SUPRA PLAYOFF DRIVERS CAPITALIZE ON RAIN-SHORTENED KANSAS RACE
Gibbs and Jones Score Valuable Points with Top-Five Results
KANSAS CITY (September 10, 2022) – The Toyota GR Supras of Ty Gibbs (third) and Brandon Jones (fourth) scored top-five finishes in Saturday afternoon’s rain-shortened NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway. Both drivers led laps and Gibbs earned a stage win as the series prepares to set their Playoff field next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Rookie Sammy Smith (eighth) also claimed a top-10 finish.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Kansas Speedway
Race 25 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Noah Gragson*
2nd, Justin Allgaier*
3rd, TY GIBBS
4th, BRANDON JONES
5th, Ross Chastain*
8th, SAMMY SMITH
27th, DEREK GRIFFITH
30th, JOEY GASE
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What happened in the closing laps of the race before the red flag between yourself and Justin Allgaier?
“We have a very fast Reeser’s Toyota Supra. I feel like we were just got into a weird restart line, but when the three guys stayed out, I just picked the wrong one. I thought it was the right one and it wasn’t. Then we went back racing and off of (turn) four I made contact with Justin (Allgaier). I felt like I hit the wall hard, and I didn’t, and I got mad then whipped it down and hit him in the door; and the stupid part is it hurt my car more than it hurt his. I feel like his car is okay, but they’re going to have to put a door on it when they get back to the shop and that’s just inexcusable for me, and I’m very disappointed in my actions and I apologies to them. I thought it was worse honestly than it was when I watched on TV it wasn’t. So, I apologize to Jason (No. 7 crew chief), Justin and Dale (Earnhardt Jr., car owner) and the whole group, the whole seven group, and I just can’t be doing that stuff. It was my fault, I just felt like I hit the wall harder than I did, and I came back down and hit him and I just can’t be doing that.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Klearvue Cabinetry Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Are you pleased with your result from today’s race?
“Certainly a solid day. If you look at the results from yesterday’s practice, probably thought we were going to win the race today based just off speed that we had there. Still really good today and stage points were critical. Got a lot of stage points and a really good finish and good pit selection at Bristol next week too. A lot of momentum that we carry over into next week. Going to have to step it up because man, those JRM cars are hard to beat right now. I think we’re close. Not talking big, big things. Just need to get more overall speed out of our Supras and we’ll be right there with them.”
Is this the right time for your team to start to peak going into the Playoffs?
“It is, I think this is the right time to slowly start making your way there. You don’t want to do it too soon and use all your juice up, by the time you get in the Playoffs. But this has been making it real easy on us with the win at Martinsville earlier this year. We’ve been able to play some strategy and play some games if we had to in order to win stages and it hasn’t always put us in great positions, but I think that’s the nice buffer when you have a win so early in the season.”
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