Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 2 of 33 – 251 miles, 163 laps
February 23, 2019
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL
2nd, Cole Custer*
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, BRANDON JONES
5th, Tyler Reddick*
6th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
26th, CHAD FINCHUM
28th, TIMMY HILL
29th, JOEY GASE
31st, TOMMY JOE MARTINS
37th, JOHN JACKSON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL 99 points
2nd, BRANDON JONES 95 points
3rd, Justin Allgaier* 81 points
4th, Tyler Reddick* 80 points
5th, Cole Custer 76 points
7th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT 76 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
Toyota driver Christopher Bell became the first driver to win in the Toyota Supra after the Supra debuted in NASCAR competition at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last week.
It was Bell’s first victory of the 2019 season and the 150th win for Toyota in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Bell led a race-high 142 laps (of 163) on the way to his ninth career-series victory.
Toyota drivers Brandon Jones (fourth) and Jeffrey Earnhardt (sixth) also finished in the top 10 with Earnhardt posting a career-best result in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
You told us last year at Daytona that you really wanted bragging rights in the Supra. How important is it to get bragging rights as the first Supra winner over Kyle Busch?
“That’s really really big It all just boils down to the fact that you don’t get to be a first-time winner very often. There’s a very good possibility Kyle (Busch) is going to win one of the next three (races) and I beat him to Victory Lane. I’m all smiles right now.”
Were there any nerves or concerns for you today?
“I mean all day long I knew that my weakness was late in the runs. I felt really really strong from green flag to basically the last 10 laps. I just started struggling really bad. When the 2 (Tyler Reddick) started gaining on me a little bit, I felt like I could make time if I moved up to the top late in the run. I was just about to move up to the top and see if I couldn’t pick up a little bit of speed to hold off the 2 car. Late in the runs, the competition was really good. I mean the 00 (Cole Custer) and the 2, they both were really strong late in the runs, so that had me a little bit nervous there. Obviously on a late-race restart, you’re kind of a sitting duck, right? I tried to just accelerate as early as I could and make sure that nobody got a run on me.”
Would you rather the late-race caution not come out?
“It probably didn’t matter to me either way. I knew that I was going to have my hands full if the yellow didn’t come out and that I was going to have my hands full on the restart if the yellow did come out. It probably didn’t matter to me either way.”
Were you worried at all about saving gas those last few laps?
“I don’t really know how much more I had whenever Tyler (Reddick) was catching me there. He was about to give me a run for my money, that’s for sure. To answer your question, I really was not in save mode those last 10 or whenever he was catching me.”
Do you worry about the outside lane at all because it seems like there’s so a big difference between the two lanes, especially in this race?
“I’ll be honest, I was more worried about the 7 (Justin Allgaier) behind me. Being in the second row is a pretty big advantage because the leader sets the pace and the guy in second has to stay with the leader, but then the second row can always have a gap there and roll momentum on you. That was my biggest thing was just trying to keep my gap to the 7 tightened up and then not let him accelerate before I did and let him get momentum on me. To your point, I was not really worried about the guys beside me, I was more so worried about the 7 behind me.”
How did the deal come together with Kevin Swindell in the DIRTcar Nationals?
“It actually worked out really good. Kevin was looking for a driver this year because Spencer (Bayston) had come up with other opportunities. He really wasn’t wanting to do a full schedule and I think he had some sponsorship money available to him if he could run me in the car. It worked out perfect for me because obviously I’m not looking for a full-time ride. We kind of got together and Kevin said that he’s going to race whenever I’m available to race and we’re off to a great start. Obviously sitting second in Outlaw points right now is pretty freaking cool. Really excited about that. Our next race will probably be either the April off weekend or one of the off weekends in May.”
The dirty air didn’t seem to trouble you when you weren’t running first, but Cole Custer said he had trouble with it. What was the difference there?
“I don’t know if it’s the surface here or what, but really from my truck career to my Xfinity career, dirty air at this race track has been not near as bad as what it is at other race tracks. I don’t know if it’s the tire and track combination or what. I’ve never really had a big problem with dirty air here, but definitely on fresh tires I could see why he would be struggling behind me.”
Are you disappointed that you had this good of a day and this good of a car, but you didn’t have any Cup drivers racing in the event?
“I mean don’t know. I told Jason (Ratcliff) a little bit – me and him were talking a little bit yesterday and I felt like I wanted to be dominant, right. Obviously winning is great, but I wanted to be really good and we were really good until right there at the end of the race. If there were any Cup drivers there, we might have gotten beaten there at the end. We’ll just have to – I’ll have to get better as a race car driver and just try and pick up on my weaknesses, that’s for sure.”
Do you think if you didn’t go to the high side on the last restart Cole Custer would have the momentum to make the run?
“He probably would have. Man, the top is just so good over there in (turns) 1 and 2. Even there on that long run coming to five (laps) to go, I knew I was going to have to move up to block the 2 car (Tyler Reddick) at some point. Just really struggling there. Man, very thankful and very fortunate to be able to drive this Rheem Camry – or sorry, this Rheem Supra. It’s the first Supra win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, so that means a lot to me to be able to become the first driver to win in this. I’m really happy for all of our partners at Rheem, Toyota, everyone at Toyota Racing Development. Thank you, the Supra is awesome. Looks great and it’s fast too. A lot of fun and man, I’m just honored to be here.”
