TWO SUPRAS IN THE TOP-FIVE AT HOMESTEAD
Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric earn back-to-back top-five finishes
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (February 27, 2021) – Brandon Jones (third) and Daniel Hemric (fourth) drove their Toyota Supras to top-five finishes in the Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday evening.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 3 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Myatt Snider*
2nd, Tyler Reddick*
3rd, BRANDON JONES
4th, DANIEL HEMRIC
5th, Jeb Burton*
17th, TIMMY HILL
22nd, DAVID STARR
24th, CHAD FINCHUM
30th, MATT MILLS
31st, SANTINO FERRUCCI
32nd, STEFAN PARSONS
33rd, JESSE LITTLE
38th, TY DILLON
40th, HARRISON BURTON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Toyota Racing Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
You battled all night and ended up with a third-place finish. How was your run?
“Compared to last year, I think this is already a way better start to our year. I know we’ve had some ups and downs, but our performance is really close. For everyone at Toyota, they did a lot for us today to get our Supra up front. Menards, WileyX, they do a lot for us. I’m looking forward to the next couple of races that we have coming up because this was a pretty big adjustment I felt like today of what we could put together. Just fought a couple of things there at the end and not getting where we thought we were going to be on the restart. All-in-all, pretty solid day. Third is good. We will take the points and try to push for a win.”
Can you describe how the race played out for you?
“Back in the heat for sure. I’m sure these guys are probably struggling a bit, but all in all this was a really good day for Toyota. Our Supra maybe wasn’t the best to win the race. It was probably the best-case scenario at the end there to have what we did – to have that lane choice. Maybe I should have gone to the top in (turns) one and two, but it came down to the last two races almost having a shot to win it and it came down to just one more lap. Proud of my guys. We have a championship quality team this year and looking forward to the rest.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Can you describe the end of that race from your vantage point and what were the restarts like during the race?
“It was a saving grace for everyone on this Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. We had a really good short run car, but not a very good car after 12 to 15 laps. We thought that with experience and such that we could overcome it to be better than we were, but we just struggled. I was happy to see those short runs. I felt like our first launch on the first green-white-checkered was better. I think we were going to lineup to have a run for the lead down the backstretch and the caution flew and I just got boxed in on the second one. Thought we had the top rolling, but it didn’t work out. Proud of everybody on this Toyota Supra team. I felt like a moron there hitting the pit crew guys. I’ve come to pit road many times now and turned in, first time with these cars, turned into the box and had so much front brake that I couldn’t even think about stoppping. At that point you’re just hoping that you minimize the damage. Glad to see those guys are okay. They sat one stop out and jumped right back in and never missed a beat. Thanks to those guys, hats off the them. Have to do better, have to be better.”
You a lot happening, from your pit crew member getting hurt. How do you rebound from that to bring it home fourth?
“You just have to stay resiliant. First off, I’m so sorry. Those are Denny’s (Hamlin) guys for tomorrow and I could hear Chris Gabehart their crew chief for tomorrow saying take care of his guys. I did not do that today. It was my first time coming down pit road in these cars and I fully underestimated how much front brake I had. Completely on me. I’ve got to be better than that. Thanks you so much to these guys. Everyone on this Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. They did a great job of keeping me in it. I kept asking how everybody was doing and if everybody was fine and they were just on me to keep my head in the game and keep after it. We had a really good short run car, not very good after 10 laps. We’ve got to go to work. Now we have a baseline for a package, but proud of what we able to come back and do. Again, so sorry to those guys. I look forward to being better myself and making this race team better.”
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