Ryan Gifford | |||||||
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Nationality | American | ||||||
Born | Winchester, Tennessee | March 10, 1989||||||
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career | |||||||
Debut season | 2009 | ||||||
Starts | 70 | ||||||
Wins | 1 | ||||||
Poles | 1 | ||||||
Best finish | 9th in 2010 | ||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
2 races run over 2 years | |||||||
2014 position | 67th | ||||||
Best finish | 63rd (2013) | ||||||
First race | 2013 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa) | ||||||
Last race | 2014 Get To Know Newton 250 (Iowa) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of September 28, 2014. |
Ryan Gifford (born March 10, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A former development driver for Richard Childress Racing and a former member of NASCAR NEXT. He last drove the No. 2 Toyota Camry for Rev Racing in the regional K&N Pro Series East as a member of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity, and has made starts in the national Xfinity Series for RCR and Biagi-DenBeste Racing. Gifford is the first African-American driver to win a pole in the K&N East series, and works in the shop of Team Dillon Racing.
Gifford is the son of Allen Burnette and Michelle Gifford, who died in 2010. Ryan also has a half-brother, Jabryle Hill. Ryan's grandfather Farrell Gifford was a drag racer, who introduced him to racing at age six. Gifford graduated from Franklin County High School and attended Middle Tennessee State University. [1] [2]
Gifford began his career in go-karts at the age of eight, competing in the World Karting Association from 2000 to 2004 and winning two track championships and finishing 3rd in national standings in his final season. In 2005 at age 15, he began the transition to stock car racing in dirt late models, earning 3 poles and four top 5s in his first season. In 2006, Gifford was noticed by Mike Dillon, the son-in-law of Richard Childress and RCR's general manager. Gifford would move into the Dillon's North Carolina household in 2008 to compete for RCR and Team Dillon Racing on both dirt and asphalt, registering 3 wins and 20 top 10's in 29 starts that season. In 2009, Gifford made four starts in the K&N Pro Series East and one in the West Series in a No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet for RCR. Gifford scored four top 5s including two second-place finishes. [3] [4] [5]
In 2010, Gifford one of eleven young drivers selected for NASCAR's recently revamped Drive for Diversity program, and would pilot the #2 Chevrolet in the K&N Pro Series East. Gifford raced alongside future national series drivers Darrell Wallace Jr. and Paulie Harraka. [6] Gifford earned 4 top fives in the 10 race schedule, finishing 9th in points. Gifford also won a pole at Martinsville Speedway, the first pole by an African American in the series' history. Gifford returned in 2011 and 2012, posting a total of seven top 10s in 26 races, and finishing 10th and 11th in points respectively.
In 2013, Gifford was named part of the NASCAR NEXT program. [7] Gifford was also joined by a new crew chief, veteran race car driver Mark Green. [8] He won his first race, the Blue Ox 100, on April 27 at Richmond International Raceway. Gifford started 11th and worked his way to the front, beating Brandon Gdovic and Cole Custer on a late-race restart. [9] [10] Gifford would finish 11th in points with four top 5s and six top 10s.
After the race at Loudon, New Hampshire in July 2014, Gifford was fined $1,000 for an altercation with another driver. Gifford was also placed on probation for the rest of the year. [11]
In August 2013, Gifford made his national series debut at Iowa Speedway for Richard Childress Racing in their No. 33 Menards Chevrolet, coming from the 23rd starting position to finish 9th. [12] In 2014, Gifford was signed to run two races for Biagi-DenBeste Racing at Iowa in May and Kentucky in June. [13] Gifford finished 20th in his only appearance at Iowa.
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
NASCAR Nationwide Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | NNSC | Pts | Ref | ||
2013 | Richard Childress Racing | 33 | Chevy | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | TEX | RCH | TAL | DAR | CLT | DOV | IOW | MCH | ROA | KEN | DAY | NHA | CHI | IND | IOW 9 | GLN | MOH | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | KEN | DOV | KAN | CLT | TEX | PHO | HOM | 63rd | 35 | [14] | ||
2014 | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | 98 | Ford | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | TEX | DAR | RCH | TAL | IOW 20 | CLT | DOV | MCH | ROA | KEN | DAY | NHA | CHI | IND | IOW | GLN | MOH | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | KEN | DOV | KAN | CLT | TEX | PHO | HOM | 67th | 24 | [15] |
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | NKNPSEC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2009 | Richard Childress Racing | 29 | Chevy | GRE | TRI 17 | IOW | SBO 2 | GLN | NHA 4 | TMP | ADI | LRP | NHA | DOV 2 | 19th | 617 | [16] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2010 | Rev Racing | 2 | Chevy | GRE 4 | SBO 4 | IOW 16 | MAR 12* | NHA 4 | LRP 22 | LEE 19 | JFC 3 | NHA 28 | DOV 19 | 9th | 1290 | [17] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 | Toyota | GRE 13 | SBO 5 | RCH 31 | BGS 10 | JFC 12 | LGY 23 | NHA 12 | COL 14 | GRE 11 | NHA 19 | DOV 7 | 10th | 1509 | [18] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
02 | IOW 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | 2 | BRI 3 | GRE 13 | RCH 21 | IOW 17 | BGS 18 | JFC 28 | LGY 18 | CNB 4 | COL 13 | IOW 23 | NHA 12 | DOV 15 | GRE 12 | CAR 7 | 11th | 413 | [19] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 | BRI 3 | GRE 13 | FIF 9 | RCH 1 | BGS 15 | IOW 21 | LGY 5 | COL 4 | IOW 6 | VIR 21 | GRE 19 | NHA 25 | DOV 28 | RAL 22 | 11th | 429 | [20] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | NSM 23 | DAY 20 | BRI 34 | GRE 6 | RCH 22 | IOW 15 | BGS 7 | FIF 18 | LGY 21 | NHA 26 | IOW 27 | GLN 23 | VIR 9 | GRE 8 | DOV 9 | 15th | 431 | [21] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | COL 5 |
NASCAR Camping World West Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | NCWWSC | Pts | Ref | |||
2009 | Richard Childress Racing | 29 | Chevy | CTS | AAS | PHO | MAD | IOW | DCS | SON | IRW | PIR | MMP | CNS | IOW 6 | AAS | 51st | 150 | [22] |
Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard Childress. In the Cup Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 teams: the No. 3 full-time for Austin Dillon, the No. 8 full-time for Kyle Busch, and the No. 33 part-time for Brodie Kostecki. In the Xfinity Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro teams: the No. 2 full-time for Sheldon Creed, the No. 3 part-time for Ty Dillon, and the No. 21 full-time for Austin Hill. RCR has had at least one car successfully qualify for every Cup race since 1972, the longest such active streak, and is known for the longstanding use of the number 3 on its primary race car.
Austin Reed Dillon is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. He is the grandson of RCR team owner Richard Childress, the older brother of Ty Dillon who also competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, and the son of Mike Dillon, a former racing driver who currently works as RCR's general manager.
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