What’s Happening?

Ryan Truex recently won his second NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 7 starts, but he still remains without a full-time ride. He has had a strange career arc to this point, and he is a late bloomer similar to his brother, Martin Truex Jr. What is keeping Ryan Truex from getting a full-time opportunity?

• Ryan Truex has been racing in NASCAR in some capacity since 2010. He’s bounced around across all three series since then. He only has 3 full-time seasons under his belt, 2 in the Truck Series in 2017 and 2021, and 1 in Xfinity in 2018.
• He’s found new life the last few seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has 2 wins and 9 top-10s in 16 races for the team since 2022.
• Fans would love to see Ryan Truex get an honest chance in NASCAR again. Will he get that chance?

Funding and Sponsorship

It’s no secret that racing in NASCAR is more than just having genuine talent. If drivers want to compete in NASCAR, they better bring funding along in some way, and that usually comes through sponsorship. Some drivers can overcome sponsorship woes and make their way up solely on merit, but, it takes a LOT of talent to make that work.

Look at Ryan Truex’s most recent NASCAR starts. Since 2017, 13 of his 17 starts have featured some form of Toyota primary sponsorship. The other four primary sponsors include one with Joe Gibbs Racing (essentially no sponsorship), one with Auto-Owners Insurance (a JGR/Martin Truex Jr. sponsor), one with ShopUSAPickleball.com, and one with Circle B Diecasts. Only 2 of 17 races were funded by sponsors Truex seemingly brought on by himself.

It’s certainly encouraging that Toyota is willing to invest in him, but, Truex isn’t bringing any funding outside of that. Look no further than JGR itself to see how important bringing funding is. Sheldon Creed (Friends of Jaclyn Foundation) and Chandler Smith (QuickTie) both bring significant sponsorship, and both race full-time.

An owner can take a chance on a driver with little to no funding surrounding it. Josh Berry at SHR is the perfect example of that, but, these cases are very rare. Without funding, Truex faces an uphill battle.

Age

Ryan Truex is 32 years old, which is usually around the prime of a driver’s career in the Cup Series. Most times, teams and manufacturers like to invest in their prospects at a young age. Most Cup Series rookies are in their early or maybe mid-20s.

Truex is tougher to invest in because he has fewer racing years ahead of him. Whereas young drivers may have 20+ years of driving ahead of them, Truex has maybe 10+ years, around half the time.

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Age also means experience, and, in Truex’s case, his resume is largely underwhelming aside from the last couple of years. Last year was his first Xfinity Series win, so, teams and fans were not high on his talents until that moment. He never proved that he could win at that level.

That being said, it’s not impossible for Truex to get an opportunity. For example, Josh Berry started his full-time Cup Series career this year at the age of 33. Late bloomers do happen, and they can have successful careers.

The Path Forward

We’ve used the example of Josh Berry as a Cup Series driver who was a late bloomer. He didn’t win his first Xfinity Series race until he was 30, so, he was in a similar spot to Truex.

Another late bloomer was Truex’s brother, Martin Truex Jr. After winning consecutive Xfinity Series Championships in 2004 and 2005, Martin struggled in the Cup Series. In his first 9 Cup Series seasons, he had only 2 wins and 0 Top-10 points finishes.

He turned that around in 2015 when he turned 35. Since then, Truex Jr. has 32 wins and a NASCAR Cup Series Championship to go alongside. A bonafide Hall of Fame resume.

Yes, there is a path forward for Ryan Truex, and it’s interesting to see Toyota invest in him. That doesn’t mean it won’t be an uphill battle.