TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 18, 2025) – Aric Almirola was the top-finishing Toyota driver in 24th-place after all the GR Supra drivers were involved in accidents during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Brandon Jones, Toyota’s remaining Playoff driver, was involved in an early incident, but his Joe Gibbs Racing team repaired his GR Supra and he made up some positions to cross the finish line in 26th place. Jones sits sixth in the point standings and is 20 points out of the Championship 4 heading into Martinsville Speedway.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Talladega Superspeedway
Race 31 of 33 – 250.04 miles, 94 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Hill*
2nd, Carson Kvapil*
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, Christian Eckes*
5th, Caesar Bacarella*
24th, ARIC ALMIROLA
26th, BRANDON JONES
29th, DEAN THOMPSON
30th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
31st, TAYLOR GRAY
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards/Little Hugs Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 26th
Can you talk about your race and what your JGR team was able to do to get you back on track?
“This was a team effort today, that’s for sure. I was happy that nobody gave up on it. That’s easy to do when you get wrecked out early. A lot of damage obviously – it’s pretty torn up. They did a good job of kind of continuing to not get too panicked and just look at the task at hand and figure out what the next goal was after that happened. That’s the problem with this place. I can’t really point out anything that I did wrong. I wasn’t changing lanes like crazy. It was still early on and I kind of liked where I was at in the middle. Just a product of this racing unfortunately. We’ll go to Martinsville. I think it’s got to be our top three best tracks that the 20 team can compete at, and I can compete at. I like our chances going into it. I wish Las Vegas and this one would’ve gone a little bit differently, but there’s going to be a storyline at the end of this thing and there’s going to be somebody that gets in off of a win. I feel like our team is capable of doing it.”
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Assured Partners/Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 29th
What did you see from your seat that took you out of the race early?
“Just real aggressive driving. I just hate it for my 26 guys, Assured Partners and Thompson Pipe Group. We had that car pretty much all year. It was great car, so it sucks that’s the way it ended. I’m proud of the effort my guys put forward and hopefully we’ll have a good day in Martinsville.”
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