Truex Closes 2017 With a Top-Five Run at Homestead

Ryan Truex closed out the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season with a late-race rally that resulted in a fourth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Truex blitzed through the field and came from 18th to fourth position in the last 47 laps. The result gave Truex and the No. 16 Chiba Toyopet team a total of eight top-five’s and 13 top-10 finishes in the 2017 season.

For the ninth-consecutive race, Truex transferred into the final round of qualifying and earned the sixth starting position. At the drop of the green flag, Truex immediately made progress towards the front, running as high as fourth before a loose condition stalled his charge. As the tires wore during the 40-lap stage, Truex’s balance began to improve as he adjusted his line, and rode the extreme outside around Homestead-Miami Speedway. Truex fought his way back up to fifth the end of Stage 1 and collected six points.

Crew chief Scott Zipadelli brought Truex to pit road under the stage caution for minimal adjustments to compliment four new Goodyear tires and fuel. The Chiba Toyopet team gained one spot on pit road and allowed Truex to restart fourth on lap 48. The loose balance returned and caused Truex to slide back to sixth position by lap 60. However, Truex remained patient, changed his line, and chased down a top-five position by lap 72, and ended Stage 2 in fourth.

Truex’s night took an unexpected turn under the subsequent pit stop under caution. After taking four tires, fuel, and air pressure adjustments, Truex was put to the tail of the lead lap after a pit road penalty and restarted 18th on lap 88. Truex would put on a show over the final 47 laps, and quickly advanced into the top 10 by lap 95. As his balance improved throughout the fuel run, Truex continued his march through the field using every inch of the 1.5-mile speedway to gain positions. Truex rejoined the top five on lap 121 and went on to take the checkered flag in fourth position. The result was his career-best finish in any series at Homestead-Miami and secured a ninth-place finish in the point standings in his first-career NCWTS season.

Ryan Truex Quote:

“Thank you to everyone on this race team. Zippy (Scott Zipadelli), (team owner) Shige (Hattori), and every person at HRE has made this into a top-five race team each week. We had a great Chiba Toyopet Tundra on the long runs tonight and just lacked speed at the start of the runs to challenge the top two or three. We had an issue on pit road on the last stop, but we had everything we needed to drive back into the top five. We all wanted to win, and these guys deserve a win, but to finish out the year strong with a top-five feels great. We were close to breaking though for a win, especially in the second half of the year, so hopefully we can have more opportunities at it.”

Shige Hattori Quote:

“I’m so proud of what this team accomplished in our first full-time season. Ryan, Scott, and every person on this race team did a great job this year. We were close to winning and nearly made the playoffs. This is a very competitive series and we were contending to win and run in the top five each week. Thank you to each and every sponsor that make this program possible, and to TRD and Toyota. I’m really proud of the program we’ve built this season, and hope to continue this performance and improve even more in 2018.

HRE PR