Ryan Truex, the 2009 and 2010 NASCAR
K&N Pro Series East Champion, will run a full-time NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series schedule for Hattori Racing Enterprises in 2017, driving the No.
16 Toyota Tundra. Truex competed in 15 events with HRE in 2016, bringing home a
career-best finish of second at Daytona International Speedway in February.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity
to race my first full National
Series season with HRE and Toyota Racing in 2017,” Truex said.
"We started 2016 on a strong note and were able to contend for the
playoffs, prior to stepping out of the truck after Charlotte. I know we can
have similar -- if not better -- results in 2017 and I’m looking forward to
contending for race wins and hopefully making the playoffs this season.”
Scott Zipadelli will take over the
crew chief duties for Truex in 2017, his first season with HRE. In 2016,
Zipadelli picked up his first-career NCWTS victory in August at Michigan
International Speedway. The veteran crew chief also has three NASCAR Xfinity
Series victories on his resume.
Truex made his HRE debut at Daytona
last year and competed in select events throughout the 2016 season. In 15 starts
the 24-year-old compiled one Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes. Truex has three
career NCWTS starts at Daytona, with two Top-5 results.
“Ryan has the pedigree of a great
driver and is even a better person,” said team owner Shige Hattori. “It was an
honor to have him drive our trucks last season and I’m looking forward to
competing for the championship with him and the team this season. We
recently moved into a new state-of-the-art shop facility and have recruited
fantastic team personnel for this season. We feel like we’ve done everything to
improve our organization which should result in competitive results. I
know the No. 16 Toyota Tundra will compete for race wins this season.”
There will be several sponsor
announcements coming at a later date.
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