- Camry driver Erik Jones (fourth) was the top-finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Texas Motor Speedway.
- It was the 19-year-old’s 11th top-five result in 21 races this year.
- His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Daniel Suarez (sixth), also tallied a top-10 finish – his 16th in 31 races this season.
- Six Camry drivers are currently in the top-20 in the unofficial NXS point standings –Suarez (seventh), JJ Yeley (13th), David Starr (16th), Blake Koch (17th), Cale Conley (19th) and Eric McClure (20th).
ERIK JONES, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was the car today?
“We just didn’t have what we needed. Really all day it seemed like we fought this thing and just couldn’t get it really up to run with the top-three or four there. Just kind of a bummer that we just missed it a little bit. I thought we were a little bit better than that in practice so we’ll go to work on this thing and get this GameStop Camry a little better for next time.”
How was the race today and were there lessons learned for tomorrow?
“It was a good day, we just never quite broke into that top-three segment. That last restart we were kind of there, but maybe if we could have got the lead we could have done something. Just never really had that speed. Other than that, the GameStop Camry was good, just weren’t quite there. For tomorrow, I think it will help. Anytime you’re on the track and learning, especially today – this race is going to start and end around the same conditions with the longer race. It helped me a lot just learning what the track did when it got dark here and got shaded up and gripped up and also with some cycles on tires since we’re running the same tire. It should be helpful to take some of that tomorrow to Jason (Ratcliff, 20 NSCS crew chief) and see if we can do something.”
How will no Cup race practice impact your preparation for tomorrow?
“I don’t think it changes it a whole lot. Obviously we wish we could have had that prep for the race ahead, but it doesn’t really change really our plan going into it. We wanted to try a few things that we just aren’t going to get to try. We’ll go into the race with the same mentality of just trying to make all the laps and get to the finish and I think we had a good enough car to be up and competitive up in the top-15 or top-10. We’ll see how it cycles out through the day and see how everything plays out.”
Were you able to learn some things today to help prepare for tomorrow’s race?
“We learned some things – just cycling through pit stops and the way tires cycled out, especially as the track got darker too. It’s going to be dark for sure by the end of the Cup race. I learned a few things myself there and kind of what the track did and when it’s going to do that. That should hopefully be helpful tomorrow. I’m sure it will be somewhat of the same and try to use some of that to my advantage and see if it helps out.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your race?
“It was a tough race. For some reason we didn’t have the balance right. I was expecting a little bit better balance. It was decent, I didn’t feel like it was any better car or anything like that, we had a top-10 ARRIS Toyota Camry and that’s pretty much where we ended up. I feel like we rescued some important points and lost something good. We have to keep working. Hopefully we can be a little bit stronger for Phoenix next week.”
What is your outlook for Phoenix considering your past performance there?
“Phoenix is a race track I really like. I feel strong out there since I was racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series. Hopefully we can be a little bit stronger than Texas and hopefully we can be a contender for a victory.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
BLAKE KOCH, No. 8 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 21st
JJ YELEY, No. 28 Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
DAVID STARR, No. 44 Zachry Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 25th
ERIC MCCLURE, No. 24 Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 28th
MIKE BLISS, No. 14 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 36th
TJ BELL, No. 26 Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
JEFF GREEN, No. 19 Premier Barter Exchange Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th
