Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race 25 of 33 – 100 laps, 250 miles
September 10, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Justin Allgaier*
2nd, Tyler Reddick *
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, Chase Elliott*
5th, Daniel Hemric*
7th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
10th, BRANDON JONES
21st, CHAD FINCHUM
28th, RYAN PREECE
38th, JOSH BILICKI
39th, BAYLEY CURREY
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Justin Allgaier 943 points
2nd, Cole Custer* 894 points
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL 891 points
4th, Daniel Hemric 888 points
5th, Elliott Sadler* 874 points
7th, BRANDON JONES 713 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Christopher Bell (seventh) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, scoring his 15th top-10 finish this season.
· Brandon Jones (10th) also scored a top-10 finish in his Toyota Camry, his 11th top-10 this season.
· Both Bell (third in points) and Jones (seventh) have already clinched a spot in the 2018 Playoffs as the Xfinity Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway later this week for the regular-season finale.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 GameStop Team Sonic Racing Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
A bit of a challenge for you having never run at Indy before. How did your race unfold?
“We had an opportunity to run good. I tried to pass the 7 (Justin Allgaier) car and maybe I shouldn’t have attempted to pass the 7 car so early, but I don’t know. I didn’t have anyone up there that was going to help me anyway. Overall, we got some good stage points there one time and ran seventh, so good momentum in our Toyota Camry. We’ve run 25th or worse the last couple of weeks, so this is good momentum.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards Mastercraft Doors Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
Talk about finally getting on the track and adjusting to the car throughout the day.
“I think our top-10 shows how much they really put into the offseason and how much they put into the notebook as well. We came here with no practice and had a really good Camry. The Toyota simulator helped a ton on this one for sure this week. We had a lot of time on that as well and everything else that was involved in the prep work – watching film and stuff before coming here. That’s what we do that for I guess. Whenever you have races and weekends like this. All in all a top-10 out of this day was pretty good.”
Does this top-10 give you some momentum going into the final race of the regular season next week?
“Yeah, for sure. I think our 1.5-mile program has been getting a lot better as well. I learned a lot today with side drafting and things that I think will transition over to Vegas for us.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 18 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 28th
What led to that spin?
“It felt like somebody got into my left rear or the air just completely whipped the back of the car around. We had a really good Rheem No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota. I don’t know, man. These restarts are tough for sure. The air is just off it at that point. I don’t know. It’s tough. You try to get all that you can. Probably when he (John Hunter Nemechek) got loose is when I felt the air right there. Tough deal. It’s upsetting for sure, but I’ll be back in the next eight weeks.”
That looked like a hard hit. Was it?
“Yeah, I guess. Tough, tough situation for sure. Wish it was different. Wish I was still out there. This is a pretty special place to me, so to be out early definitely isn’t something I wanted to be, but we had a pretty fast race car today. Our Rheem No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota, it was almost as fast as Xfinity internet. Just really upsetting to be out this early.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 18 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What did led to that spin?
“It felt like somebody got into my left rear or the air just completely whipped the back of the car around. We had a really good Rheem No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota. I don’t know, man. These restarts are tough for sure. The air is just off it at that point. I don’t know. It’s tough. You try to get all that you can. Probably when he (John Hunter Nemechek) got loose is when I felt the air right there. Tough deal. It’s upsetting for sure, but I’ll be back in the next eight weeks.”
That looked like a hard hit. Was it?
“Yeah, I guess. Tough, tough situation for sure. Wish it was different. Wish I was still out there. This is a pretty special place to me, so to be out early definitely isn’t something I wanted to be, but we had a pretty fast race car today. Our Rheem No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota, it was almost as fast as Xfinity internet. Just really upsetting to be out this early.”
