Toyota Racing – Brandon Jones
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes
PHOENIX (March 9, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Phoenix event today:
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Toyota Racing Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
What does it mean to you to be headed back to Phoenix this weekend?
“It’s one of those tracks that we always look forward to for the fact that we had so much speed there last year. I was able to hold Kyle (Busch) off, I think Brad Keselowski was in the race as well. That was a big win for us for sure. Coming into it this weekend, this is the one that I’ve been looking forward to and have circled on the schedule for a while now. I made so many notes last year after that win that we had and honestly, the championship race as well. I felt that we had a car probably capable of winning that race also, so after those races, I set down, made a big notebook on everything that I’ve learned, and I think they need to keep spraying that PJ1 compound down because that is what really helps us out and kind of propels us to the front. I think our strong suit there has been our longevity in our Supras. I don’t think we started out maybe the best car on the racetrack but at the end of the day our stuff comes to life really well and doesn’t fall off as bad as anyone else does, so I’m looking forward to getting there this weekend and hopefully adding a win pretty soon to our stats.”
Were there any special memories from that win in Phoenix?
“That was such a different energy. I understand all of the stuff that we have to follow and do currently, but it’s been nice to see these last couple of weeks just a little bit of people back at the race track, I feel like that makes such a big difference after that win going into the other wins that I had, I don’t think we had anybody there at the track. It’s definitely different for sure. You didn’t think it was going to be that big of a change as it was, but getting out of the car and not hearing anything, you are still on cloud nine, you are still as happy as you can be but typically when you get a win with a packed house you hear people really screaming your name, cheering and I think that really gives you another level of confidence going into that next weekend just to have that little bit up in the stands screaming your name.”
How important was it to kick off the season strong like you have?
“This has been honestly the best start to any year that I’ve had in a long time. Take out Daytona, but I feel like in that race, that was the most confident that I’ve ever been making side-draft moves, making aggressive moves to try to hold on to the lead. I just felt very confident that first race this year, even though we had that trouble towards the end, I still feel like it was a big step up from where we’ve been at with superspeedways and then with these other tracks, these mile-and-a-halves, we’ve had a lot of speed, at times race winning speed. We’ve put ourselves in a position to be really consistent here even on our little bit of an off day, we’re still in the top-five, which I think is something to say for our team and the stuff that we’re bringing to the track. That’s been a very good momentum pusher, momentum builder for myself in each one of these weekends, and I think that if you keep putting yourself in these top-five positions, it keeps setting you up for the next week. We’re going to have another phenomenal starting spot coming up at Phoenix because of our finishing position last week at Las Vegas. All of that stuff is going to lead to more victories, more success in the series.”
How is your side business going?
“The shop that I had, I’ve stepped away from that building and trying to currently sell it. I’ve done everything for my buddy that I think I can. He’s still building the same amount of stuff that he has just in a different location. I was pretty happy to see him get his feet started in that deal and continuing to build some stuff, so that’s definitely still an option. I’ve got a great relationship with him. It’s just not in my hands as much anymore as it was. That was a fun project for sure. I know we talked a long time ago about it, but it’s been a while since we built that project. I hope he gets more business from the pushes that we made on that.”
What are your Cup aspirations?
“I’ve enjoyed my time in the Xfinity Series. I think it’s definitely one you don’t want to overlook. There’s so much that I’ve learned from the Xfinity Series as far as being aggressive, how to race guys, when to make the moves, when not to push. I’ve been in the series a lot longer than I can almost remember. It’s been a long time in this series, but I think you are looking for seats all of the time. I think next year it’s the new car, you want to try to get to a Cup car, that would be it, but I don’t have any plans currently to be in a Cup car, but that’s always my aspirations every week going into the weekend – let’s try to get a win, make a good impression, because I know these Cup teams, and different organizations, and even Joe Gibbs Racing is always looking for the next best talent to put them into a Cup ride, so that’s our goal for sure in the Xfinity Series is to get to that next step. I’ll just keep doing all of the right things and hopefully will lead to that in the future.”
With the different rubber the ARCA Series will lay down on Friday, how treacherous will that be for the Xfinity Series race?
“I don’t know. I know we’ve had multiple weekends with ARCA being there with the Xfinity Series and their different tire. I think that my crew chief Jeff Meendering probably has the notes on that and how it affects our tire, but I don’t think it will affect our race very long. I think when those guys run on that tire, it doesn’t take very long for our cars to pull it up. If anything, it will get blown off after the race and we will probably pick up the rest of it on our tire and clean it off. It may not last very long. That’s kind of my thought process on it. I don’t think the ARCA cars utilize the PJ1 as much as us as well, so that will also be something else to see if those guys get up in it as much as we do.”
