Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 7 of 33 – 159.9 miles, 300 laps
April 14, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, RYAN PREECE
2nd, Justin Allgaier
3rd, Daniel Hemric
4th, Elliott Sadler
5th, Spencer Gallagher
6th, BRANDON JONES
28th, STEPHEN LEICHT
29th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
32nd, JOSH BILICKI
36th, CHAD FINCHUM
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Elliott Sadler* 261 points
2nd, Daniel Hemric* 255 points
3rd, Tyler Reddick* 247 points
4th, Justin Allgaier* 240 points
5th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 226 points
9th, BRANDON JONES 193 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Ryan Preece won the Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon after leading 39 of 300 laps and winning stage two of the event. It was his first win of the 2018 season.
· Toyota drivers were at the front of the field throughout much of the race, leading a combined 180 laps and capturing both stage wins.
· After leading 35 laps and capturing the first stage win, Christopher Bell finished 29th following an accident on Lap 141.
· Brandon Jones led a career- and race-high 106 laps before finishing sixth and qualifying for the Dash 4 Cash at Richmond International Raceway.
TOYOTA QUOTES
RYAN PREECE, No. 18 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How difficult was it to maintain patience today?
“First off, this Rheem Toyota TRD Camry JGR car was awesome. These guys right here, they work hard and they don’t get on TV and I want you all to focus in on them and this guy (Eric Phillips, crew chief) – I have to thank everybody last year for helping me make this all possible. Without last year, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now, I wouldn’t be sitting here in Bristol victory lane in an Xfinity Series car with Joe Gibbs Racing. To win here, it’s unreal. I guess I didn’t make Joey Logano look like a fool today.”
What are you going to do with the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus?
“You know what, probably do something for my parents, my brothers, my wife and my team. We’re going to go get something to drink later. Man, I can’t thank Eric Phillips (crew chief) enough. I know he works his butt off, he doesn’t just sit behind a desk, he’s out there in the shop working hard and I have a lot of respect for him. It was a good run for us, good run for my teammate Brandon (Jones). If that caution hadn’t come out, he had it in the bag. He’ll be up there soon enough.”
How special is this moment in Bristol victory lane?
“Words can’t even describe. My mom’s super happy, my dad’s super happy – I’m 27 years old and I’m not getting any younger. I’m looking for opportunities. We did it last year at Iowa and now we did it here at Bristol. I hope I don’t get labeled as a short track racer, I want to win on mile-and-a-halves soon. Nothing beats winning. That’s what I told somebody earlier today. They asked me what was the most exciting thing and I said winning – I hate losing more than winning. Today we did it.”
How does it feel to win the $100,000 bonus?
“Really good. I don’t think you can say winning $100,000 doesn’t feel good. I know what it’s going to do for me and my life and I can officially say that I’m going to be paid off with everything I risked last year and this is a big day for me. One thing that I want to point out to everyone is this guy (Eric Phillips, crew chief) right here gave me a real, real great set of match tires there at the end and they came through for me.”
Does it sting that you aren’t eligible for the bonus in Richmond?
“I won $100,000 today so I don’t think it stings at all. I understand what you’re asking, but I think anybody that knows my career and what I’ve done – any day that I’m sitting in a race car that I feel I can win is a good day for me. I’m just going to keep showing up, doing what I intend on doing and like I said to Eric, going out and winning. I was mentally ready for this and I think Eric would probably agree with that. I’m a little high strung sometimes and I’m working on calming down for him, but when it comes to restarts and when it comes to those pressure situations, I feel I’m ready. I’m just going to focus on my next race. The way I look at it, I have two months to prepare for Daytona, which is my next one and that’s a game of chess. It’s kind of like our New Hampshire so that’s all when it comes to that.”
What does it feel like to get the win today and know that all you did last year led to this moment?
“It means the world to be honest with you. I worked with Chris Gabehart (19 crew chief) for three races last year, we ran extremely well and I started working with Eric Phillips at Homestead. We have been gaining on it every time that I’ve strapped in this race car. Without these two crew chiefs, without these teams, without Joe Gibbs Racing and the equipment that they give you to go out there, that risk wouldn’t have came true. One thing we all have to realize is that yes the drivers, we have to be mentally tough enough and that I really want to stress or tell you guys – when you’re sitting in that race car and it’s 130 or 140 degrees or whatever it may be and you don’t see the big picture, all you see is what’s out in front of the windshield. You have to be mentally tough enough to know that I need to get a good restart and I need to put myself in this position and then those guys around me are going to give me everything I need to do what I need to do and ultimately that’s what I feel I have here at Joe Gibbs Racing. Eric’s a great coach, he’s a great crew chief – how many drivers have you worked with? A lot. He clearly knows what he’s doing and he works hard and I really appreciate that everyone sees and gives him the credit that he deserves. It’s really, really great to work with a guy like Eric.”
