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Taylor Gray revealed that Ty Gibbs and Joe Gibbs Racing "drug" the #54 out of retirement for him to use in the 2025 Xfinity Series season. He was originally supposed to be driving the #19 car.
Gray debuted in the Xfinity Series this season with JGR, piloting the #19 Toyota on a part-time basis. His performance impressed the team and he was signed for a full-time drive in 2025 earlier this month. Although he was going to continue with the #19, his friend Ty Gibbs went around making changes for him.
Gibbs currently races in the Cup Series with Joe Gibbs Racing with the #54 car and also raced in Xfinity with the same in 2022 (when he won the championship).
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Speaking on the Victory Lane podcast, Gray revealed that after the race in Talladega, he was walking around the JGR garage talking to Gibbs about his 2025 drive and the number he was using. At the same time, Gibbs decided that Gray would run the #54 on his car and not the 19, so the team had to take it out of retirement. He said:
"Actually, it's a funny story. It was Talladega after the Xfinity race. I went over to his place before the planes left, you know, JGR has cars in the playoffs, so they have to roll through tech and takes a while and everything. So I walked over there and I was talking to him."
"We were kind of talking about next year a little bit. And he was asking me about number stuff and what number I was supposed to be. And originally, I was supposed to be the 19. Like that was what I was going to do with the 19. And he looks at me and goes, no, he said, you're going to run the 54. And so they, they drug the 54 kind of out of retirement. I like to say. And yeah, it's pretty cool."
Reacting to this story, Davey Segal, SiriusXM NASCAR host, called it a "blessing":
"He's the one that made it happen? Yeah. Wow. So we gave you the blessing."
Joe Gibbs Racing expects Taylor Gray to carry his momentum from the Truck Series
Taylor Gray currently races in the Truck Series, and although he hasn't won a race so far, he has remained very consistent this season with eleven top-10 finishes in the season so far.
Joe Gibbs Racing, who has the most wins as a team in the Xfinity Series with a staggering 214 victories, hopes to keep their successful momentum ongoing with Gray. Steve de Souza, executive VP of the Xfinity Series and development of Joe Gibbs Racing, said:
"We’re looking forward to adding Taylor to our lineup full-time next year. Taylor’s strong season in the Truck Series, along with his performance with us on the Xfinity side, have been impressive. With Taylor in the Xfinity car every week in 2025, we expect that trend to continue, and we’re looking forward to him competing for wins and the championship."
Gray finished his debut Xfinity race in third place at Richmond and kept himself consistent for the next few races. After a short break, he returned to Pocono where he finished in fifth place. Although his recent four races haven't been the best, they were enough for Joe Gibbs Racing to sign him.