Where was Tyler Reddick stronger than you before that last caution?
“I don’t really know where – well actually I do know where on the race track or at least I can tell you where I was struggling. My car was really good from lap 0 to 30 or 35 or whatever that number was. The last five, 10, I started struggling really bad just getting my car to stay connected to the yellow line. The rear end would start moving quite a bit. I’d start slipping my tires quite a bit – my rear tires. I’m assuming that’s where he would make up time on me. I would just have to slow down so much to stay connected to the yellow line.”
History-making day and a perfectly executed day…
“I don’t know about that one. I felt pretty sloppy there as a driver at sometimes. Running the yellow line is so hard and I don’t know, I would just struggle on the longer runs there. Like I said, I knew that I was struggling on the bottom of 1 and 2 and I knew I was going to have to move up there if we didn’t get that last yellow, so I was pretty thankful that yellow came out so we could put some tires on it.”
Those last few laps were pretty exciting for us, how about for you?
“It made for a good finish, that’s for sure. Man, the 2 (Tyler Reddick) and the 00 (Cole Custer) really both of them were pretty good on the long runs. Our Supra was really good. I feel like the last 5 or 10 laps, I died. Very thankful there to get the yellow and put some tires on it, but it would have been fun to race it out with Tyler there.”
Is it nice to start the season with a win in just the second race of the season?
“Yeah, it means a lot to be able to come over here and win in the second race and what I call the first true race of the season. Hopefully it means something and we can build on this and try and help our long run speed.”
Is it pretty cool to be the driver that got the 150th win in a Toyota in the NASCAR Xfinity Series?
“There’s always these marquee wins, right? The first win, the 100th win, the 150th now, so it’s really special to become the first driver to win in a Supra. You don’t get to be a first timer very often.”
JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief of No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Were you worried at all about saving gas those last few laps?
“I could tell by looking at the lap times that you know we had some long green runs in the last seven to eight laps of the run, the 2 (Tyler Reddick) and early in the race even the 00 (Cole Custer) would make a little ground on us. I felt like there at the end though if Christopher would have moved up in (turns) 1 and 2, he would’ve been making a couple tenths up all day, so I felt good about it. He (Tyler Reddick) was closing in on us, but I wasn’t overly concerned. I felt like with five or six to go, he would’ve been able to do what he needed to finish it.”
Was the car change with the Supra anything more than changing the bodies?
“Not really. The guys did a good job this winter of converting everything over. Probably late December or early January we had one in the tunnel and it was just as good as the Camry. We had no concerns coming to the track with it. I feel like now we get a few races under our belt with it and we’ll get a better feel for it and hopefully just continue to grow with it. It’s first time out, obviously it looked pretty strong, but for the most part, it was just some man hours back at the shop making the change. The car looks awesome and it’s fast, so we’re looking forward to a good season with it.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards / Jeld-Wen Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Talk about your race today.
“This was probably by far my best finish I’ve ever had at Atlanta. Our teammate (Christopher) Bell, he’s always quick here. I think he had the car to beat all day long, but I think we had a pretty strong second-place Supra behind him right there. That top lane just did not get going. I talked to Jeffrey (Earnhardt) after the race some. He spun his tires obviously pretty bad and it just had no grip. I tried to push him for as long as I could there to try to help him get going, but eventually had to shoot in the middle there to try to make something happen for us.”
Was Jeffrey Earnhardt explaining that restart to you on pit road during post-race?
“Yeah, that was one of the first times that I had gotten up there for a restart. It was definitely slicker than the bottom was. He just couldn’t get his tires going enough to take off on the restart. I tried to push him a little bit to try to help out there some, but as soon as I got to the line, it was time to go ahead and cross over and try to make a move. I felt like we had a really strong second-place Supra maybe. Our teammate (Christopher) Bell there that just won, he was strong all day. He’s always really strong when you come to Atlanta, but this was a huge momentum builder for myself. By far way better than any other position that I’ve ever finished at this track. I think that says a lot about this race team where we’re at right now. I want to win one of these races. We’re close.”
JEFFREY EARNHARDT, No. 18 iK9 Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Take us through that last restart and what you would do differently next time.
“Pray to get the inside. I don’t know. That outside was tough. I blew the tires off it early in the race. I knew it was going to be hard to get a restart out there. It seemed like everyone kind of struggled up there. Just couldn’t get the power to the ground. I had Brandon (Jones) push me trying all he could do to get me going and just sucks. These guys put a heck of a race car underneath me and I was really looking forward to hell, maybe winning this thing for my sponsors iK9 and Joe Gibbs and all the fans that came out here to see us today. That Toyota Supra sure was pretty fast today.”
A career best run for you today. How gratifying is this result today for you?
“It is awesome. Just to get to go and compete in a really good car like this. I hate we got stuck on the outside on that last restart. Restarts are really hard on the outside here, but the Toyota Supra was super fast today. These guys put me in a heck of a car. We came up short on the win, but we showed we belong here and we’re going to run up front the rest of the races.”