Where does this win rank among your racing accomplishments?
“It’s Bristol, it’s the last great colosseum. It’s one of those races that when you grow up as a short track racer, you want to win at. Last year in Iowa, I was thinking that if I had a shot to win it was going to be at New Hampshire and ultimately we won at Iowa. And then we came here today, we unloaded for practice and I was really happy with the race car. We didn’t qualify where we thought we would, but I knew we had a good race car and slowly we gained track position and patience like Eric said. We got where we needed to be and the caution fell where we needed it to happen and we got the restart we needed and Eric made the right adjustments there to get us out front. As far as this win ranking, I got a UTV, I got a sword and I got a cool trophy so I’m going to say it’s pretty cool.”
What is the balance you put on what’s in front of you now versus the timeline you have for your career?
“As Eric knows, I’m a little unorganized when it comes to some things, but I take every week, every race as its own race and it’s a chance to build a future for myself. Where I’m going to be in October or after this win, I don’t have a clue. All I know is I’m not going to be the one that prevents me from going further. I’m not going to be the excuse at the end of the season I say, ‘Man, if I won this race or if I did this different,’ I’m not going to look back and say that. I’m going to do everything I can to win and make sure that I’m not the weak link.”
Will you continue working and racing your modified car?
“I’m still racing modifieds and I’m still winning, this is win number three for me for the year. Obviously it’s on a bigger scale, but I think I’ve done seven races or eight races so far and I’ve won three of them. Maybe it’s 10 races, I forget here and there. We won three so far this year.”
What would happen if you hadn’t have won the race today in regards to paying back your debt?
“Let’s think about the positives, I don’t know. To be honest with you, I probably would have gotten to that point and I would have paid them back. Through racing or through my racing with the Xfinity Series so I wasn’t too worried, but that wasn’t a thought last year when I stepped into this car. The thought wasn’t how was I going to pay x-amount of dollars back. My only thought was, how am I going to win this race? It worked out.”
With you paying off your debt with this money, will you stay out of debt or do you feel you’ll slip back by not racing full time?
“I don’t advise many people doing what I did, let’s just put it that way. When I sat down, when I raced against these guys and I saw these cars, I consider myself somebody who understands kind of how a race car works, not to the depths of what Eric understands, but I understand the simple things that when I go race my modified, I’m perfectly capable of giving myself a winning race car. When I see their cars go around the track and I see how hard they work and the program they put together, I said, ‘Man, I need help with the people,’ and luckily I had enough help. It got down to the time where I needed a little bit more and ultimately I had essentially it was a very close friend of mine, a racing owner of mine that stepped in and let me borrow the money. I’ve been slowly paying them back and it’s going to feel good to be debt free because it doesn’t feel good. It’s like having a mortgage over your head that you don’t have a mortgage. You run two races and they’re done. Essentially, it’s gratifying to know that when I leave here and when I get paid, I’m going to be debt free and I’m going to have the normal worries that everybody else has – a mortgage, car payments, insurance and typical things like that. What I also enjoy and what’s pretty cool is that yes, I may not be going to Richmond, but I’m going to stay for the debrief on Monday, I’m going to do all my obligations and when I fly home Monday night or Tuesday morning, I will go to work just like everybody else. I’m going to go work on race cars, which is a dream come true, but I’m going to get my hands dirty. I’m not going to be sitting around. That’s one thing, my father has been a huge inspiration. He’s a hard worker and without him, without my parents, none of this would be possible. I wouldn’t have the work ethic that I have today. That’s pretty much it.”
How beneficial was it to race at Bristol in the modified car?
“I would say racing at your local track, racing your touring series and coming to a place like this, it helped. I would say this was extremely similar to how the modified race played out with it being bottom is the way around, expect the modifieds I would say you’re on the near edge of wrecking every lap in terms of being loose. I had seat time before I came here and I would say that helped quite a bit. I would say racing as a whole – racing at my local short track, racing on the tour – all that racing 70 or 80 times a year, it all led me up to where I am now.”
Do you consider yourself a role model for drivers that are driving in under-funded equipment?
“To be honest with you, if people want to label me that, that’s fine. I’m not going to label myself as that. I like to make my own way through in life Would I advise somebody to do what I did? Probably not, but it was the only way I was going to get the chance. I wanted that chance and it all worked out. If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way.”
What did you talk with Kevin Harvick about as it relates to his support of local short tracks?
“I’d be racing modifieds, but he also sponsored contingency program for Stafford Speedway which adds another $250 to their purse and that’s also a reason I wanted to thank him. That’s a big deal. Guys like that, Kyle Busch goes and races short tracks and that brings attention to it. Kevin Harvick, he goes and races. I think and hopefully he can race my modified at some point this year, which would be pretty cool. Whether it happens or not, I don’t know, but I’m going to play crew chief so maybe I can get Eric up there and see how much left rear spring I can take out. Any time you have guys like Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch – guys that came from the grassroots bring attention to it, it helps the guys like us to see that light at the end of the tunnel. It was a big deal to me and it meant a lot.”
