Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 at Darlington Raceway

No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra News and Notes:

  • GRAY AT DARLINGTON: Taylor Gray has one previous start at Darlington Raceway in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) with a finish of 21st. He will be running double-duty this weekend as he runs the NCTS race on Friday night and the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race on Saturday.
  • PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Gray qualified ninth for the NXS race at Dover Motor Speedway. He finished 11th in Stage 1 and 17th in Stage 2. On lap 184, Sam Mayer got loose and tagged Gray, sending him up the track and into the wall. The accident ended Gray’s day, relegating him to a 34th-place finish.
  • ON THE PITBOX: Seth Chavka will lead the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra team for the 2024 season as he embarks on his rookie season as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series. Chavka is no stranger to JGR, as he has spent time in the Cup Series shop as lead race engineer for the likes of Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, and most recently, Ty Gibbs, since starting his tenure with the team in 2019. Prior to joining JGR, Chavka spent seven years at Richard Childress Racing and one year at Kevin Harvick Inc. as an engineer. In his 13 years spent in NASCAR, Chavka has earned six NASCAR Cup Series victories and four Xfinity Series victories.
  • NO. 19 IN 2024: The JGR No. 19 will have a rotating schedule of drivers throughout the 2024 season. Ryan Truex, Aric Almirola, and Ty Gibbs have already made starts behind the wheel. Gray will run 10 races with the No. 19 team. Joe Graf Jr. and William Sawalich are also slated to run races later this year.
  • JGR AT DARLINGTON: Joe Gibbs Racing has made 86 NXS starts at Darlington Raceway since 1998. Drivers have combined for 12 wins, 39 top-five finishes, and 54 top-10 finishes. The organization has 10 pole awards and 1,494 laps led. Denny Hamlin won the most recent NXS race at Darlington in the JGR No. 19.
  • FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for updates and a behind-the-scenes look at Gray’s 2024 NXS Season.

Twitter: @TaylorGray17_ I Instagram:  @TaylorGray17_

  • RACE INFO: The Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 is scheduled for 1:30 PM EST on Saturday, May 11. Coverage of the race will be on Fox Sports 1, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, and available to stream on the FOX Sports app.

From the Driver’s Seat:

Taylor Gray: “I’m excited to be back in the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra this weekend. I don’t have a ton of experience at Darlington so Xfinity practice & the truck race will be important to get some laps in on the track.”

Gray’s 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats:

StartsWinsTop 5Top 10PolesLaps LedAvg. StartAvg. Finish
50110113.615.2

Gray’s 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Stats:

StartsWinsTop 5Top 10PolesLaps LedAvg. StartAvg. Finish
80360413.39.5

-JGR-