Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Daytona International Speedway
Race 16 of 33 – 250 miles, 100 laps
July 5, 2019
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ross Chastain*
2nd, Justin Haley*
3rd, A.J. Allmendinger*
4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
5th, Austin Cindric*
11th, MATT MILLS
12nd, VINNIE MILLER
13th, STEFAN PARSONS
19th, RILEY HERBST
21st, TIMMY HILL
22nd, SHANE LEE
28th, CHAD FINCHUM
31st, BRANDON JONES
37th, JOE NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
· Christopher Bell was the highest-finishing Supra driver, as he finished fourth for his 10th top-five finish of the season.
· With 10 races before the cutoff race in the playoffs, both Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones hold down positions in the playoff grid.
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Ruud-Ferguson Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Was there anything you could have done to pass the Kaulig cars in the closing lap?
“I don’t know, I maybe could have laid back a little bit. You lay back and the guy behind you tries to make a move on you. I don’t know, I’ll just have to go back and see if there was anything I could have done differently. Overall, it was a great speedway season for us. I think we were sixth here in February, a third at Talladega and then a fourth here today. That’s my best speedway season I’ve had in my career. Take that and try to learn from it. Really proud of these guys on the Ruud Supra.”
Did the runs seem bigger tonight?
“They seem pretty big. I don’t know. I asked my spotter if he thought the runs were a little bigger than normal because I felt like there was a lot of jockeying. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t — it was just a typical speedway race.”
Why was this race crazier than the race in February?
“I don’t know. I missed it. In February I said we were going to be all over the place and we rode around. Then we go to Talladega and I said we were going to ride around and we were all over the place. I really don’t know, I wish I could tell you more, but I have no idea.”
Did you consider making a run on the closing lap?
“I just couldn’t get a run to do anything. I wanted to pass those guys, but I’m sitting there wide open and I can’t get to their bumpers. I felt like I really didn’t have any move there.”
What was the attitude of the race team after last week’s post-race disqualification?
“They’re fine. I don’t think anyone really said much of anything. Obviously, you don’t want to give away races like that, but it was a great test session for us. We know where we could have been better and I was hammering the race track pretty hard. We just have to get the frontend up a little bit and our car will be way faster. Mainly when I say it was a good test session, Chicago is really similar to Homestead. The line you run and in the past, the tire has been really similar. That’s why I say it was a good test session. We know where we can be better. Obviously, the 00 (Cole Custer) was quite a bit better than us at Chicago so we know how we can close the gap a little bit on him.”
Did you feel you could make moves during the race?
“Whenever guys were kind of packed up, I felt like I could switch lines and get runs on people, but as soon as they got single-filed out, I was just kind of along for the ride. The 10 (AJ Allmendinger) car just kind of blew my doors off on the last lap. I was wide open and he got a run on me and drove by me.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/ORCA Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 31st
How was the race and what happened that ended your night early?
“I thought we had something going there at the beginning. We missed a big wreck and unfortunately, we got caught up in one of them. It wasn’t too bad really. We got into position there where the guys kept coming down pit road and working continuously. I’m really proud of this group. I wouldn’t want anyone else out there fighting for me on the track other than these guys. They kept continuing to put BearBond on the front of this thing to get it taped up. There were moments there where I was running 20% throttle and still able to keep up with the draft. Just trying to save some fuel and it was going to work out perfectly. Got the wave-around, got back on the lead lap and in the end there we lost a rear shock mount. I hate it. We had my cousin, Eric Jones’ unit on the car and had his patch inside – I think that’s what kept us going tonight. Great job for Menards as well and we had Orca on the hood as well. All in all, a good day and I just wish we could have finished it out and been there at the end.”
