Taylor Gray started P10 and finished P1 in the NOAPS Race at Kansas Speedway – Joe Gibbs Racing Photo
Joe Gibbs Racing dominated Kansas race winning both stages and the race
KANSAS CITY (April 18, 2026) – Taylor Gray claimed his first win of
the season, and second victory overall in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto
Parts Series, on Saturday night at Kansas Speedway. Gray took the lead
after a great pit call by Jason Ratcliff in the final pit cycle and held
it for the balance of the race. Brent Crews finished fifth – his
second straight top-five finish – to put two Supras in the top-five,
while Joe Gibbs Racing swept the day with Gio Ruggiero winning the ARCA
race this afternoon.
Brandon Jones had the dominate car most of the race, winning both
stages and leading the most laps, before a pit road penalty relegated
his Supra to eighth at the finish. Dean Thompson (11th) – just missed
his second top-10 of the year, and gave Toyota four of the top-11.
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
_How big is this performance? _
“First off – thank you to everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, TOYOTA
RACING, Operation 300 – and how about (crew chief) Jason Ratcliff.
Man, that pit call was awesome. I knew we had a car capable of winning.
I thought the 20 (Brandon Jones) was better than us in before the green
flag cycle, but you just have to stay locked in. We needed to be a
little bit freer – Jason made a really good adjustment on the car, a
really good pit call. Can’t thank everyone enough. It’s been a long
start to the year. Not that we aren’t bringing speed to the race
track, things just haven’t gone our way, so it is nice to be able to
close one out.”
_What did you have to balance in the closing laps? _
“I knew the 00 (Sheldon Creed) was starting to catch me. I was
starting to get a little bit snug trying to turn down the hill, and it
seemed like he was on the freer side. I had navigate lap traffic better
than he could and get him to heat up his rears to try to catch me. I
think he ended up getting in the wall trying to catch me, it was a fun
race. Just glad to be here.”