Toyota NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Iowa Speedway
Race 14 of 33 – 218.75 miles, 250 laps
Sunday, June 19, 2016
TOYOTA NXS DRIVER FINISHING POSITIONS at Iowa Speedway
1st, SAM HORNISH JR.
4th, DANIEL SUAREZ
17th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG
20th, JJ YELEY
27th, ERIK JONES
29th, DREW HERRING
33rd, JEFF GREEN
38th, CARL LONG
39th, TYLER YOUNG
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER NXS POINT STANDINGS following Iowa Speedway (race 14 of 33)*
1st, DANIEL SUAREZ 490 points
7th, ERIK JONES 411 points
15th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG 272 points
17th, JJ YELEY 250 points
*unofficial point standings
TOYOTA NOTES
· Camry driver Sam Hornish Jr. was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Iowa Speedway.
· Hornish, a substitute driver in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Camry for injured Matt Tifft, led four times for a race-high 183 laps (of 250) at the Iowa short track.
· The win marks the fourth career NXS victory for Hornish, and his second in a Toyota, where he also won at Iowa for JGR in May 2014.
· Daniel Suarez also earned a top-five finish for Toyota with a fourth-place result on Sunday, marking his 12th top-10 in 14 starts this season.
· Suarez continues to lead the NASCAR XFINITY Series point standings by 21 points over second-place Elliott Sadler.
TOYOTA QUOTES
SAM HORNISH JR., No. 18 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How does it feel to step in and win today’s race at Iowa Speedway?
“It doesn’t get much better than that. I’ve just got to thank Toyota and everybody from Joe Gibbs Racing for getting me out here and giving me this opportunity. Got my wife and kids here and it’s the first time the kids have got to be here for one of dads wins so — I can’t tell you what this means to me. You work so hard to try to get a win when I have my kids here and the fact of how all of this went on and I’ve just got to thank God. He makes things happen. I was so nervous on Friday getting into the car thinking I’m going to make a mistake and man, to go out there and win the way we did I just can’t say anything more about it. Thank you TRD (Toyota Racing Development). I hope Matt (Tifft) is doing well. I definitely want to thank the fans and happy Father’s Day to everybody. This is definitely one of the best ones I’ve ever had I can guarantee you that.”
How special of a win is this today?
“It’s so great to be here. Last year was frustrating on a lot of different accounts but I just stayed positive through the off-season and continued to work out and keep myself ready for if I got an opportunity like this and when you’ve got a car that drives this good man, it was just a breeze today. Could settle in and do what we needed to do. Took us a while to get the car right where we needed to be for restarts but just definitely want to thank Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), everybody involved here at Joe Gibbs Racing. Man, I just can’t believe it. Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there. I just feel so blessed and thankful to God for giving me the opportunity. A lot of people told me, ‘Are you mad about where you’re at?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m getting to spend a whole lot of time with my wife and kids and do things with them that I hadn’t got to do.’ If I get the right opportunity I’ll go out there and I’ll prove it was the right thing to do to wait. Just super appreciative for the opportunities that come along. First time that my kids have ever been here when I’ve won a race so that just means everything to me.”
Did you think you could step into this car today and get a win after not racing this year?
“Anytime you get an opportunity to strap into a JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) car you know that you’ve got an opportunity and the car they told me as soon as I got here they’ve done a lot of work since we were here last time and man, this car was so good over the long run. I’d be remised if I didn’t thank Brad Keselowski because I picked both lanes that I could to get in front of him on those restarts because I knew that’s one guy that would give me a push. I was just happy about that – thanks to him. And, just man, I just can’t believe it. You always wait for when you have a car that’s this good for something to happen — run over a piece of debris or whatever. I love coming here to Iowa – the fans. I was worried it was going to be too hot and I was going to get all sweaty in the car, which I did, but man it was just put it on cruise once we got about 40 laps into a run. Car was good and I got a good idea of what it takes to be fast around here to keep the tires underneath it. Just fantastic day.”
What does it mean to win on Father’s Day with your family here?
“Getting the opportunity to race was a good Father’s Day present. I didn’t even ask my wife. I just said yes and then I called her and said, ‘Honey, I might have screwed up here.” I said, ‘What do you think?’ She was more excited about it than I was, so I know I’ve got good backers behind me so thank you and just unbelievable day.”
CHRIS GAYLE, crew chief, No. 18 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What can you say about the 18 team and Sam Hornish Jr.’s win today?
“It was a good car all day. It was a nice day to do it on Father’s Day right? To have the strongest car and just show it all day.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How was your race?
“We just needed a little bit better long run right there. At the beginning of the race we were super strong for 10 or 15 laps and for the second part of the race we had to start making bigger changes and adjustments to try to help the long run but we ended here on the short run. That’s part of racing. We’ll keep working and come back in a couple weeks.”
DAKODA ARMSTRONG, No. 28 WinField Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
JJ YELEY, No. 44 Zachry Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 20th
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Freightliner Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
DREW HERRING, No. 24 JGL Young Guns Toyota Camry, JGL Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
JEFF GREEN, No. 14 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 33rd
CARL LONG, No. 34 OCR Gaz Bar Toyota Camry
Finishing Position: 38th
TYLER YOUNG, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 39th
