Birthdate: July 17, 1994
Hometown: Wexford, Pa.
Favorite Sports Team: Pittsburgh Penguins, National Hockey League (NHL)
Hobbies: Aviation, golf, hunting, and sporting clays
Kris Wright, 29, is poised for new adventures in 2023 while navigating multiple series, including the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) and the ARCA Menards Series (ARCA).
This Pittsburgh, Pa., native is stepping into his fourth season in NASCAR's premier series. Wright debuted in the NASCAR national spotlight on August 16, 2020, at the Daytona International Speedway road course in his singular NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck start that year.
Wright capitalized on maximizing the part-time schedule in his first two NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series seasons, collecting a 12th-place finish at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 2021, and four top-20 finishes (Daytona, Gateway, Las Vegas, and Martinsville) across 17 starts. In 2021, Wright competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) for seven road course events and recorded a career-best finish of 17th place at the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
The preceding year, 2022, had him juggling between two series, including 17 starts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and nine starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, respectively.
In two seasons (2020, 2021) of a part-time schedule in the ARCA Menards Series, Wright produced six top-10 finishes in 11 starts with an average starting position of 10.3, producing an average finishing position of 11.8. In addition, the accomplished driver has one start (2020) in the ARCA Menards Series East and three starts (2020) in the ARCA Menards Series West, resulting in two-top five and two top-ten finishes.
In 2020, Wright competed in the CARS Tour Super Late Model division, with one top-ten finish in two starts. In 2021, he finished in 10th place in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series at the historic Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Wright also has experience in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, and other major asphalt late model events at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, including the Clyde Hart Memorial (2020) and the Red Eye 100 (2021).
With his stock car experience, Wright competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, including the Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway in 2019. He scored a second-place finish in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class and seventh place overall.
He completed a full season of the GB3 Championship in 2019. Across 24 events, Wright had one top-five finish, two top-ten finishes, and finished in the 16th place in the championship standings.
Wright collected two victories (Barber Motorsports Park and VIRginia International Raceway) and six top-five finishes in six starts in 2018 en route to an IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda championship in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class.
In 2018, Wright joined Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, located in Germany, as a member of the Porsche talent pool.
Earning Rookie of the Year honors and placing second in the championship standings in the 2017 IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda, Wright also competed in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship with six starts. He has a combined 17 starts that resulted in two top-five finishes and 11 top-ten finishes in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series in 2017 and 2018.
Wright currently resides in Concord, N.C.