Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 16 of 23 – 106.6 miles, 200 laps
August 16, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Johnny Sauter*
2nd, Stewart Friesen*
3rd, John Hunter Nemechek *
4th, Parker Kligerman*
5th, TODD GILLILAND
9th, NOAH GRAGSON
15th, RILEY HERBST
18th, BRETT MOFFITT
27th, KORBIN FORRISTER
28th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
31st, SCOTT LAGASSE JR.
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Johnny Sauter*# 2042 points
2nd, BRETT MOFFITT# 2027 points
3rd, NOAH GRAGSON# 2022 points
4th, Ben Rhodes*# 2014 points
5th, Stewart Friesen*# 2012 points
11th, TODD GILLILAND 403 points
24th, SPENCER DAVIS 141 points
27th, HARRISON BURTON 113 points
29th, DAVID GILLILAND 107 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
#competing in 2018 Playoffs
- Tundra driver Todd Gilliland (fifth) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Thursday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, while Toyota teammate Noah Gragson placed ninth.
- After filling in for Toyota teammate Harrison Burton, who was forced to withdraw due to illness, Tundra driver Christopher Bell won the NCWTS pole and led 31 laps (of 200) in the event. Bell’s night ended early after power steering issues in the final stage.
- Following the NCWTS regular-season finale, Toyota drivers Gragson and Brett Moffitt clinched playoff berths after earning victories this season. Moffitt kicks off the playoffs next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as the second seed while Gragson is seeded third.
TODD GILLILAND, No. 4 Banfield Pet Hospital Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 5th
What happened out there tonight?
“Spinning out – your pride is crushed there. It’s one of the worst things that could happen. Then just getting that one lap penalty really put us behind and then after that Kyle (Busch) just came on the radio and said we really needed to work the top here. We’ve watched plenty of film with him doing it, so there’s no reason that we couldn’t and luckily we were able to get around these guys fairly quick. That was a lot of fun. That was the most fun I’ve had in a truck race by far. Coming home fifth – we just need to keep clicking off these top-five finishes and we’re getting closer and closer every week.”
NOAH GRAGSON, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 9th
“Just need to get better here at Bristol. We’re good at every other place – it’s just the confidence for this place isn’t quite there. Used tonight kind of as a test session and we got up in the top-10. It is what it is. Ready to move on to the playoffs. Got a good seat for the playoffs in our Toyota Tundra. We’re fortunate to be out here racing in the NASCAR Truck Series. It’s definitely a privilege. Just going to learn and hopefully use this knowledge for next year and just keep on working hard.”
What tracks do you think you’ll excel at in the playoffs?
“I feel like we’ll be good at the road course, Canada. I feel really confident about the selection of tracks within the playoffs. You have the road course, which I feel really confident about – finished second there last year – Talladega, that’s kind of a wild card. We ran that Xfinity race with Joe Gibbs Racing earlier in the year at Talladega, so that kind of helped my confidence going into that one. We got Vegas, that’s my hometown, so that’s a really good one and then the three after that – Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix – I’m really pumped up. We sat on the pole at Texas, almost won last year and Phoenix and won last year at Martinsville. Just got to keep on working hard to get to Homestead and really excited for the tracks coming up.”
BRETT MOFFITT, No. 16 Otics USA Inc./Toyota Tsusho Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 18th
Talk about this race tonight and looking ahead to next weekend.
“It was certainly frustrating. From the time we unloaded the Tundra this morning, we just didn’t have the speed we needed. Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and the guys did a really good job in the race to make it drivable and raceable and we got some track position on strategy and we were able to hold it. I think we could’ve came away with a top-seven or a top-five finish and we had a loose right-rear wheel, so that was poor execution on our part. Unfortunately, we’ve done that too many times this year, but we’ll shape up and we’ll move on to the playoffs. Congrats to Johnny (Sauter). Obviously he’s been really strong this year. I was happy to tie him in wins and then he went and got another, so that kind of was a bummer, but we’ll move on to the playoffs and go to Canada and try to reset and have a good start.”
Does the mustache stay for the playoffs?
“I don’t know. I’m pretty upset right now. I’m mad. It’s tough to put a smile on our face right now. I was actually just thinking that before we started this. I don’t know if I’m going to use this excuse or not.”
Do you feel like the favorite going into the playoffs?
“I don’t know. It was a frustrating night. We had a good finish salvaged there. We just struggled all week here at Bristol. We didn’t come with the right package and we struggled and it showed. We were going to I think get out of there with a top-seven or a top-five finish at the end. Our truck was decent and had a loose right-rear wheel, so that one was on us.”
Knowing that a bad result tonight doesn’t transfer over to the playoffs, does that make you feel any better going into it next week?
“Exactly. We don’t have any race tracks like this. I’d say Phoenix is the closest to this and there’s no banking. I think we have a lot of strong tracks coming up with Vegas and what not. Obviously I would have preferred to have those playoff points that Johnny (Sauter) just got – or preferred him to not get them, but he’s going to be in the final four no matter what at Homestead unless something really crazy happens. We just need to do our job and make it there as well and then it’s a straight up race at Homestead and hopefully fight for a championship.”
Is the first round going to be weird with three races over seven weeks – it’ll feel like an eternity, won’t it?
“Yeah, it does. Especially if you have a bad week at Canada coming up. It’s a road course and I’m not sure why we go to one road course a year and it’s in our playoffs. That doesn’t really make sense to me, but it is what it is. We’ll go race and try to do our best there. They’re spread out, so hopefully we get off to a good start at Canada and can breathe over those few weeks off.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 51 Hunt Brothers Pizza Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 28th
Walk us through your race tonight.
“At the beginning I was good. I got out front and felt a little bit tight and then under the yellow, I turned my fans on and I just murdered our balance. We got loose and a couple guys got by me and then I never really could catch up with my track position again. We got to third and I was kind of maintaining there and I felt like my Toyota Tundra maneuvered really good. I felt like we were in a really good spot, could lap traffic and then we lost power steering.”
Was it frustrating to start up front and finish off the lead lap?
“Yeah, a little bit, but it was a good experience for me. We finally got the top moved up to where the grind is and man, there’s a lot of grip up there, so that was a really good experience to feel that. That’s probably where we’re going to be tomorrow.”
