Taylor Gray‘s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series début is officially on hold. On Thursday afternoon, David Gilliland Racing announced that due to injuries sustained in a car accident on Wednesday, he will have to undergo surgery and his #17 Ford F-150 has been withdrawn from the 17 April race at Richmond Raceway. He is expected to fully recover upon completing the procedures.
Gray, who races in the ARCA Menards Series and its East and West counterparts with full-time emphasis on the East series, was involved in an accident the previous night that resulted in hospitalisation. He subsequently underwent surgery for a fractured L4 vertebra and additional operations for a broken left foot and ankle are also planned.
“David Gilliland Racing driver Taylor Gray, underwent surgery earlier today at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. for a fractured L4 vertebra,” read a team statement. “Gray will also undergo another surgery in the coming days for a fractured left foot and ankle due to the accident. Gray is expected to make a full recovery.
“Gray will not make his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in the No. 17 entry at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on April 17 as previously scheduled. The No. 17 has been withdrawn from the Richmond event.”
A timetable for Gray’s recovery was not provided. The next ARCA East race, held at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, will not be for another month on 8 May. While the ARCA Menards Series has a races before then at Talladega on 24 April and Kansas on 1 May, he was not expected to enter either event prior to the accident.
The #17’s withdrawal will mark its first missed race of the year after running every race so far in 2021. The truck is DGR’s multi-driver vehicle that has been driven by team owner David Gilliland, Riley Herbst, Bill Lester, and Kevin Harvick in the first five races. Herbst holds the truck’s best finish of the season with a fifth on the Daytona Road Course, and it sits twenty-first in owner points. Gray’s brother Tanner drives the #15 full-time for DGR.
