Tricon Garage: From DGR-Crosley to a Cup Debut and a Record Truck Title

Tricon Garage fields teams in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series and Cup Series. It was formed in early 2017 out of two earlier outfits, and it adopted its current name for 2023 after returning to Toyota.

Where did Tricon Garage begin?

Tricon Garage began in early 2017 when David Gilliland and Bo LeMastus combined their teams. The partnership ran as DGR-Crosley, which fielded Toyotas in 2018 and 2019 before switching to Ford for 2020. In 2021 the operation switched back to being called David Gilliland Racing, and it became Tricon Garage for 2023.

David Gilliland Racing had debuted in the X-1R Pro Cup Series in 2014, running the No. 98 for Todd Gilliland, and it ran Super Late Models from 2015 to 2017. Crosley Sports Group brought its own operation into the deal. Bo LeMastus, once a co-owner and driver, kept a role in marketing and sponsorship.

On 22 January 2018 the merged team announced that it would join the Truck Series on a part-time basis. It had bought the assets of Red Horse Racing before that announcement.

Two teams became one, Toyota came back, and a Truck title followed from the No. 11 seat.

How did the Cup Series debut come about?

Tricon Garage announced on 16 January 2025 that it would make its Cup Series debut at the Daytona 500 with Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 56 Toyota Camry. Bass Pro Shops was the primary sponsor, and Joe Gibbs Racing acted as technical partner. Truex qualified on lap time rather than through the Duels.

Cole Pearn served as crew chief, and Joe Gibbs Racing did most of the building work as technical partner. Truex started 39th on the grid. An incident on lap 71 ended his day, and he was classified 38th.

Who drove the trucks from 2019 to 2026?

The team's Truck Series seats changed often. Dylan Lupton ran the No. 5 for five races in 2019, Dean Thompson took the seat for 2023 and 2024, and Toni Breidinger was full-time there in 2025. In 2026 the No. 5 has been shared by several drivers, including Corey Heim, who won at Darlington.

The No. 5 in 2026 has rotated through an even longer list. Nick Leitz was named for the Daytona opener, and Adam Andretti for select races including Atlanta and St. Petersburg. Chase Briscoe drove at Bristol, and William Sawalich took the seat at Texas, Dover, Charlotte and Nashville.

Dean Thompson finished 2023 with two top fives and five top 10s in the No. 5. The No. 1 followed a similar pattern. Hailie Deegan drove it in 2021 and 2022, and William Sawalich was announced for a nine race schedule in 2024. Toni Breidinger was also announced for the 2024 opener at Daytona, and Brett Moffitt, the 2018 Truck Series champion, finished fifth in the spring Kansas race. Jimmie Johnson was announced for Coronado in January 2026.

The No. 17 had its own run of drivers. Tyler Ankrum was announced on 14 December 2018 for a full-time ride in 2019, chasing Rookie of the Year honours, but age rules kept him out of the first three races. Ryan Preece won on his Truck Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway in 2021 and repeated the win there in 2022. Taylor Gray was named for the No. 17 from the Circuit of the Americas in 2023, since he was too young to race in the opening three rounds.

Gio Ruggiero was announced full-time for 2025 and finished second in the Daytona opener. He did not make the playoffs that year, but he took his first career win at Talladega.

Who ran the No. 15 and No. 54 trucks early on?

Anthony Alfredo ran the No. 15 part-time from Las Vegas in 2019, and Tanner Gray took the seat full-time from 2020. In 2019 the No. 54 went to Raphael Lessard, Kyle Strickler, David Gilliland, Anthony Alfredo and Natalie Decker, who finished 32nd, 63rd, 47th, 22nd and 19th in the points.

Alfredo's first career top 10 came at Charlotte Motor Speedway during that stint. Gray's full-time run gave the No. 15 a steady base for several seasons, and he renewed his contract on 18 November 2024. In 2025 he posted three top fives and six top 10s.

How did Corey Heim win the 2025 Truck title?

Corey Heim drove the No. 11 full-time from 2023 and won the Truck Series championship at Phoenix in 2025. His ten wins that season set a single-season record, passing Greg Biffle's nine from 1999. He scored an 11th win at Martinsville to reach the title race.

The 2023 season opened with an eighth-place finish at Daytona, followed by wins at Martinsville and Mid-Ohio. He missed Gateway with an illness, and Jesse Love finished ninth in his place. Heim clinched the regular-season championship at Richmond, won at Bristol in the playoffs and finished third at Homestead. At Phoenix he was spun out by Carson Hocevar and finished 18th. A penalty of 25 driver points for intentionally wrecking Hocevar dropped him to fourth in the final standings.

In 2024 Heim began with a second-place finish at Daytona. His five regular-season wins came at Pocono, Gateway, North Wilkesboro, Kansas and COTA, and he added a playoff win at Kansas. He finished second in the points after the Phoenix finale. The 2025 opener at Daytona brought another second place, but Parker Kligerman was disqualified after his truck failed inspection, and the win passed to Heim.

Heim also won at Las Vegas and Texas in 2025. In the playoffs the Charlotte Roval, New Hampshire and Darlington added to his tally, and the Roval win gave him a record 10 wins in one season. The 11th came at Martinsville, and the championship was settled at Phoenix.

What did Kaden Honeycutt add in 2026?

Kaden Honeycutt was announced on 5 December 2025 as the full-time driver of the No. 11 truck. His first three career Truck Series wins came at Watkins Glen, Richmond and Kansas, with the Kansas win during the playoffs. The seat stayed the same, so the change kept the number Heim used for his title.

Both Heim's title and Honeycutt's three wins came from the same No. 11 entry, which was created for Heim's 2023 season. Honeycutt's first career win came at Watkins Glen.

What happened in ARCA and late model racing?

The ARCA Menards Series gave the team several wins across its entries. Todd Gilliland won at Talladega in 2019 in the No. 4 Toyota, and Taylor Gray won the General Tire 150 at Phoenix on 11 March 2022. Late model racing ran alongside it, with Super Late Models from 2015 to 2017 and late models from 2019.

On 8 March 2022 a hauler carrying the No. 17 crashed near Longview, Texas, and the hauler driver, Steven C. Stotts, was killed. Two passengers in the hauler and the SUV driver survived the crash. Three days later Gray started second, led 43 laps and won the General Tire 150, dedicating the win to Stotts.

Deegan's Truck debut came at Kansas in 2020, and she also drove the No. 4 Ford Fusion in that year's ARCA season. Tyler Ankrum had won four ARCA East races in 2018 on the way to that title. David Gilliland added a win at Phoenix in the 2020 ARCA West season.

The Super Late Model programme ran from 2015 to 2017, with Raphael Lessard and Hannah Newhouse among the drivers. The team dropped that class for 2018 and switched to late models from 2019. In the CARS Tour, Taylor Gray ran a part-time schedule in 2020 and won the opening round, and Joe Valento was announced for a full 2021 season.

Is Tricon Garage back with Toyota?

Yes. The team returned to Toyota Racing Development for 2023 after running Ford from 2020 to 2022. The same announcement, made on 27 October 2022, renamed the team Tricon Garage, and Taylor Gray was named a TRD development driver that day.

The No. 1 seat shows the change most clearly. The October 2022 announcement said various Toyota drivers would take it, and the seat has since carried a rotating list of drivers, including Jimmie Johnson at Coronado in 2026.

What were the team's key results?