- Kyle Busch (second) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Friday night’s NASCAR XFINTY Series (NXS) race at Richmond International Raceway. Chase Elliott won tonight’s race.
- Busch started from the pole position in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 54 Camry and led the field three times for 78 laps (of 250) to record his seventh consecutive top-five finish in NXS competition this season.
- Camry driver Erik Jones registered a fifth-place result to earn his ninth top-five finish in 18 series starts this year.
- Six Camry drivers are currently in the top-20 in the unofficial NXS point standings –Suarez (eighth), JJ Yeley (12th), David Starr (16th), Blake Koch (17th), Cale Conley (19th) and Eric McClure (20th).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What was the difference tonight from what the car was early on to where it finished?
“I don’t know. It just wasn’t the same as what practice was. We had a really good car in practice, we just never ran I guess longer than 10 laps to see if it would really stay with us and not fall off. But, man, we’d fall off in the long runs pretty bad. Just didn’t quite have enough. The Monster Energy Camry wasn’t there on the long runs. We had good speed short run there. We were pressuring the 9 (Chase Elliott) trying to get by him seeing what we could do there but in the end just those guys were pretty good. He had a better car probably from the second run on. We were just trying to play catch up and there at the end we caught up but we were no better.”
What were the laps like after the final restart trying to catch Chase Elliott for the win?
“I don’t know. We had a really good short run car I guess. I didn’t know we’d fall off that bad, obviously we would’ve been better. We would’ve worked on this Monster Energy Camry. But, there in practice we had a really good car and it was fast for about 10 laps you know we never ran farther than that. We had to play catchup there much of the race and finally that last run of the race we were the best we were all night besides the first one. We could pressure Chase (Elliott) and I just tried to get under him a couple times and just got too tight. I was going to nerf him if I got in there too far. Congratulations to those guys. They had a really good piece tonight and I think all of the JR Motorsports cars were fast and it’s a shame to come home second. We had to play catch up much of that race but right there at the end we kind of caught up but still not enough.”
Did you feel like you could catch Chase Elliott in the lapped traffic in the final laps?
“If he (Chase Elliott) got bottled up one more corner I think I probably could have got to him but he was just better than us. Even if I could’ve passed him I think he probably could’ve got back to me and probably passed me back. We just didn’t quite have enough time.”
How was the car in the race?
“Wasn’t good enough there all race long. In practice we were really good, we had really good short run speed. I don’t know where the long run speed went. We didn’t run any long runs in practice so I guess we would never have known. I don’t know how many guys really do get the opportunity to make long runs with limited tires. All in all, I thought Chris Gayle (crew chief) made some good adjustments all night. We were just kind of sneaking up on it there much of the race and finally there at the end I felt like we made a good swing and we were right there, we were close. I don’t know if I would have got the lead, if I could have got away I think Chase (Elliott) was still too good. We fought hard and we came home a close second I guess.”
Do you have a feel for cars in the Cup race tomorrow that will have stronger cars on the long run?
“I think you will see guys that have some short run cars or some long run cars. It seemed like our Cup car would be okay for some laps, it seemed like the 20 (Matt Kenseth) was really good. The 4 (Kevin Harvick) seemed to have some longevity maybe. Who knows, it’s just a matter of trying to keep the tires under you. For me, much of the race today I was just way over-driving everything and just burning the tires off and that’s why we fell back real far. Then there at the end I just kept trying to save as much as I could so I didn’t fall back and I kept maintaining so I could do a better job with it so as a drive you have some maneuverability that you can use to see your runs go a different way I guess. Still it’s hard to do unless it’s spread out. When you have guys up on top of your rear bumper it’s hard to save anything.”
How did you feel Josh Berry did in his first race tonight?
“He (Josh Berry) did a great job. Drove by me – I think he was third or fourth at one point today and looked pretty good. All those JRM cars were pretty fast tonight. I thought it was going to be a one-two finish for the 9 (Chase Elliott) and the 7 (Regan Smith) there until that last caution came out and kind of jumbled up the pit order after the pits. Then Josh just couldn’t fire off on the short run, not sure what was going on there. He did a great job holding his own and coming home with a solid finish tonight. I wouldn’t doubt them bringing in some third-stringers for pit stops didn’t help anything.”
ERIK JONES, No. 20 GameStop/Lego Dimensions Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was the race tonight?
“It just wasn’t really our night. We missed it pretty bad it seemed like from the start for whatever reason. Worked hard all night to get this GameStop/Lego Dimensions Camry better, it just never really did much and never really responded to much. We kind of struggled as a group today – all in all JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) did. We’ll keep working on it, get a little bit better and figure out what we need to do better for next time.”
What happened on the final restart?
“We lined up in a good spot there in sixth and got a good restart and ended up running third right after that and stayed with Kyle (Busch) and Chase (Elliott) for a minute and then they took off and we had to kind of fend off for a top-five at that point. Pretty proud of being able to run top-five with the way the day went and just being able to stick with it all.”
What did you battle with the setup on the car?
“When we started out it just wasn’t really in the race track well and wasn’t doing a whole lot right. It just seemed like it was just too tight in the center and just no drive off. We got it better throughout the day of getting drive, but we just weren’t really able to improve our center turn. That kind of put us back behind the eight ball. We just missed it a little bit and that’s going to happen. We’ll get a little better for next time and see what we can do.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
BLAKE KOCH, No. 8 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 19th
JJ YELEY, No. 28 Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
CALE CONLEY, No. 14 IAVA Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 22nd
ERIC MCCLURE, No. 24 Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, JBL Racing
Finishing Position: 26th
JOSH REAUME, No. 13 Braille Battery/Grafoid Toyota Camry
Finishing Position: 28th
HERMIE SADLER, No. 26 Virginia Lottery Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 32nd
DAVID STARR, No. 44 Zachry Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 37th
BENNY GORDON, No. 66 Somerset Regional Water Resources, VSI Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
JEFF GREEN, No. 19 Premier Barter Exchange Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th
