Typically, when a reserve NASCAR driver gets his name called, it’s generally because something bad has happened like a suspension, injury or some other misfortune to a full-time competitor.
In the case of Ryan Truex taking over the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, it’s because a good thing has happened — Denny Hamlin and fiancé Jordan Fish welcoming the birth of a third child and first son.
Truex, who is also the lead simulator and backup driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, has been on standby for most of this month knowing that Fish could go into labor at any moment. The 33-year-old hasn’t competed in the Cup Series since 2014 so he admitted to wanting this opportunity deep down.
“I mean, when you are in this situation, you don’t want anyone to get hurt or be sick or have something crazy bad happen – like you said this is a good thing,” Truex said. “The timing just worked out to where we are racing in a different country and it all happened at the same time.
“It is a great opportunity for me. … I don’t have a set goal or expectation, I just want to enjoy it, have fun and hope the results come.”
Truex is the younger brother of recently retired 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. and son of veteran New England racer Martin Truex Sr. and has rarely had the funding to compete at the highest levels despite a resume that suggests he belongs.
He has three wins over the past three and a half seasons in the Xfinity Series, driving a part-time role for Joe Gibbs Racing, and this is a similarly ideal situation for him to make a one-off appearance at the highest level.
No one knows the transformative potential of a one-off race appearance quite like Brad Keselowski. He made his Truck Series debut in 2007 as a substitute driver for the suspended Ted Musgrave. That led to a phone call from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive his Xfinity Series car.
He scored his first Cup Series win in 2009 in a part-time Phoenix Racing car at Talladega.
“I think this world — and not just racing in general — is full of opportunity, but you just have to go seize them,” Keselowski said. “I don’t think that’s changed here in NASCAR or in motorsports. There are small opportunities that pop up for people that don’t come with money and you have to break those doors open when that happens.
“This is a terrific opportunity for Ryan. I think a lot of people are excited to see him get it and where it could go really depends on how it goes and I think he knows that.”
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Truex concedes that he has openly pondered where a good day on Sunday could lead but has also tried to avoid making it a distraction.
“I try not to think about it too much and put too much pressure on myself, because it is really easy to do that and make mistakes,” Truex said. “I have a lot of confidence with this group and just JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) as a whole. I feel like it has really been family for me the last few years and they’ve really taken me in and done a lot for me, helped me develop my skills and made me a better driver. I just want to return that investment into a good finish for them.”
Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier can also relate to a certain degree in that he has served as a fill-in driver for the Indianapolis 500 bound Kyle Larson the past two seasons and even drove the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 in the Coca-Cola 600 last year.
With that said, Allgaier says Truex has an even more ideal version of the substitute role this weekend in Mexico City.
“My situation was different because every time I jumped into the 5 car, it was to get the car ready for Kyle, right,” Allagier said. “The set-up for the weekend is different because I’m trying to get the car to drive the way Kyle wants to drive it and not the way I want to drive it. We spent a lot of time in the simulator together and listened to Kyle so I could learn what he wanted out of a car.”
Allgaier also offered that it was ‘very cool’ to race the No. 5 car and that he is ‘beyond pumped’ for Truex.
“The kid has put in a massive amount of work,” Allgaier said. “He is massively talented and I think, for him, he’s been in a scenario where every time something has happened to him, something bad happens, and he’s never been able to show his true potential.
“I’m excited to see him get this opportunity because there are only a handful of ‘pinch me’ opportunities in the Cup Series and the No. 11 and No. 5 are those kinds of cars. The hard part for Ryan is that he’s coming into this weekend with a lot of unknowns because the Cup Series has never been here, has never seen the race track and how the race will play out. It will be a tough weekend for him to prove his value.
“But what I love for him is that from the time they walk in the door today to Monday morning, that car is his. He can go out and embrace it. He can push himself to the limit and try to make the best opportunity for himself. I wish there were more opportunities for people to go out and have that feeling of the pressure and stress, and the chance to make something of that.”
At the same time, this is also the perfect scenario for Truex because no one else has any experience at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Truex on the other hand has thousands of laps at the track on the simulator for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Truex says it’s not a 1:1 dynamic but he is as prepared as anyone else here this weekend, if not more so.
“I know I’ve run a lot, and I’ve spent some time with the 11 team this week – with the prep session they usually do with Denny – I did that with them,” Truex said. “So, I have a little bit of experience working with them and made some laps with the setup that we are going to run this weekend.
“It’s been a lot of laps – it will be interesting to see how close it is, or how far away it is. It’s never one-on-one perfect but with the limited practice and test time, it is a huge tool for everyone to use, especially at a place like this, so I’m not sure, I probably have the most, but we will see if it translates.”
And this race also has double the practice time, another factor in his favor.
“Yeah, I was definitely more nervous about Charlotte,” Truex said. “The idea of jumping in for 600 miles with no practice or anything – just going for it, was a little nerve-wracking, same with Nashville. Michigan – I was pretty comfortable with.
“I did the test a few months ago, so I did at least have some reps to fall back on. Yeah, I feel like this is the best-case scenario, obviously, I have tracks that I enjoy – Dover, Richmond, New Hampshire – where I feel like I know what I need, but with this car it is a whole different animal.
“Just the fact that we get practice – we get 50-minutes and then a half-an-hour – that’s huge for me.”
Truex said it’s the difference needed to find that last tenth or two-tenths of speed.
“When you only race Xfinity part-time, after a while, when you come back, it is always that last tenth or two that takes a while to find or is hard to find compared to the guys that are doing this every single week,” Truex said. “They know what they need and are faster off the bat. I think that is the biggest thing for me – just having practice.”
