Who Drives the No. 17 at Tricon in 2025?

What’s Happening?

Wednesday afternoon, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Taylor Gray will race the No. 54 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025. In Gray’s absence, he leaves an opening at Tricon Garage in 2025. So, who will drive the No. 17 Truck next season?

• Toyota has many young prospects who could fill this role. Two stand out among a crowded ARCA lineup. The team could also consider some veteran options.
• Tricon Garage has five full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams this season. The No. 1 is an open truck with a rotating door of drivers. The No. 5 is driven by Dean Thompson, the No. 11 is driven by Corey Heim, and the No. 15 is driven by Tanner Gray.

Toni Breidinger

Toni Breidinger already has several starts with Tricon Garage, making her an easy bet for an open ride at Toyota’s primary NASCAR Truck Series team.

Breidinger is a full-time driver in the ARCA Menard’s Series for Venturini Motorsports. This season, Toni has 11 top-tens. However, this is a fall off from her 2023 11-race ARCA schedule in which she scored four top-fives and seven top-tens.

Most fans expected Toni to get more Truck Series starts this season after three races last year. However, Breidinger has just one start this year, and an accident affected the 27th-place run at Daytona in February.

Toni has a real shot at racing for Tricon next year. She is sponsored by Celsius, an energy drink, and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and has a decent enough Track record. Regardless, what if Tricon wanted to go with a more experienced option?

Ryan Truex

With the announcement that Gray was heading to JGR next year, NASCAR fans breathed a sigh of sadness. Many of those fans had hoped that Ryan Truex would get a full-time ride after a two-win part-time season for TRD.

Truex began his part-time Xfinity Series schedule in 2022. At first, people assumed this to be a favor to his brother, TRD driver and NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. However, Ryan proved everyone wrong, winning three races in 22 starts over three seasons.

The major factor limiting Ryan to a full-time ride is his age and lack of sponsorship. While he would like to race in the Xfinity Series, perhaps the trucks could give him some form of full-time action. Furthermore, if Tricon wanted to add a veteran to its lineup, Ryan would be a solid bet.

Unfortunately, bringing a driver who lacks sponsorship like Truex is a risk. But if they wanted a veteran, who else could they bring on board?

Tyler Ankrum

Ankrum is an interesting case to race for Tricon. At just 23 years old, Ankrum is racing for his fifth team since making his Truck Series debut in 2018. Among this list of teams are several Toyota teams, including Tricon’s previous incarnation, DGR-Crosley.

In fact, Tyler made his name with DGR-Crosley, winning the 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship with the team. Ankrum, however, has not been as successful at the Truck Series level.

Fortunately, this year, he has improved tremendously with McAnally Hilgemann Racing. This improvement may be seen as a benefit if he leaves MHR. Ankrum also benefits from sponsorship from LiUNA, which has stuck by his side through all his moves. These moves, however, could be a key factor in his struggles, and if possible, it may be best for Tyler to stay with MHR.

While a reunion is unlikely, with Ankrum’s sponsorship and improving stats, it would be worth Tricon looking into.

William Sawalich

William Sawalich took the NASCAR world by storm this year with the young hotshot nine ARCA Menards Series races and his second ARCA Menards Series East championship.

Sawalich padded his ARCA efforts with a part-time Truck Series schedule with Tricon and a yet-to-happen part-time Xfinity Series schedule with JGR. Most fans thought Sawalich was a lock for a JGR Xfinity Series ride, and while that still might be on the table, perhaps Toyota isn’t hot-shotting his development like some thought they would.

William has struggled for Tricon this year, with the only high point being his pole at Talladega this month. Last season, Sawalich had three top tens in six starts for Tricon. Perhaps this minor falloff is steering Sawlaich to Trucks rather than Xfinity.

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