts in the ARCA West series. He would get his first ARCA win at Bakersfield CA in October, when he led 72 of 125 laps. In his five starts; he had three finishes of fourth or better. When 2021 rolled in, because of his age Taylor still wasn't old enough to run several of the races on larger tracks. In the ARCA Series, he made 11 of 20 starts, and had a best finish of third on three occasions. They came at Iowa, Bristol, and Springfield. His worst finish came in his last week of the season when he finished 11th. He had eight top five and ten top ten finishes. In the ARCA East series,
Gray He finished third in the season-opening race at New Smyrna Speedway in a photo finish with race winner Max Gutiérrez and second-place finisher Sammy Smith. In April, Gray suffered a fractured L4 vertebra, left foot, and ankle in a single-car accident (passenger car) in Statesville, North Carolina, forcing him to miss his NASCAR Truck Series debut at Richmond Raceway. In the ARCA West Series; he posted two wins in five starts. He would go to victory lane at Portland; and the Bull Ring at Las Vegas Speedway. He made his debut in the NASCAR Truck Series at Watkins Glen in August, but only finished 35th. He did
First Truck series start - 2021 Watkins Glen
Hauler crash 2022
post his first top ten finish, when he wound up eighth at Martinsville. 2022 saw Gray too young to still run some large tracks. So, he continued to run both the ARCA Series and what races he could in the Truck Series. In March 2022, a hauler carrying Gray's car on its way to Phoenix Raceway collided with a Honda Passport near Longview, Texas, killing hauler driver Steven C. Stotts. Two passengers in the hauler and the driver of the SUV survived the accident. The Texas Highway Patrol preliminary investigation stated that the DGR hauler driven by Stotts “failed to control its speed” and struck the Honda Passport in front of it, which was carrying a small box trailer. After the initial contact, both vehicles went into the center
median. The hauler struck the concrete barrier and caught fire. Three days later on March 11, Gray won the General Tire 150 after starting second and leading 43 laps, dedicating the win to Stotts. In the ARCA Series he ran 14 of the 20 events; and would get his first ARCA Menards win at Phoenix. He would add another win at Mid-Ohio, and backed that up with a third win the following week at Pocono. He ended the season with ten top five and twelve top ten finishes. He made the trip out to the West Coast and made three starts in the ARCA West series. He would win at Phoenix (that race counted as part of the ARCA Menards Series) and he would win again at the Bull Ring at Las Vegas Speedway. He would also add a win in the ARCA East Series when he grabbed the checkered flag at Dover. The Truck Series saw him get to run eight races in
ARCA win - Phoenix 2022
COTA 2023
2022. He had a good run and finished sixth at Richmond for his only top ten. In early 2023; Taylor was finally be old enough to start running the full NASCAR Truck schedule. He had to miss just a couple of the early events, before he went full time. David Gilliland Racing swapped from using Ford's to racing Toyota's for 2023, and changed it's name to TRICON Racing. He would be full time in 2023, and it was a pretty good year for Gray. He started 19th at Daytona, and finished second behind winner Zane Smith. He was 13th at Las Vegas, but struggled at Atlanta finishing 24th. He had a good run at COTA where he finished eighth on the road course. He got caught up in a crash at Texas the following race and finished 27th. Then he made a good run on the dirt at Bristol, coming home eighth; then followed that with a great run at Martinsville where he finished fifth. He did well at Kansas finishing 18th, and the next event at Darlington he was in the hunt for the win. He brought home the #17 Toyota in third behind winner
Christian Eckes and Stewart Friesen. Things took a turn for the worse after that. Over the rest of the season he only had one top ten finish; coming in the season's final race at Phoenix when he finished ninth. He had three eleventh place finishes (Nashville, Milwaukee, Homestead) over the last 14 races. He added a 15th place run (Indianapolis Raceway Park), and a 16th place finish (Richmond), as the only races where he finished better than 20th. Even with the downturn as the regular season came to an end; he just missed making it into the Chase. He ended up the season 13th in points, just a few points behind his brother
Daytona 2024
First Xfinity start - Richmond 2024
Tanner. 2024 saw, Taylor have another pretty good season. Only thing missing was a win. He impressed with his strong runs all season. The season started poorly as he was involved in a wreck at Daytona and finished 16th. From there he ran off a string of top seven runs for the next six races; including a second place finish at COTA. The team ran into a rough patch the next six races with only one top ten finish. Pocono saw the team run well again and finish fourth; and at Richmond he was strong and crossed the line in third. He made the play-offs and
ran well in the Round of 8. But finishes of second, tenth and fourth failed to propel him into the final four and a shot to race for the Championship. He finished sixth at Phoenix and finish sixth in the 2024 points. Still, even without a win, he opened many eyes, and will be moving up to the Xfinity Series to drive the #54 for JGR in 2025.
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