Ryan Gifford

Ryan Gifford, 23, is competing in his third season for Rev Racing in 2012. In 2011, Gifford finished 10th in points and collected two Top-5’s and four Top 10’s in 12 races while competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. In 2010, Gifford’s rookie season, the Tennessee native achieved a top-10 points finish, as well.

In the fourth race of the 2010 season at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, Gifford won the pole and dominated more than half of the race only to have a cut tire knock him from contention. Despite that and other setbacks that took away good finishes, Gifford was able to record four top-five finishes on the season, and his pole at Martinsville made him the first African American in Series history to record such an accomplishment.

In 2008, Gifford joined Team Dillon Racing as a development driver for RCR. Competing in the Fastrak Dirt Late Model Series, Gifford scored three wins and 17 top fives in 29 events.

The Winchester, Tenn., native knew he wanted to make racing a career even before he graduated from karts to dirt late models when he was 15. He found success in late models right away, earning three poles and four top fives in his first season. He continued racing dirt late models and caught the eye of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Vice President of Competition Mike Dillon in 2006.