Kim Coon sits down with Ryan Truex, Joe Graf Jr., William Sawalich and Taylor Gray who will all split time in Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
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00:00 Race teams are always looking for the next great talent.
00:03 And for 2024, the Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series number
00:06 19 Camry is going to be a developmental car.
00:09 So we thought we would learn about the drivers
00:11 piloting the number 19.
00:13 First off, do you guys know each other?
00:16 I saw some intros earlier in the shop.
00:18 Yeah, slightly.
00:19 Slightly.
00:19 Have you Googled each other?
00:21 No.
00:22 Not that deep.
00:23 Not that deep.
00:24 Have you Googled yourselves?
00:26 Yeah.
00:26 You have.
00:27 William has.
00:27 No, it's a big mistake.
00:28 You have Googled yourself.
00:30 Really?
00:30 Who hasn't?
00:31 I haven't.
00:31 Oh, OK.
00:32 You've never Googled yourself?
00:34 No.
00:34 No.
00:35 OK.
00:35 Ryan, you said a big mistake, which leads me to believe--
00:38 I think it's a bigger mistake to look yourself up on Twitter.
00:41 Yeah, I've done that before.
00:42 That's really bad.
00:43 That's a good way to ruin your day.
00:45 Mean tweets?
00:46 Oh, yeah.
00:46 Big time.
00:47 There's some mean people out there.
00:48 There are.
00:49 Yeah.
00:49 OK, who has the best-- now that we're
00:51 talking about social media-- the best social media presence
00:53 out of the four of you guys?
00:55 Probably you.
00:55 Really?
00:56 Joe?
00:57 Yeah, I've spent a lot of time on it.
00:59 A lot of sneaker content, which I feel
01:01 like kind of helped grow it, too, kind of get it
01:03 in that angle.
01:03 So it's been a lot of fun.
01:05 Do you match your outfit to the sneaker?
01:07 Or does the sneaker match whatever outfit you pick out?
01:09 Sometimes.
01:10 I have so many different sneakers,
01:12 I've gotten to the point where I mostly wear either black
01:15 or a normal color.
01:16 So it kind of matches all of them.
01:17 How many do you have?
01:18 How many pairs of sneakers do you have?
01:20 250.
01:20 Sounds like they might want to--
01:21 I don't know if you guys wear the same shoe size.
01:23 You have 250 pairs of sneakers?
01:25 Dude, that's--
01:25 Around there.
01:27 Give or take.
01:27 Do they have their own closet?
01:29 They actually have their own room.
01:30 So I turned a bedroom at the house into a sneaker room.
01:34 So it's kind of like a big closet now,
01:37 but I have them all in there.
01:38 Do you have a nickname?
01:40 I was nicknamed Iron Man by my race team back in Arca in 2018.
01:44 So I've kind of had--
01:46 like all my helmets have been Iron Man since then.
01:49 So it's kind of a little bit-- nobody really calls me it.
01:51 So Iron Man.
01:52 Ryan, what are you working with nickname-wise?
01:55 I don't know.
01:56 That's a good question.
01:56 Do you want a nickname?
01:58 Not really.
02:00 My friends call me Junior sometimes, which is--
02:03 Kind of funny.
02:03 Yeah.
02:04 I guess it's funny, but aside from that, no.
02:06 Maybe a little annoying.
02:07 How often do you get called Ryan "Trix" Junior?
02:10 80% of the time, I'd say.
02:11 80%.
02:12 That's a high percent.
02:13 Yeah, it's too much.
02:14 All right, William, for you, any nicknames?
02:16 For a long time now, it's been the Rooster.
02:17 It's the Rooster.
02:18 Yeah.
02:18 The Rooster.
02:19 It's on the name rail.
02:20 We got to let everybody know, though.
02:21 There's some new fans that are tuning in,
02:23 so we got to give them the lowdown.
02:25 So the Rooster, how'd you get the nickname?
02:26 So I raised chickens.
02:28 I didn't raise roosters, but you can't be called the Chicken,
02:31 because that's kind of not cool.
02:32 We're going to get back to the raising chickens in a second,
02:35 because I need to know Taylor, nicknames?
02:36 No.
02:37 I'm kind of with Ryan on this one.
02:39 I think I'd rather just be called by name.
02:40 OK.
02:41 How often do you get called your brother's name?
02:43 Because--
02:43 Way too much.
02:44 Way too much.
02:46 It's annoying.
02:47 I want to get back, though, to William, this chicken raising.
02:50 Yeah.
02:51 Where did this start?
02:52 When did this start?
02:54 I've always had an interest in, I don't know, birds,
02:56 for some reason.
02:58 And I'm an animal lover.
02:59 And I raise my chickens like pets.
03:01 I didn't raise them for food or anything.
03:04 You don't eat their eggs?
03:05 Well, I'd eat their eggs.
03:06 Yeah.
03:06 They're the best eggs you can get.
03:07 How do you like your eggs?
03:09 Scrambled.
03:10 Scrambled?
03:10 Yeah.
03:11 Scrambled.