Did you set any goals for 2021?
“I definitely set some personal goals for sure. I came in this year and wanted to have 25 top-10s, 15 top-fives and five wins, and you go down to the last goal and it’s win the championship. That’s kind of how I bracketed it and tiered it down. I think that leaves you about eight races or so to have a bad weekend. You are not going a phenomenal, perfect season. You are going to have mechanical failures, things happen, people take you out of contention to win races, and I think you need to realize that. I don’t think you need to come into each race saying top-five every weekend because I don’t think it’s possible. There’re so many factors imposed. That’s kind of how I’m taking the year. We are already on track well. We’ve had a a bunch of top-fives to get going here, and you take out Daytona and we’ve been really good so that’s kind of the goals I’ve set, and I think that’s what it’s going to talk to get to the Final Four and have a shot to win the championship.”
What is it like racing with Ty Gibbs as your teammate?
“I think Ty does a really good job. Obviously, he doesn’t have that many laps in a Xfinity car, but I see him every day wearing iRacing out, wearing the Toyota simulator lap, so he definitely has a bunch of sim time at these tracks on these cars. I don’t know. I think the oval is going to be a little different for him this weekend. He’s extremely fast. He’s been really good there in the past, but I just don’t think there’s as many shortcuts that you can take at oval that you can at a road course that can maybe help you out at the end of the day, but I’m looking forward to seeing how he does. This will be a pretty big weekend for him, and it will be interesting for me to see the speed as well that he’s got when we get to the track, but I’ve got the bigger notebook so I think it will be tough to beat the 19 this weekend.”
Is there anything that you have missed as a developmental driver in the Xfinity Series during this pandemic?
“Not necessarily. We still have all of the tools to us that are relevant that we would have had with a practice and a qualifying on a normal weekend. The biggest thing when we were practicing, I did a really good job of utilizing our SMT that we recently acquired. I know it’s not censors like the Cup cars – it’s more GPS driven, but at the same time you see lots of areas where you lose time, and I was using that first practice to look at that afterwards and I would go to the next practice afterwards with the exact knowledge I needed to beat the best guy in practice and that was transferring to race pretty well. Now, you lost aspect a little bit. I still look at it before the race on the last race that we had, and I compare my notes to see where the lift points have changed but that’s about the biggest thing for myself that I’m lacking right now is just having that one-up level from practices that we’ve had. The workouts have stayed the same. Last year with everything going on, I kind of limited myself from the gym and I tried to stay at home and workout as much as possible, but I’ve been trying to balance that and mix that back in this year and all of that is pretty much on par, so I think that would be the biggest thing I would say is the practice – to not have the data to be able to compare for the race.”
What has Daniel Hemric brought to Joe Gibbs Racing?
“I’ve been a fan of Daniel’s for a long time. We race each other at late models. We raced each other at RCR (Richard Childress Racing) and now we are both at Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing). I think Daniel’s been around for a long time. He knows a lot about how cars mechanically work. I think all of that stuff is really good. We’ve bounced ideas off of each other a bunch. I’ve used him, and I think he’s used me a little bit to get used to the Gibbs equipment. He has been in one of these cars yet, so I think he’s bounced a lot off of me trying to get some answers versus something we have driven in the past versus what we are in now. I know as a group we’ve been doing a good job of going to the go-kart track together and spend a lot of team time and I think that all of that pays off when we get to the track – having confidence in your teammates is a big deal. If I can trust them, and they can trust me, you are going to have a much smoother year. I think it benefits you more than hurts you for sure to let your teammate in every once in a while, that pays off in the long run. All of that stuff is very good, very helpful. He definitely brings a different amount of knowledge to the team.”
Do you think we are going to see a top three or is it going to be more parity this year?
“I don’t think the series has established the best quite yet. We’ve had some interesting finishes for sure. I feel like once we get closer to the Playoffs. It’s really going to become noticeable about who’s competitive every single weekend. You are always going to have those guys that sneak in there and have a win every once in a while, but it’s the ones that are running consistently up front the entire year, those are going to be the ones to watch – the ones to keep your eyes on for the Final Four is that consistent group that runs top-three every single week and is competing for those wins.”
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