By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
2019 provides a new and unique opportunity for Spencer Boyd.
On Jan. 7, Young’s Motorsports announced that the 23-year-old from Creve Coeur, Missouri will drive the No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.
In 2018, Boyd spent his time with SS Green Light Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Boyd was attracted to Young’s Motorsports because of the work team owner Tyler Young has dedicated.
“For me, it was looking at what they’ve been able to do. Tyler Young and his family have really grown that operation. Chevrolet has been a great partner for me,” Boyd told Kickin’ The Tires
“I am trying to stick with that family and grow my name within the sport. The Trucks are a good fit. We’ve went out with Tyler over the last couple of weeks and ironed out the details.”
At Texas Motor Speedway last fall, SS Green Light Racing announced that Gray Gaulding would be their full-time driver in 2019.
Boyd had options to race in all three NASCAR national series in 2019 but found his home in the Truck series.
“There were opportunities across all three series. For me, I was in a good spot running in Xfinity full-time last year. It approved me for some Cup races,” he said.
“With running in Trucks previously, I was approved for all of those races. For me, it was looking for the best opportunity to help propel my career to the next level. I worked with Bobby Dotter and the team at SS Green Light Racing to figure out what their plans were, what my plans were, and what the options forward were.”
While Boyd considers racing in Trucks a perfect fit, some will see it as a step in the wrong direction. However, he believes that at this point in his young career that the goal is to run well.
“There are always going to be people out there that will say, ‘Hey, why aren’t you running Cup? Why didn’t you go from Xfinity to Cup? Why did you go to Trucks? What are you doing.’ At this point of my career, I want to run well. I grew up winning races. Nobody has made it to these ranks of NASCAR by being average,” he said.
“Everyone has won in their respectable series growing up. So, the Xfinity deal at SS Green Light was a great starting deal. It was solid just learning, but I want to put myself in position and contend for solid finishes. In the natural progression, I am 23 years old. This is the best decision for me. It is a great opportunity.”
While racing with SS Green Light in 2018, Boyd learned valuable lessons. The biggest lesson learned was having to deal with the intensity of the schedule.
“The 33 races in Xfinity is a lot of traveling, a lot of racing, and different tracks to get accustomed to. I feel like I learned how to adapt pretty quickly, race on older tires, race on new tires, and have a bunch of restarts under my belt. I feel like I am going to be on my game. For me, it was a pretty easy decision. I feel like I’ve learned a lot that I can take to this,” he continued.
In 2019, Boyd will be working with Andrew Abbott as his crew chief. Abbott has been with Young’s Motorsports for six years and has worked with drivers like Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric.
Boyd is looking forward to working with Abbott and his leadership skills.
“With his relationship with the team and everyone working around him, I feel like he is a great leader. At the end of the day, I think he is going to be a great leader. Last year, he worked with Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric,” he said.
“Those are great guys. To feed off of what their feedback was and how he runs the team, I think it is going to be great. Until we get to the racetrack, he isn’t going to know how I act, how I talk about the
For Boyd, the idea of having realistic expectations will continue.
“I always have had realistic goals. I am not the guy on Twitter that says we are going to win the race and things like that. I am really careful about how I set the expectations. You don’t want the people around you to be let down or feel like they are under too much pressure. At the end of the day, you want everyone to work well together.
If we can go out there and be top-15 every week. With numbers being numbers, hopefully we can make the playoffs. I don’t know exactly to expect, but I know the people around me are putting their best foot forward. I know Tyler Young has a heck of a program. I am ready to go out there and prove that I am front runner.”