How hard were you driving in the closing laps to catch Brandon Jones?
“To be honest with you, when they said 10 (laps) to go, I asked to when. It went by so quick that I thought there was still 60 or so to go. I didn’t think it was that quick. I wasn’t thinking about the $100,000, I knew we’d be in good shape. I tell everybody this and I mean it, I come here to win races. I don’t come to finish second. Winning $100,000 was a big deal to me, but winning that UTV and winning that sword and to be able to say that I won at Bristol in a modified and an Xfinity car, that’s a big deal to me. That would mean just as much.”
ERIC PHILLIPS, crew chief, No. 18 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Can you talk about the final laps of the race and the call for the final pit stop?
“It’s just patience here and I kind of preached to Ryan (Preece) all weekend, kind of leading up here. The race track changes from when we unload on Friday morning and as the rubber changes and then obviously as that substance that the put down, this race track changes constantly. It’s just managing your car and managing your car – basically the bottom was the preferred groove this weekend and we hadn’t seen that in a long time here. A lot of cautions and just taking care of that car. I told him that we weren’t racing anybody until lap 170, I didn’t want to go – other than just take what the race track would give us. If somebody got on us, just let them go and this race, I knew if we were there at the end with 50 to go or a caution came out that we would have a shot. He did an awesome job on the pit stop and our guys on pit road did an awesome job. They had a rough couple weeks here and they stepped up today when it counted.”
What does Ryan bring to the race car compared to younger development drivers?
“He brings good and bad. His understanding of the race car is far superior to many of the kids today. You compare him to (Christopher) Bell who I worked with a lot last year, Christopher just gets in and drives. Ryan’s the opposite, he wants to tell me what left rear spring to run and it’s always too big, but I end up winning on that most of the time. His knowledge of the race car and understanding, he wants to know – he was in there the other day trying to get my engineers to teach him and I don’t think that’s a good idea either, but he just understands the race cars more. I’ve worked with a lot of guys – Kyle (Busch) is a lot that way and he understands the cars. A lot of these young kids don’t come up working on cars like I did so they don’t understand that. They do the simulators and they’re all talented, they just got there a different way where I grew up and Ryan grew up where you learned how to work on the race car and then you drove it and that’s the biggest difference.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards / Turtle Wax Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
After leading the race for 106 laps, was the last pit stop the difference in today’s race?
“That caution on right there on that long run just killed me and I just put my head down when I saw it ‘cause I knew we were so much better than the 18 (Ryan Preece) up off the corner, but all in all such a phenomenal day for Toyota, for Menards and for everybody at (Joe Gibbs Racing) JGR right now. Also, Turtle Wax is on board with us this weekend as well. Can’t say enough about the guys that support us the most and we are just so close right now. It breaks my heart just to see that, but we had a gamble right there at the end. We had to take the two tires to try to see what we could do. Just too much wheel-spinning on the restart to make anything of it.”
What was that race car like after you only took left-side tires?
“Well, you have to gamble when you’re leading like that. Sometimes you have to play a mind game with some of the other guys that are behind you. Our game just didn’t work out too well for us. It was just way too loose on the restart there to make anything of it, but enjoyed racing (Ryan) Preece there at the end. That was pretty cool. I did everything but try to wreck him, so I think that I raced pretty good as a teammate there with him. I just wish that caution wouldn’t have come out. I kind of put my head down when I saw it and was just like man, if this thing would’ve kept going, we’re in the catbird seat really really good. I can’t say enough about the day though. All weekend we were top three in practice throughout the whole day yesterday. Qualified really really well and was getting ready to possibly go to Victory Lane.”
What does this do for you confidence-wise leading all these laps moving forward?
“It’s big. Texas was big for me even though we kind of crashed out early there, we still were really really fast there. I think that’s kind of what led to this. Myself and Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) have had a lot of conversation of you know, don’t think about it, just do it. That’s kind of the momentum I’m on right now. I’m going to stick to that and it’s going to work out for us eventually.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 GameStop / Seagate Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
Did the brakes fail when you went to avoid the accident?
“I don’t know, that’s the second time this weekend that I’ve crashed from guys going seconds off the pace. Can’t slow down whenever they spin out and it’s frustrating. We had a really fast GameStop Camry and I don’t know, just trying to get the top in pretty much all race long. That was our worst run of the day handling-wise and we were still up there. Unfortunate.”
What kind of car did you have previous to that?
“Well, I led for 30 laps or whatever it was after we got back up there. That was our worst run handling-wise. I thought we had a car that was capable of doing it and then a guy that’s a couple seconds off the pace spins out in front of me.”
