Taylor Gray’s No. 54 Toyota wrecked in a multi-car restart pileup Saturday night in the Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway.
The crash unfolded on the restart after Stage 2, around lap 100, when Corey Day passed Jesse Love for the lead and a tangle between Brennan Poole and Lavar Scott’s Alpha Prime Racing cars spread backward into Gray, reporter Bob Pockrass wrote. The contact came off Turn 2 as the field ran several cars wide.
Gray drove the car away from the wreck, Pockrass reported. The damage looked limited at first, though some observers said the replay showed more.
Gray had already lost ground. An uncontrolled tire penalty on pit road sent him to the rear of the field for that restart, Pockrass reported.
Before the penalty, Gray was running well. He started fifth, finished ninth in Stage 1 and took third in Stage 2, according to reporter Joe Srigley. In practice, Gray posted the second-fastest speed at 128.392 mph, behind only Brent Crews, and logged a session-high 48 laps, according to Jayski.
Rain did not factor in the wreck. The rain caution and the wet-tire gambles, including the one Brandon Jones made, came much earlier, and the field raced on slicks over a dry track by the time of this restart, Pockrass reported. Rain did fall late in practice, Jayski reported, and ended the session a few minutes early.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray Chase Outlook After Crash
Gray entered Phoenix seventh in the O’Reilly Series Chase standings with 2,207 points, 87 behind leader Sheldon Creed at 2,294, according to Jayski’s Chase standings. Jesse Love sat two points off Creed, Day seven, Justin Allgaier 15, Carson Kvapil 40 and Sam Mayer 59.
Phoenix was race 30 of 33. Gray needs strong finishes and help from the drivers ahead of him to climb back into contention. With roughly 100 laps remaining after the wreck, any damage to the No. 54 cuts into his pace and track position, and a poor finish caps the points he can gain.
“There have already been probably four races that we’ve given up this year,” Gray said in July, according to NASCAR.com writer Dustin Albino. Albino listed a last-lap fuel shortage at Sonoma Raceway, when Gray sat seconds from a top-five finish, and a stack-up at EchoPark Speedway, where Day tagged him from behind.
Taylor Gray Career Path at Joe Gibbs Racing
Gray, 21, was born March 25, 2005, in Artesia, New Mexico, and drives the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, according to NASCAR.com. His older brother, Tanner Gray, races in the Truck Series for Tricon Garage.
Taylor Gray won three ARCA Menards Series races in 2022. He then ran the Craftsman Truck Series full time for Tricon Garage in 2023 and 2024, finishing sixth in the 2024 standings, according to Joe Gibbs Racing’s team bio.
His first full O’Reilly Series season came in 2025, and he won at Martinsville Speedway that October for his first series victory. A second win followed at Kansas Speedway in April 2026, NASCAR.com reported.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced in July that Gray will return to the No. 54 in 2027 with crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who has won 74 races across the Cup and O’Reilly series, Albino reported. “I feel like I’m at the top of my game that I’ve ever been in my career,” Gray told NASCAR.com.
The final damage report and his finishing position will settle how much ground Gray loses in the Chase.
What Just Happened in NASCAR Phoenix Race? How Taylor Gray Crash Went Down