Joe Gibbs Racing Trio Qualifies for the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs
Hemric, Burton and Jones will vie for the Championship
BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 17, 2021) – Brandon Jones (fifth) led the way for Team Toyota in the Food City 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday evening. This was Jones’ ninth top-five finish of the 2021 season. All three Joe Gibbs Racing fulltime drivers locked themselves into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with Daniel Hemric seeded sixth, Harrison Burton eighth and Brandon Jones 10th.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 25 of 33 – 159.9 miles, 300 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, AJ Allmandinger*
2nd, Austin Cindric*
3rd, Riley Herbst*
4th, Justin Allgaier*
5th, BRANDON JONES
7th, HARRISON BURTON
10th, DANIEL HEMRIC
11th, TY GIBBS
21st, BRANDON GDOVIC
22nd, STEFAN PARSONS
30th, DAVID STARR
33rd, CHAD FINCHUM
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 YeeYee Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How do you feel about the race and your momentum heading into the Playoffs?
“This is exactly what we need to do truthfully is just have a good, solid run. We had decent stages – I think we finished eighth in both stages. There at the end, you never know what’s going to happen. I’ve been part of a lot of these races where these late-race restarts cause a lot of chaos and you can come and sneak in. I didn’t know what to expect, but that was my best shot at trying to come in here and win this race. Awesome day for YeeYee, I know they had a big deal setup in the fan zone so that was super cool for them so it was great to get them a top-five although I think we should be grateful for a top-five, we’re still hunting for that win. It’s awesome to go into the Playoffs with some momentum and we’ve got some good tracks coming up. Vegas is really good for us and looking forward to getting there.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
What happened in the closing laps of the race and how was your car tonight?
“A 10th place finish is not at all what this Poppy Bank Toyota Supra team had. We struggled a little bit on pit road all night. We maintained track position – I think the worst we were was second or third under green flag runs and then would lose a few spots on pit road, which is very uncharacteristic of our group. It was one of those nights. I’ve made some mistakes and I’m cleaning it up. Just wish we could have been in the mix there coming to the end. Then somebody got into me coming to two to go and got me out of the groove and that was it. Finally got the ball rolling. First time in a couple weeks that we had one of the fastest cars. That’s all you can ask for. Get my voice healed up and head to Vegas.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.
Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