03:11 Scrambled.
03:12 Yeah.
03:13 Over easy.
03:13 Over easy?
03:15 I'm over medium.
03:16 OK, so it's safe to say we're all breakfast folks, yes?
03:19 Sounds like it.
03:20 I don't even eat breakfast.
03:22 Yeah.
03:22 Never?
03:23 Do you drink coffee?
03:24 Nope.
03:25 No coffee?
03:25 Coffee drinkers?
03:27 Big time.
03:28 I've never had coffee, but--
03:30 Never?
03:30 Never.
03:31 Never in your life?
03:32 Never.
03:32 Oh, my gosh.
03:33 I'm a huge breakfast guy, but mostly when I'm in Jersey,
03:35 I get my Taylor Ham egg and cheese up there.
03:38 Ryan will agree with me on this.
03:39 The bagels in Jersey are just next level.
03:42 I've never had a bagel anywhere else in the world that's
03:44 like a Jersey bagel.
03:45 So where we differ, how you know he's from North Jersey
03:48 and I'm from South Jersey, is he calls it Taylor Ham,
03:50 and I call it pork roll.
03:51 Yep.
03:51 OK, see, I've heard pork roll.
03:53 I have not heard Taylor Ham.
03:54 It's the same thing.
03:55 OK.
03:55 Well, you guys are all going to be racing in the number 19 car.
03:58 So what does it mean to be under the JGR umbrella?
04:01 Yeah, it's awesome.
04:02 I mean, obviously, look at the past, right?
04:04 I mean, they've won so much.
04:05 They have so much built behind them.
04:07 It's pretty cool to know to be in a race car that
04:10 can go out and win races.
04:11 For me, I feel like it's going to help me develop my skills
04:14 and working with the great people here that definitely
04:17 know what they're doing and also being in their RCA program,
04:19 which will help me lead up to that.
04:21 I've been lucky enough to be a part of it for a few years now.
04:23 And a winning driver in it?
04:24 And a winning driver in it, yes.
04:26 So my goal is just to go win more races
04:29 in the limited opportunities that I have to go do that.
04:33 So that's my goal.
04:34 That's what I'm here for.
04:35 And that's what this team's all about.
04:36 That's what everybody that works here strives for,
04:38 is to be the best and build the best cars.
04:40 And as a driver, you just got to go out and try to match that.
04:44 Yeah, absolutely.
04:45 I mean, it's really a privilege to be here.
04:47 And I'm super grateful to be back for a second year
04:51 with them.
04:52 I really, truly love all the people here,
04:53 love the culture here, and just really excited to get
04:56 in really good race cars.
04:58 Who were your racing heroes growing up?
05:01 I loved Jeff Gordon when I was little.
05:03 I liked his car.
05:05 And that's what kind of drew me to him.
05:07 Dale Jr. was one that I pulled for a lot.
05:11 These guys don't even--
05:12 they weren't even alive.
05:14 Mine was always Jimmy Johnson growing up.
05:16 My dad was a huge Tony Stewart fan.
05:17 I remember we'd turn on the races almost every Sunday
05:21 and watch, and it was a lot of fun.
05:22 Taylor?
05:23 Yeah, actually, Jimmy Johnson.
05:25 For me, I'd always thought it was so fascinating how
05:27 he approached the sport mentally right.
05:31 Just I think his mentality is so cool
05:33 in how he approaches everything.
05:35 I think for me, it's the king.
05:37 I mean, him with the fans, he would never
05:39 turn down an autograph.
05:41 And I think that's cool of how he represented our sport
05:44 and never said no to a fan and always made their day.
05:47 Seems like you guys have learned a little bit about each other
05:50 during this session.
05:51 Yes, no, any surprises?
05:54 I didn't know the full story on his nickname.
05:56 Yeah.
05:57 I'm glad I'm not the only one.
05:58 That's a good point, actually.
05:59 And I didn't know he had a whole room for sneakers.
06:01 That's pretty interesting.
06:02 250 sneaker, that's a lot.
06:04 Are you going to try and borrow his sneakers?
06:07 They won't fit me.
06:08 That's not a problem.
06:09 What size are you?
06:10 I'm an 11 and a half 12.
06:11 Oh, yeah, well, now you know.
06:13 You look like you get a pretty big foot, though.
06:15 Yeah, I got 12.
06:16 There you go.
06:17 There you go.
06:18 Look at that.
06:18 Watch out.
06:18 You might have to swap some sneakers.
06:19 Feel like a rental program.
06:20 Yeah.
06:21 Might have to do it.
06:22 Do you guys have anything planned specifically
06:24 to help the relationship that you guys
06:27 are trying to build together?
06:29 Maybe after this, we will.
06:30 Yeah.
06:31 We might have just set it up.
06:33 You're welcome.
06:33 I think so.
06:34 For sure.
06:34 Thank you.
06:35 Well, it's a good thing you guys are going to be racing in 2024.
06:37 Congratulations on being part of the developmental car.
06:39 And best of luck.
06:41 Hope you guys find success this season.
06:42 - Thanks.