Ryan Truex has a new home for 2018.
A week after his former Truck Series team Hattori Racing Enterprises announced that he would not return in 2018, Kaulig Racing announced Tuesday morning that Truex would drive the No. 11 Chevrolet this season.
Truex replaces Blake Koch who drove for the team the past two XFINITY seasons.
“I’m extremely excited to be making the move back into the XFINITY Series,” said Truex. “In just two years Kaulig Racing has proved to be a highly competitive team each race and it should be a great fit.”
The younger brother of 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. finished ninth in the championship standings in his first full season of competition in any of NASCAR’s top three national series.
“Last season I saw a lot of improvements in my racing and hopefully this year I can continue the success Kaulig Racing has built and competed for the championship at the end of the year,” added Truex.
The Mayetta, New Jersey native lost his chances at his first NASCAR national series’ championship in a tie-breaker with Ben Rhodes in the season cutoff race at Chicagoland Speedway – when Rhodes won the final Playoff spot over a better finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in July when Rhodes finished second and Truex third.
At Homestead, Truex recorded his eighth top five and 13th top-10 overall with a fourth-place run. He won the pole at Chicagoland Speedway and Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway respectively.
Truex, 25, has 39 XFINITY Series starts to his credit including a runner-up finish at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in 2012.
The two-time K&N Pro Series East champion will make his first XFINITY Series start at Daytona and compete in his first race since Texas Motor Speedway in November 2015 driving for Biagi DenBeste Racing.
Team owner Matt Kaulig insisted on SiriusXM’s The Morning Drive that he and Koch remain “best friends” and will do whatever possible to help secure a future in racing.
“Sometimes you have to make changes, sometimes changes are tough, but for the overall organization and everything else I think bringing Ryan Truex in to drive is a crazy positive move and I’m excited about it,” Kaulig said on SiriusXM.
“Blake (Koch) is one of my best friends, he is one of my best friends. We talk all the time, we’ve been close for probably four years. I’m going to help him do whatever he needs to do.
“We’re growing. We’re growing as an organization and as a race team, I’ve got all kinds of businesses and Kaulig Racing is one of them and we’re making things happen.”
While Kaulig says the decision was hard not to have Koch back in 2018, he is eagerly looking forward to seeing Truex perform.
“I couldn’t be more excited. Ryan Truex is maybe the best young driver in NASCAR right now. This is a really, really big day for our race team, my race team. We’re going into our third season in existence in the XFINITY Series and we couldn’t be more excited.
“He’s got one of the biggest names in racing right now in being a Truex, I’m telling ya, this kid is mega talented. We’ve been following him over the last few years and especially this last year in the Truck Series. This kid can drive.
“That had a lot to do with it.”
Kaulig added that Bar Harbor Seafood Products, a company that has an existing relationship with Truex will be the primary marketing partner for 2018, while LeafFilter, a company owned by Kaulig will scale back it’s full-time primary role – but will sponsor some select races this season.
Additionally, Kaulig, a successful entrepreneur from Ohio said he hopes to expand his operation to a two-car team in 2018 and Koch could drive, but only if sponsorship materializes.
“There’s a 100 percent chance of really doing that,” added Kaulig about having Koch behind the wheel of the expected second team. “A lot of the sport has to do with sponsorship and that’s part of the situation. We won’t run the second car without sponsorship.
“It’s a business and it costs money, it costs a lot of money. You need sponsors, you need financial backing….”
Koch, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla. has 213 XFINITY Series starts with a career-best sixth place finish at ISM Raceway (previously known as Phoenix Raceway) in November, the penultimate race of the year. Overall, he has 10 top-10 finishes – all with Kaulig Racing.
“Matt Kaulig and myself are still great friends and everyone at Kaulig Racing is all on good terms,” sounded Koch. “I’m so appreciative of everything that LeafFilter has done for me over the past years and Matt. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead, just have to figure that out.
“I’m definitely not going to be sitting on the couch waiting. I’m going to go out hustle, find some sponsors. That’s the key, you gotta find sponsorship, so I’m going to go get that done and get back in a race car.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.