Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Chicagoland Speedway
Race 26 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
September 16, 2017
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Justin Allgaier*
2nd, Kyle Larson*
3rd, Elliott Sadler*
4th, Daniel Hemric*
5th, Austin Dillon*
6th, MATT TIFFT
16th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG
18th, ERIK JONES
19th, DANIEL SUAREZ
21st, JJ YELEY
37th, GARRETT SMITHLEY
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, William Byron* 2025 points*#
10th, MATT TIFFT 2004 points#
13th, DAKODA ARMSTRONG 507 points
14th, JJ YELEY 462 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
#competing in 2017 Playoffs
· Camry driver Matt Tifft (sixth) was the highest finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Chicagoland Speedway.
· Toyota driver Erik Jones earned the pole position for the race, won both stages and led 94 of (200 laps) before finishing 18th.
· Following the regular season finale at Chicagoland, Camry driver Tifft is set to compete in the NXS Playoffs to determine the 2017 champion.
TOYOTA QUOTES
MATT TIFFT, No. 19 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lone Rat & Cub/ABTA Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Was this a good day for you and your team heading into the Playoffs?
“I think so, it’s a good top-10 for us for sure, we needed this on a mile-and-a-half. We haven’t run the greatest on these tracks yet. We had a decent day all day and just tried to stay ahead of the craziness going on there at the end. We need to pick up a little more speed, but it’s cool having the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the car this weekend. This is a good weekend for us to finish a race strong, if we can keep doing this every weekend through the Playoffs then I think it’s going to work out well for us.”
How important was it to run well at this style of race track?
“It’s obviously mile-and-a-half heavy so if you’re good on these tracks and this place is a bumpy place, it’s fun to drive here – I like it. We have to be able to run in that fifth to sixth area. We ran around ninth or 10th all day and we have to run where we finished the race today and where we were competing for wins when things happen. That’s where we need to improve just a little bit, but we’re a lot closer than we’ve been.”
How do you feel about the upcoming races in the Playoffs?
“I’m not totally sure, but I do love going to Dover and I have that one circled on the schedule there. I think the first round is great for us and the second round has a few more challenging tracks for us. I’m looking forward to getting started and getting this Camry in the Playoffs.”
