Truex ready to make his mark in JGR Cup car

Ryan Truex has been on standby for Denny Hamlin since the weekend of the Coca-Cola 600, and has been the tag-along with the Joe Gibbs Racing team the last few weeks. Finally, earlier this week, Truex got the call that he was going to be behind the wheel in a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time since 2014.

Truex will drive Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota in the inaugural event at Mexico City. Hamlin’s son was born Wednesday, and he has chosen to remain in North Carolina with his family.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks,” Truex said Friday. “I’m glad it’s (happening) at a track where I can practice and have time, and no one has been except for a few guys. I found out Wednesday night, so it’s been kind of chaotic getting here and putting all that together. I’m grateful for the experience and grateful to be here.

“I really just want to enjoy it. I don’t have any set goals or expectations. I just want to enjoy the weekend. I’m driving a Cup car for Joe Gibbs at an international race. This is not something that I ever dream of doing, and I want to take it all in and have a good time.”

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Truex being on hand at Charlotte, Nashville and Michigan were precautionary. Jordan Fish, Hamlin’s fiancé, had a due date of June 1, which was the day of the race at Nashville. Hamlin made it through the weekend with no issue. He competed – and won – in Michigan also without having to rely on Truex.

Michigan felt like it could have been where Truex got in the car. But as someone who does not have kids or knowledge of how the process plays out, all Truex could do was be available and wait for instructions.

“Every time (Chris) Gayle would text me, my heart would stop because I was like, ‘Is it a yes, you’re going? Is it a no, you’re not going?’” Truex said. “Every time it was a maybe. So, it definitely fuels the anxiety a little bit when you don’t know what’s going on or when it’s going to happen. I’ve been prepping every week like I’m going to be in the car and this week it happened. I found out Wednesday night and we flew out Thursday. It was a quick turnaround but everyone made it happen and I made it here.”

Truex has raced in Cup Series races, although not in the Next Gen car. He was a full-time driver in the series in 2014 and has 26 career starts. It didn't go well, and Truex admitted he didn’t enjoy it. In hindsight, he feels it might not have been the right move career wise and he’s been fighting for a spot in the sport since.

The Cup Series ride was with BK Racing. In the years since, Truex has run a full Craftsman Truck Series season (2017) and a full Xfinity Series season (2018). But he’s largely been a part-time driver, landing in the Toyota camp in 2022 and building a relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Gibbs has Truex under contract as its reserve driver for any substitution needs. Truex also does the simulator work for the organization, and that includes preparing for Mexico City.

“I enjoy what I do with JGR and I’ve been able to race part-time the last few years and do all my stuff away from the track,” Truex said. “It’s been nice. It’s fun to race part-time and get Saturdays at home. But it’s also fun to be at the track. I feel like I’ve had a good balance the last few years. Yeah, the Cup cars back then were so different than they are now, and I’ve got a little bit of experience with the Gen 7 car now with testing and things, and obviously doing the sim stuff every single week. I feel like I’ve run a million laps here already in the past month.

“I definitely feel like I’m ready and like I said, it’s good that we have a real practice and I have three sets of tires. I can work through that, work on pit road, work on my positioning around other cars and just learn the racetrack. And everyone is kind of on equal footing in that regard. I’m hoping it goes well, and then we’ll see what happens.”