Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Daytona International Speedway
Race 1 of 33 – 300 miles, 120 laps
February 17, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Tyler Reddick*
2nd, Elliott Sadler*
3rd, Ryan Reed*
4th, Kaz Grala*
5th, Garrett Smithley*
8th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
10th, BRANDON JONES
13th, CAESAR BACARELLA
15th, STEPHEN LEICHT
23rd, CHAD FINCHUM
30th, RYAN ELLIS
38th, GRAY GAULDING
39th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Tyler Reddick* 50 points
2nd, Elliott Sadler* 41 points
3rd, Spencer Gallagher* 39 points
4th, Ryan Truex* 35 points
5th, Ryan Reed* 34 points
9th, BRANDON JONES 27 points
31st, CHRISTOPHER BELL 1 point
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Daniel Suárez was the top-finishing Toyota in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Daytona International Speedway.
· Suárez led a total of five laps (of 143) in a race that saw five green-white-checkered attempts to finish the race.
· Brandon Jones earned a 10th-place finish in his first NXS race behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Camry.
TOYOTA QUOTES
DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
How strong was the car?
“It was good – a top-five Interstate Batteries Camry for sure. Just ran out of luck and fuel.”
Are you able to take anything from today’s race into tomorrow’s Daytona 500?
“A little bit about the momentum to make the passes and such. I felt like it was helpful and a lot of fun for sure.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Juniper Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
What was the race like today?
“I’ve never had a race like this before at Daytona – this was a pretty crazy race. Heck of a race with our guys for the first time. I thought we were going to end up in the back there and not have a great day, but we ended up with a top-10 and that says a lot about this organization and a lot about what Toyota does for us. It was pretty incredible to pull off a top-10 off after looking at this car here today. All in all I enjoyed working with the team and Chris Gabehart (crew chief) and the guys. Looking forward to Atlanta because I think that’s where it’s really going to show and we will get some good performance out of this thing.”
What was it like to get through your first race with JGR with a top-10 finish?
“That was the craziest Daytona I’ve ever had, unreal. Just goes to show how much effort these guys put in – never gave up on our car all week. It was great to be a part of JGR this year and also to have Toyota on the car. Lots of development and lots of help from those guys and really, really proud to be a part of it. We have some momentum built up for Atlanta next weekend and I’m looking forward to see what it holds for us and hopefully 10th will be an even better finish next week.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 39th
Not the start you were hoping for to start your season, do you put this one behind you and get ready for next week?
“Yeah, we get ready for the rest of the season. We knew coming into Daytona there could be a mishap. We tested at Atlanta and it’s one of my favorite racetracks so I am excited to get there.”
Talk about the racing out there and how this all came about?
“I didn’t see what happened. There was a car parked in front of me and I ran into him.”
