Ryan Truex has it pretty good but he knows deep down that he could be so much more.
The 32-year-old younger brother of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. gets to compete in a handful of Xfinity Series race a year for Joe Gibbs Racing and spends the rest of his time as lead simulator driver for Toyota Racing Development.
“I just like driving stuff and making laps,” he said. “I like bettering myself, figuring out how to go faster, figuring out how to make the cars better. That’s the sort of thing I really enjoy. If I wasn’t doing that, I would be at home on iRacing doing the same thing.
“This has made me a better driver with my part-time schedule, being able to have access to all the data and talk to all the drivers at JGR to understand why they do what they do, how they do it, or what they think about their race craft.”
He’s won twice this year and three times over the past two years, with two wins at Dover and on Friday night at Daytona. He’s carved out a nice niche for himself, making a living in motorsports, but he knows entirely that he could be so much more.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not what I drew up,” said Truex. “This is not what I think I deserve but it’s better than .. it’s hard to complain about racing cars for a living and driving virtual cars for a living. It’s pretty cool job, cool setup and I get a lot of off-weekends, which is kind of nice.”
Then comes the ‘but.’
“The hard part is that I know in the back of my mind, if I was in one of these cars full-time, I could win a championship,” Truex said. “I think there is no doubt about that. It’s just putting all the pieces and parts together to make that happen.
“I haven’t quite figured out that part yet.”
Truex ran two full-time Truck Series seasons, including one with a sixth-place championship finish in 2017 with Hattori Racing Enterprises and crew chief Scott Zipadelli, but just hasn’t been able to draw consistent funding to race full-time beyond that a full-time Xfinity Series season in 2018 with a really young Kaulig Racing that hadn’t fully emerged yet.
In the years since, he has worked with Toyota, which rewards him sporadic chances to drive one of the Xfinity Series cars.
“I definitely enjoy what I do and I enjoy being somebody that can help move the needle and help benefit the program, benefit the teams,” he said. “Really, I feel like I am appreciated and wanted, and not just here for a paycheck or anything like that.
“I enjoy what I do. So, to answer your question, I would be happy with doing this but it’s not how I envisioned it.”
His older brother still plans to race a little bit next year, including the Daytona 500 with 23XI Racing, but has also expressed an interest in driving part-time in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. In a perfect world, the elder Truex wants to share a ride with his younger brother getting even more starts, lending his ability to draw support and funding.
“I would definitely like to get something going for Ryan,” Martin said in July in Downtown Chicago. “He’s worked his tail off and I’d like to see him get some extra Xfinity or some Truck races if we can make that happen.”
But for the time being, even if it’s not the most optimal use of what he believes his ceiling to be, Ryan Truex still enjoys and appreciates his current home at JGR and TRD.
“I feel like I’m getting behind-the-scenes knowledge as a driver and it’s helped me be faster off the truck and in practice,” he said. “Even if I’ve been out of the car for two months, I can go out and find the limit of the tire within two laps, and if it wasn’t for the sim work, maybe it would be 10 laps in or never.
“It just keeps me sharp and I enjoy helping make the team better and improving the processes and how we do thing, set-ups and all the things. I am having a lot of fun.”