When Taylor Gray weighed his options for the 2027 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, familiarity was the biggest factor. Rather than pursue new opportunities, the two-time winner will return to Joe Gibbs Racing next season, the team announced on Tuesday. He’ll again pilot the No. 54 Toyota with veteran crew chief Jason Ratcliff — the winningest crew chief in series history — atop the pit box.
“I get to work with the same group of guys for three years consecutively, which I’ve never had in my career,” Gray told NASCAR.com of his decision. “I’ve never had the stability of working with the same group of guys, top to bottom, for that many years in a row. I’m excited to be able to build off what we’ve built so far and continue that relationship with Jason and continue to get better.”
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Ratcliff has worked with some of the sport’s greatest drivers. He has won 74 races across the NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly, with names like first-ballot Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth and future Hall of Famers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, along with budding stars Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs.
It was only three years ago when Ratcliff, the now 59-time O’Reilly victor, “retired,” only to return a season later with Gray, as there was a late switch among crew chiefs within JGR. The team convinced Ratcliff to return for a second go-around, which Gray noted that he was easily convinced. But for 2027, it was trickier.
“A big thing for me was Jason wanting to do it again,” Gray said. “I feel like Jason and I have built something really good over the last few years, and I feel like there’s a lot of unfinished business with Jason and I with the performances we’ve had.
“We get to this year, and we get halfway through the year, and I sat down with Jason and said, ‘Where are you? What do you think?’ It was a little tougher to commit right away to do it right away because he has grandchildren. He is trying to balance that life of being a grandpa, being a husband and father, all while trying to be my dad at the same time and work with me and crew-chief me.”
Since linking together in 2025, Gray won the penultimate race of that season at Martinsville Speedway and earlier this year at Kansas Speedway. In 2026, he ranks fourth in the series in laps led (189), but has just three top-five finishes, with his lone oval top five being the Kansas victory.
Yet JGR brass has seen growth from Gray in his two full seasons with the team. Steve deSouza, executive vice president of O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and development for JGR, pointed out that he’s a mature 21-year-old, believing there is still room for improvement.
“In regards to Taylor, when it comes to your first year here, you’re getting acclimated to everything,” deSouza said. “I think it’s a big jump from trucks to O’Reilly; there is so much more going on, and there’s so much competition and good teams. The second year, they are getting more comfortable, have been to the tracks, know the car, know the people, and the chemistry and bonds start working better. Typically, the second year, a lot of that happens, and in the third year, it’s even better.”
With each passing race, Gray is learning. The transition from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to O’Reilly was a bigger jump than he anticipated. He knew how to go fast for the first half of a run, but he struggled to put a full stint together. He believes he has turned those once-weaknesses into strengths, now getting the No. 54 car to be good for the duration of a green-flag run.
“I feel like I’m at the top of my game that I’ve ever been in my career and am continuing to get better each week,” Gray said with confidence. “The finishes don’t reflect what we’ve built on and what we have as a group on the 54 car this year.”
The finishes have been modest. Gray has an average finish of 17.7 through the opening 21 events, nearly three positions worse than his rookie campaign (15.0). He has bled points throughout the season, recently running out of fuel on the final lap at Sonoma Raceway, seconds away from a top-five effort. In the series’ most recent event at EchoPark Speedway, he was tagged from behind by Corey Day in a stack-up incident.
MORE: O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings | O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule
With three races remaining in the regular season, Gray finds himself squarely on The Chase bubble, 17 points above Rajah Caruth and 21 points ahead of JGR teammate William Sawalich.
“I wouldn’t say I’m as stressed out as the normal person would probably be,” Gray said of Chase positioning. “I understand what we have to go do. We have so much speed and are capable of doing so much, especially with these next two races coming up at Indy and Iowa are really good race tracks, that I’m not really worried about it.”
In a perfect world, Gray would enjoy having a 60- or 70-point buffer over the cutline entering the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway next month. But being a realist, he believes somewhere between 30 and 50 points is more logical.
Despite the mixed results, Gray believes the No. 54 team has the potential to be a formidable threat in The Chase, even as one of the last seeds.
“I think if we get on a high momentum ride and start putting together races like we know how to, we should start winning a decent amount of races,” Gray added. “There have already been probably four races that we’ve given up this year, whether it’s my doing or other unfortunate circumstances. I feel like we’re very capable.”