Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 22 of 33 – 159.9 miles, 300 laps
August 17, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, Cole Custer*
5th, Joey Logano*
27th, BAYLEY CURREY
29th, BRANDON JONES
30th, CHAD FINCHUM
35th, JOSH BILICKI
36th, KYLE BUSCH
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL 810 points
2nd, Justin Allgaier* 797 points
3rd, Elliot Sadler* 793 points
4th, Cole Custer* 791 points
5th, Daniel Hemric* 768 points
7th, BRANDON JONES 634 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Camry driver Christopher Bell (second) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· Bell led 18 laps (of 310) at the half-mile Tennessee short track, but was unable to catch race winner Kyle Larson on the final overtime restart with only two laps remaining in the race.
· Fellow Joe Gibbs Racing Camry driver Kyle Busch started the race from the pole and led 74 laps before a cut right-front tire put Busch in the outside wall and ultimately ended his race in the 36th position.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What more did you need to catch Kyle Larson?
“I needed to not lead Jason (Ratcliff), my crew chief, down the wrong path there on the second to last run. I told him I couldn’t afford to be any looser and that was probably our best run speedwise and he tightened me up and I just got a little bit too tight. On top of being a little bit too tight, I had the wrong restart line and just lost some track position and never could get it back up there. We got the good restart when it mattered, so that’s all that counts.”
Some ups and downs for you tonight, tell us about the race.
“I think we were on more than we were off. We just got caught there in the wrong restart lines a couple times and lost a couple spots. We started fourth on the one that mattered and that’s how we ended up second. I just kind of did a bad job through traffic and I’d always try and make up time hoping that the 42 (Kyle Larson) or one of those guys would go to the bottom too quick and I’d be able to fill the gap on the outside. I’d always cost myself time there getting stuck behind the lapped cars. Overall our Rheem Camry was extremely good, man. I’m really thankful to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing. We’ve got really fast race cars and it’s an honor to drive them. Just got to do a little bit better job in lapped traffic. I got to do a little bit better with my feedback to Jason (Ratcliff).
You gave your crew chief Jason Ratcliff feedback in the wrong direction one time. What was that about?
“I was a little bit tight all race long and then that run whenever I led a little bit and me and (Kyle) Larson were really close, I told him I might’ve been a little bit too loose and then he tightened me up and I got too tight again. Just got to do a little bit better job of guiding him. Overall really happy with second.”
Talk about that battle with Kyle Larson there at the end.
“I thought we had a shot at him if it stayed green. Heck, even with the yellow, I thought we were still going to have a shot at him, but that second to last run when I was leading some laps – me and Kyle (Larson) were really equal, I told my crew chief Jason (Ratcliff) that I couldn’t afford to be any looser and he tightened up for the last run and just tightening it up and restarting on the bottom and then lost track position. I just couldn’t ever get back up there to challenge him. I wasn’t good enough to pass those guys. We got a couple bad restart lines which put us back in the field, but the most important one there on the green-white-checker, we got the right restart line so that’s all that matters.”
How difficult was it to get through traffic?
“It wasn’t too bad, it’s the same for everybody. The guy in second definitely has an advantage coming through traffic, especially whenever you get the traffic side-by-side. I caught a couple guys side-by-side and I picked the top and he (Kyle Larson) picked the bottom and I was able to kind of root the guy off the bottom and make it three-wide. That worked out in his favor, but I think if it would have stayed green, I was sitting in the cat bird seat not being behind him in lapped traffic. You win some, you lose some and Kyle has obviously been extremely good here for a long time, just never been able to seal the deal. I’m happy for him and overall I had a ton of fun tonight. This place, this was my first true Bristol race where you got the top going really good, the bottom was even competitive there on long runs. It was a ton of fun.”
Do you feel you and Kyle Larson have similar driving styles and is it difficult to pass a guy like that?
“A little bit. I’ve been waiting a long time for that – me and Kyle to race. It seems like whenever we’re dirt racing, we’re racing each other a lot, but we haven’t really got to race each other on pavement yet. It was really fun to be able to race really hard with him. The biggest thing that he was able to do today was that he was just risking it a lot more than I was. On the top side he was forcing the rubber and pushing the marbles up and using the wall a little bit. I never really got comfortable enough to do that and then there at the end I was back in traffic and never got to the opportunity to need to use that to run him down. I felt like I had a little bit more in the bank whenever I was chasing him because like I said, he was using the whole race track, he was using the wall, everything and I was leaving myself a little bit of a buffer and I just never was up to him at the end to use it.”
Do you think Kyle Larson was taking bigger risks than usual tonight?
“I don’t think so, he’s been risking it for five years now in NASCAR and he’s bit it a lot and he’s had a lot of crashes running the wall, but he’s gotten really good at doing it. It’s an Xfinity race, if he hits the wall and crashes, so what, he gets to go tomorrow where me on the other hand, I need those points pretty bad. A, he’s got nothing to lose and B, he’s been doing it a long time and has gotten really good at it. I think it’s those two factors.”
How much fun did you have racing with Kyle Larson tonight?
“I was smiling inside my helmet so big. This is the first time I’ve gotten to run the real Bristol where the top rubbers in and you get going around there pretty good. That was the most fun I’ve had in a stock car man. I love lapped traffic and Kyle (Larson) loves lapped traffic too. We grew up racing without spotters where lapped traffic was a huge factor of the race and then you go to 90 percent of the NASCAR tracks that are big enough and spotters have enough time to communicate and they just kind of get the lapped cars out of your way. Here at Bristol, that’s not the case, you have to navigate the lapped traffic and that’s what makes this place really fun.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
What happened with the initial contact with the wall?
“Just rubber on top of rubber. The rubber build up that was happening – I just got into the corner a little too hot and just got up into the fence a little bit and then I don’t know, two or three laps later it blew out.”
