BAYNE STRONG IN XFINITY RETURN
Bayne wins stage, finishes in top-five at Fontana
FONTANA, Calif. (February 26, 2022) – Trevor Bayne (third) led Toyota in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday evening.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Auto Club Speedway
Race 2 of 33 – 300 miles, 150 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Cole Custer*
2nd, Noah Gragson*
3rd, TREVOR BAYNE
4th, Josh Berry*
5th, Anthony Alfredo*
13th, TY GIBBS
20th, JOEY GASE
22nd, JJ YELEY
29th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
33rd, BRANDON JONES
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 18 Devotion Nutrition Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What was it like racing for wins today?
“I got to race for wins today. Didn’t get it done unfortunately, but I’m not going to get greedy with our first one back. We won the first stage, had a pit stop that got us behind and it just drove different in traffic. Once I got back to the front, it was pretty racy – really just too tight to have a shot to run with the 07 (Cole Custer). He could get through the corner really good, but I’m back in a race car, battling for wins. I was talking with Noah (Gragson) about which lane I ran in (turns) one and two there. To me, second or third don’t matter, I’ve got to win races, so I tried to go below the 07, didn’t work out, but super pumped to be here with Devotion, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.”
How challenging are those restarts?
“They were tough, but I felt really good about them. The bottom worked really good and that was my plan – to run the bottom on the last restart until the speedy dry went to the bottom. When the speedy dry went to the bottom, I knew I had to try the top. The 23 (Anthony Alfredo) had tires behind us, so there was a lot of scenarios there that dictated that. Ultimately, I would have liked to run the bottom, but with the speedy dry, no way.”
A strong run all day long. What happened out there?
“This is so much fun. We won that first stage and I was kind of shook – this is crazy to be back driving this No. 18 having a good run, but then we had a bad pit stop. It got us back in traffic and that’s when it got real. These guys are really racy – all of these young kids – they race hard. I really needed to get track position back, and finally got back at the end battling for those restarts. I wanted the bottom really bad in (turns) one or two and they put speedy dry down, so I had to go to the top – had a shot to run the middle there, and it didn’t work out. We are here to win races, second or third, oh well, but Devotion Nutrition made this possible. Without them, I wouldn’t be in that No. 18 car. Super thankful to be here.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Patriot Lighting Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
What happened out there Brandon?
“I think that was the worst part of all of this – when you go spinning, you look to see what’s coming up. I got halfway caught on the grass and halfway on the pavement and the rear tires were in the grass so I could not get anything to grip up for me to get out of that grass. I saw it coming. I never have hit the sand before. A ton of impact there, and I really didn’t feel much of anything, which is surprising, so good job by those guys. Up-and-down day for this Menards Supra. I feel like I truthfully ran a sloppy race today, so I need to go back to the drawing board and get back going. We had speed at times, and at other times we struggled a little bit, so we will pick our feet up. We’ve got some good stuff coming up. We love this West Coast swing – there are some really good tracks in it.”
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