Wexford native's racing career takes left turn into full-time NASCAR truck series ride

If someone told Kris Wright in November of 2019 that he’d be racing full time in NASCAR in three years, he would’ve told them they were crazy.

That’s because he had just signed a deal to race in Formula 3 in Europe.

Little did Wright or anyone else know in a couple of months, those plans would change because of the coronavirus.

The option to travel to Europe ended, and he turned his sights to NASCAR.

After running a part-time schedule last year for two teams, Wright, a Wexford native, has his first full-time deal in NASCAR.

He’ll race for Niece Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with backing from First National Bank, iHeart Radio and Wright Automotive, his family’s business.

“It’s great that we have a full-time deal,” Wright said. “I had lunch with my crew chief (Wally Rogers), and I told him I have the pedal down on my side and he said they are really working hard in the shop. Everyone is working to get the most out of this year performance-wise. We’re all excited about it. It’s a good learning opportunity, for sure.”

Wright’s journey to NASCAR began, oddly enough, on a golf course.

He grew up playing multiple sports before focusing on golf, but an afternoon running go-karts with a friend when he was 9 years old piqued his interest. He took the idea of going racing to his father, who wasn’t too keen on it. Wright was persistent, though, and when he was 14, he made a deal with his father that if he made a college golf team, he would look into getting him into racing.

Wright played for Central Catholic in high school and eventually walked onto the Robert Morris golf team and made it.

“I took the roster to him, and I started racing shortly after that,” Wright said. “I started in some amateur races and showed that I had a knack for it pretty quickly. I won a few races and ended up starting racing professionally in 2015. From there, I’ve taken the path to where I am now.”

Once he started racing, Wright became a self-described “ping-pong ball” in motorsports.

He started in road racing with touring cars in the Pirelli World Challenge and Pro Mazda Championship. Then he spent a year in open wheel racing in the USF2000 series. He also has done endurance races and was on a team that finished second at the prestigious 24 hours of Daytona in 2019. He also raced overseas in British Formula 3.

NASCAR came into the equation after a conversation with Fox Chapel native and longtime car owner Chip Ganassi.

“When the pandemic hit and Europe was no longer an option, I had a meeting with Chip Ganassi and talked to him about some options that I may have in the states,” Wright said. “He pointed me to NASCAR. I pursued that opportunity, and I’m glad I did.”

Wright ran 16 races in the truck series for Young’s Motorsports and had a best finish of 12th at Daytona. He also ran seven road course races for Sam Hunt Motorsports in the Xfinity series. His best finish was 17th at Watkins Glen.

“Last year I learned a ton because it was my first year in NASCAR, but looking back at it, there could’ve been some holes that could’ve been filled up,” Wright said. “There were a few bad experiences I had, maybe it was a wreck or something else, that could’ve turned into a learning experience, but that didn’t come to fruition.

“This year, if we do have something that we can learn from, we’re definitely going to take that opportunity to figure out what we could’ve done differently as a team.”

Wright will have some veterans to lean on, starting with crew chief Rogers, who has worked in all three major NASCAR series. He also is working with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday, who is his driving coach.

When it comes to goals, Wright said he just wants to continue learning and expects the results to come with the work he’s putting in.

“I want everyone that works with me, whether it’s my spotter, crew chief, pit crew or whoever, to say that I outworked everyone else this year,” Wright said. “That’s how you get better. I’m 27, so I’m not young when it comes to racing. I don’t have as much NASCAR experience as some of these other kids I’ll be racing. That motivates me to work harder than they do because they have that experience. If a win comes, and we make the playoffs, that would be icing on the cake.”