ALMIROLA, CREED EARN TOP-FIVE FINISHES IN XFINITY SERIES RACE AT HOMESTEAD
Creed now leads Xfinity Series in top-five finishes
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (October 26, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Aric Almirola and Sheldon Creed, came home third and fifth, respectively, in the Xfinity Series race at Homestead on Saturday. Almirola’s No. 20 GR Supra started third and was within the top-five for most of the afternoon, earning second and fifth-place stage finishes, before ending the day in the third position. The top-five result for Almirola is his fifth in 11 starts this season and helped move the No. 20 team back to third position in the Xfinity Series owner’s points standings, just 10 points behind the lead.
Creed, who started on the front row, had an eventful day in his No. 18 that was strong on long runs. This included running long on the final green pit sequence and moving up the running order after his stop to find himself fifth as the checkered flag flew. This is Creed’s 16th top-five result of the season, which leads the Xfinity Series. He’s also scored at least a top-10 finish in 14 of the last 18 races this season.
The remaining Toyota GR Supra driver in the Xfinity Series Playoffs, Chandler Smith, started the day on pole for the third time this season. He led the first 29 laps of the race but ran into his own handling issues and a problem on pit road late in Stage 3 that resulted in a 13th-place finish. Smith enters Martinsville fifth in the driver point standings, 28 points below the cutline.
The Xfinity Series concludes its Round of 8 next Saturday, Nov. 2, at Martinsville Speedway. Coverage can be found at 4 p.m. EST on The CW Network, as well as radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM Radio Channel 90.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 31 of 33 – 200 Laps, 300 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Hill*
2nd, Cole Custer*
3rd, ARIC ALMIROLA
4th, Jesse Love*
5th, SHELDON CREED
13th, CHANDLER SMITH
21st, RYAN TRUEX
24th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 20 Samaritan’s Purse Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Can you describe your race today that ended in a third-place finish?
“We started third and finished third! Pretty straightforward if you look at the box score. But, really hard fought. We battled the balance of the car all day. Just couldn’t quite get it where I needed to have the balance right. It would fire off okay and then I was just average at best. I was probably a fifth-to-seventh-place car for like 15 laps, and then it would start coming back to me in the long run. But I was struggling. (I) Was skating up on the top of race track. Didn’t have the turn I needed and just struggled to get the power down, sideways, with the back of the car. So, hard to fix two problems, but really proud of Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and all the guys on this No. 20 team. They brought me a good enough car to maximize our day, score a lot of points. I think we’re in an okay position going to Martinsville, one of my favorite race tracks.”
SHELDON CREED, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Take us through your race today.
“Just were really slow on the short runs all day. Just struggled for 20 laps on the splitter, (was) tight. Then, it was the fastest car and (I) was able to track everyone down from a straightaway back. So, yeah, I just wanted that last run to go green completely and I think I was back to the second and third-place cars there when we started green flag pitting, and then we decided to go off strategy there to do something if a caution were to come out or something just because we knew weren’t very great on the short runs. Yeah, I mean, happy for another top-five, just frustrated as I feel like if it went green, feel like we would’ve had a shot at it.”
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 81 QuickTie Products Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
How would you describe today?
“Yeah, just not meant to be, honestly. Missed it on balance. Driver made errors on the green flag stop, drove it off the jack. Just wasn’t meant to be today, and that’s okay. Looking forward to going to Martinsville and we’re probably going to be in a must-win situation there. We ran really good there in the spring.”
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