JONES SCORES RUNNER-UP FINISH AT HOMESTEAD
Jones qualifies for the Dash 4 Cash bonus at Talladega
HOMESTEAD, Florida (June 14, 2020) – Brandon Jones scored a runner-up finish to lead Toyota at the Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday afternoon. It was Jones’ fourth top five finish of the season. With his runner-up finish, Jones qualifies to run for the $100,000 bonus with the Dash 4 Cash program in Talladega.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 10 of 33 – 250.5 miles, 167 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Briscoe*
2nd, BRANDON JONES
3rd, Ross Chastain*
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, Noah Gragson*
8th, HARRISON BURTON
9th, RILEY HERBST
14th, COLIN GARRETT
21st, CHAD FINCHUM
25th, TIMMY HILL
32nd, STEFAN PARSONS
38th, STEPHEN LEICHT
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Fisher Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What did you learn or experience having two races in two days?
“This was by far probably the hottest we’ve been in a while anyways. I think it was great that we were able to run back-to-back races. It was great that we were able to take the same exact car to the second race as well. That really helps us with our notes to adjust on the car for today. This was kind of redemption for us really. I know yesterday we were in the same exact spot and had a chance to win it today.”
What happened coming to the checkered flag racing with Chase Briscoe?
“it was close, but I don’t think I got into him (Chase Briscoe). We were just going as hard as we could. I didn’t get as good of a run through one and two as I thought I was going to, so I saw him dive to the bottom in three and I wanted to use the high line. I wanted to try to get the big arc because I knew he was going to push up and I thought I could go low. That was the thought process there. I did try to fake him on the frontstretch to try to get him to move around and mess up, but just didn’t work there.”
Will Talladega be difficult with no practice?
“Yes and no. Everyone has been doing, honestly, a really good job – a lot better than I thought they were going to do at the start. Once we got going back, I thought there might be a lot of wrecks, but everyone has been doing really good. We’ll see. I know it’s nice to be able to practice drafting. I know that’s something we don’t do much at the tracks we’ve been running at so that’s going to be a little bit different. I have faith in these guys after these last couple races, they’ve been doing good.”
Do you believe the team cars will work together next weekend at Talladega?
“Absolutely. You see it pretty much every time we go, and I think definitely without practice, you don’t know how guys are driving or how they’re going to be in the draft. I think for sure; we have the most trust in us three, so I think we’re probably going to stick together the best. When it comes down to the end, you try to win the race, you’re definitely not just going to want to push them to the win. You’re going to try to do everything you can.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
Another solid race, but you had to bounce back late after a flat tire. Talk about your race today at Homestead.
“I felt like we had a better car than we did yesterday. We were a little bit more competitive. The 9 (Noah Gragson) was still really good. The 19 (Brandon Jones) was better today, the 18 (Riley Herbst) was better today, so as a company I think we made some strides. Not a finish my team deserves, but that happens. You are getting all you can the last few laps – right against the fence – and sometimes you just overstep. Once I got to the wall, I couldn’t get off of it, and that’s what caused the right rear to blow.”
10 races in to your rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and you have scored top 10 finishes in every event. Assess your season so far.
“I think we want a little more raw speed. We want to win more stages, things like that. I still haven’t won a stage – won two races but haven’t won a stage. Got to find a way to get those Playoff points, they are really important come later in the year. We saw last year with (Tyler) Reddick, (Cole) Custer and (Christopher) Bell, all of those guys were pretty much locked in though the first round of the Playoffs, and that’s because they the stage points and the points from winning. We’ve got to get a little bit more dominate, a little bit more aggressive early in the race, and somehow be a little faster. That’s my main goal now – to fire off faster and try to be aggressive from the start and hopefully, get more dominate.”
RILEY HERBST, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
Can you walk us through what happened on the late-race restart?
“I beat the 8 (Daniel Hemric) initially on the start so I dropped down and made it three-wide on the bottom and I was about to clear him. AJ Allmendinger came from behind and gave me a push to help clear him and then he pushed me too far in the left side and hooked me up and wrecked us. All in all, it was a decent day and we got better and better. It’s promising. At the end there, we were probably top-five speed and just lacking a little bit. It was cool to get better as the day went for sure.”
Two races at Homestead, two top-10 finishes. Describe your finish today.
“A lot of people forget that I’ve never seen this place before so yesterday were my first laps. It’s difficult for me to get my bearings so I’m glad I got the laps in to learn and then today to use what I learned yesterday to try to move forward.”
Speaking of two races, you get to race two events next weekend at Talladega. How are excited are you to get back superspeedway racing and are there concerns with no practice?
“Looking forward to going to a track that I’ve been to. I haven’t had practice for the last six weeks so we’ll be alright.”
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