DAYTONA BEACH — Squinting into the sun beginning to set beyond Turn 1 at his hometown track, Daniel Dye spoke of the learning curve that lie ahead.

Standing next to a truck bearing his name but one he hadn’t yet so much as been inside of, Dye couldn’t wait to begin that process.

The DeLand native and 2022 ARCA Series runner-up was introduced as the full-time driver of the No. 43 GMS Racing entry in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 2023 season. A ceremony was held at Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday afternoon.

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Flanked by his father, local Dodge dealer Randy Dye, as well as team president Mike Beam, Dye fielded questions and posed for pictures with his new ride. Dye admitted that he was itching to get started.

“I’ve never even sat in a truck, so I’ll probably have to sit in it before we leave just to say I’ve done it,” Dye said. “I think now that it has my name on it, it’s better to sit in it.”

Of course, once the graduate of Father Lopez Catholic High School climbs in next February, he’ll have to do more than sit. But Dye has found relative success in racing to this point, with a win in the ARCA Series at Berlin Raceway in 2021 and a second-place finish in the 2022 point standings, just 14 points shy of champion Nick Sanchez.

Despite not registering a win this past season, Dye racked up 13 top-fives and 17 top-10s en route to his runner-up series finish.

Having never been in the cockpit of a truck, Dye admitted there would be plenty he’d need to learn, adding that he fully expected the series to be much different than anything he’d raced to this point.

“It’s one of those things where you can kind of see how they race on TV but you really don’t know until you get there,” Dye said. “Just looking forward to learning as much as I can. The aerodynamics of these trucks are way different compared to an ARCA car, an Xfinity car or a Cup car.

"Just going to have to have to do a lot of simulator time, figure that stuff out and obviously the racing is a lot more aggressive so, just got to be on my toes, learn as much as I can and get ready to rock come February.”

When February arrives, Dye won’t have far to travel to make his debut, with the series schedule opening at Daytona on Feb. 17.

Growing up in the shadow cast by the speedway’s 31-degree banked turns, Dye said the support received from the surrounding community has been a motivating factor throughout his journey thus far. He expects nothing different come February.

“It’s great to have the community support,” Dye said. “Obviously, coming to Daytona, I know they’re all going to be here. That’s really cool, that’s a big help. It makes you comfortable and at the same time, you want to try and impress those people from the community that come to support you.

"So, just going to do everything I can to make these guys proud.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daniel Dye to drive No. 43 in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2023