ROOKIE HERBST WITH STRONG RUNNER-UP FINISH AT KENTUCKY
Riley Herbst ties career-best finish on Thursday evening
SPARTA, Ky. (July 9, 2020) – Rookie of the Year candidate Riley Herbst (second) tied his career-best finish to lead Toyota at Kentucky Speedway on Thursday evening.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Kentucky Speedway
Race 14 of 33 – 199.5 miles, 133 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Cindric*
2nd, RILEY HERBST
3rd, Ross Chastain*
4th, Chase Briscoe*
5th, Michael Annett*
16th, CHAD FINCHUM
17th, HARRISON BURTON
21st, TIMMY HILL
28th, MASON MASSEY
30th, MATT MILLS
35th, STEPHEN LEICHT
37th, BRANDON JONES
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
RILEY HERBST, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How were you able to get the second-place finish there on the last lap?
“Everybody on this Monster Energy Supra – we did a good job all day. We ran probably fourth all day. We over-adjusted the car there at the end and got too tight. All in all, we’ve had speed all year, we just haven’t been able to capitalize, mostly on my part, in these final stages of the races. Once we start capitalizing, we’ll start getting good finishes like this. This was a good one.”
How do you feel about tomorrow’s race?
“Looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully we can get this Monster Energy Supra just a little bit better and go for the win.”
Can you take us through your race tonight?
“With having some poor finishes here recently in the last few months, had to start 23rd I think. We worked our way all the way up. I think we got up to third or fourth at one point. Honestly, it’s just a game of restarts, who can restart the best. I think we over-adjusted a little too much at the beginning of stage three and got too tight. Kind of was at the right place at the right time on that final restart. I knew they were going to try to suck each other around. Just tried to stick to the bottom and a hole opened up, which was pretty cool. Honestly, I think we’ve been running in these positions. I’ve just kind of taken ourselves out of these positions late in these races and not able to capitalize. It was cool for me to kind of capitalize. Obviously, we’re not in victory lane, but definitely a step in the right direction.”
How important was it to get a full race together tonight and looking to do the same tomorrow night?
“It’s absolutely huge. Obviously tomorrow we’re going to have to start deep in the field again. I don’t think we got into the top-12 in points. If we keep running like this, we’ll jump into the top-12 in points. All in all, just kind of a confidence booster to me. I know I belong in this series and I can run with these guys, I just have to put full races together and we did that tonight. I’m proud of everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing and thank Monster Energy for the opportunity.”
With tomorrow night’s invert for the starting positions, you will start 14th.
“That’s better than 23rd so I’m happy about that. I’ll take it.”
What does it mean to have a strong finish?
“It was cool. It’s cool and kind of a shot in the arm for this No. 18 Monster Energy team. We’ve had speed, we just haven’t been able to finish these races and we did that tonight. Hopefully, we can carry on tomorrow and have another really good points day and try to go for the victory.”
How frustrating is the passing situation at this track?
“It’s extremely frustrating. This track was probably the dirtiest race track I’ve ever seen to fire-off. I hate that my teammate (Brandon Jones) got caught up in a dirty race track. I couldn’t see the guy in front of me so that made passing that much more difficult. When you run somebody down from a straightaway and you just sit a half car length back in their wake and you can’t do anything because the car is just out of the race track. Luckily, we have a really fast pit crew at Joe Gibbs Racing and they tried to get us out in front. I think we gained spots on pit road all night long so that was huge.”
How difficult is it to come to these tracks for the first time with no practice?
“I think a lot of people kind of forget, I haven’t been to any of these places and we’re firing off with no practice. All my testing that I was scheduled to do is gone, wiped away. I think a lot of people forget that I’m firing off at these race tracks that I’ve never been to. Obviously, I’m expected to win in the equipment I’m in. Sometimes I think I need to slow down and look back and realize that I’ve never been to these places and these guys have two, three or even four years on me in this series and we’re running with them. That’s a big confidence booster and I’ve only run here one time in the ARCA Series back in 2017. I think the last two years it was off the schedule.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Atlas Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
What exactly did you see? Was it just a matter of the track being so dirty?
“Yeah, I’m pretty surprised that happened. I made a comment before the race got going that the track was filthy, so you think everybody else is taking note of that too. I kind of expected something like that to happen. It’s just unfortunate. We had a good race car I thought. I’m sure my spotter is kicking me in the head right now. He told me to go low, but I never saw him move up until it was too late, so you can’t drive these things on instinct – you can’t go off of what you think can happen – because then it’s too late, so I hate it for these guys. This is two weeks in a row that we haven’t made a lap in the race, so that’s what we need is laps.”
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